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HAL offers a simple yet very fun Kirby racer!
November 16, 2003 | 10:00 PM PSTby: Seth Walker
When HAL completed Super Smash Bros. Melee, Nintendo and HAL revived the original-unreleased Kirby Air Ride from the N64. What was once going to be a launch title, got delayed and eventually canceled for means unknown, but I can honestly say the wait for well worth it. The 64 version was originally a down-hill type racing game, similar to 1080 yet on stars with Kirby characters. While the GameCube version is dramatically different, it keeps the same feel and look of what the 64 version brought. There have been a lot of mixed-reviews lately regarding this game. I can honestly say that all the negative reviews are from people who either see this game for the bright colors and for the simplistic controls it has, or because they didn't divulge enough time into this killer game.
Developer HAL has yet to fail me. They have created a fast action, though not as fast as F-Zero GX, simplified, yet very in depth, Kirby racer. The game will blaze by you at a fantastic speed with NO drop in frame-rate what so ever. Even when playing the game with three other friends, there is no frame-rate drop. Before you begin to play, you must choose the version of the game you want to play. There are three ways to play; 3D Racer, Over-Head View, or City Trial. Once the mode is selected, players must choose which type of "ride" Kirby will race along on. On initial boot-up, the selected "rides" is a minimal of two. With progression through the game; playing for along time in each mode; players will unlock different vehicles for Kirby to ride on, different colors of Kirby, and even some characters from past Kirby games will join in on the fun. My favorite is still the huge box that wears a tie and has some Japanese writing on the side of it.
Each ride or secret characters that you unlock will all control uniquely different. The type of controls can be compared to Mario Kart. As always there will be average rides, while others are fast with horrible turning speed, and some have slow acceleration with high speeds, similar to Bowser or Wario in Mario Kart. Not only will the controlling of the rides factor into the game-play, but how the rides move will determine the paths you may have to take while playing. Some rides are land based and some are flying based. Although the land based rides are primarily used for driving on land, they do have to ability to glide for a short amount of time. I have found that one secret character is extremely cheap in the game as he has excellent turning, great speed, and since he is a flyer can fly above or below the obstacles found on the tracks.
The controlling of Kirby and pal during the race is rather simple, but it has been designed to take along time to master. Taking a sharp curve? You must decide whether to use an item or to boost, as you can't do both at the same time. Players must also decide which ride they like the best, as each as their advantages and disadvantages. Although Kirby and crew have automatic continuous movement, players must decide whether to press down or up when going off a ramp. Pressing down will move the player fast to the ground, while pressing up will let Kirby glide through the air just a tad. If you press up way to much though, it will create an air drag and Kirby will slow down a lot. The decision of gliding is up to you, but you must decide sometimes whether to glide or not on certain paths to access the shortcuts that are in some courses. Another way of controlling Kirby is determining when to use a sharp turn or not. If you press and hold the A button it will slow Kirby down just a little bit to make the cornering easier, but when you release the A button it will give players an extra boost. Other decision players must make while racing is whether to suck up the enemies that are floating along the course. If you suck up the winged enemy it will put wings on our character and it will help you glide across chasms. The floating enemies can also go against you. If you are far behind grabbing the fire or blue laser enemy will not help you at all. Once the enemy is copied, players must use the A button to use their ability. The decision of sucking up enemies, and how to control your character provide a mixed bag of choices that you must be ready to make in order to win, as Kirby Air Ride will provide for some tough races, especially with your friends.
HAL has created some of the most creative designs I have ever seen in racing games. As usual with racing games there are shortcuts, but in this game, there are some paths which you might think is a shortcut, but actually it could lead you from first to maybe even last. While some courses are fairly short, there are some courses which seem to take forever. Each track has their own unique feel about them, and they all come with their own surprises. Players must decide which character to use and whether or not to copy the certain enemies floating about, because the tracks are designed for better abilities than others. The Tire ability helps on courses with ramps, but on courses with sharp turns, the Tire will only mess you up. My favorite course is Sandoola which from the name, you can tell it's a track involving sand. Other tracks boast a futuristic, fire, space, or ice feel to them.
Gamers have gotten use to the excellent music HAL provided in Super Smash Bros. Melee, and the tradition continues here in Kirby Air Ride. Fans of Smash Bros. Melee or Kirby will instantly recognize the theme song to Kirby Air Ride as it is the exact same song as the one in Smash Bros. However, all other music, unlike Smash Bros, is not orchestrated, but it feels very Smash Bros worthy. Not only has HAL outdone themselves in the music department, the sound effects, while few, are also very well done. The trailing of the stars, pounding into the walls, sucking up and copying enemies, and hitting the other racers with power ups, all lead up to be an enjoyable race for your ears.
Not only is there a regular 3D racing mode, but players can join in some old-school-style racing with an overhead view that will makes the replay vale of Kirby Air Ride sky rocket. The same feel of the courses, whether being futuristic, space, etc, all remain intact for another enjoyable type of racing. Another mode in Kirby Air Ride is called City Trial, in which players control Kirby in a 3D world while battling in out in a city. There are also several different mini-games in City Trial. Some test how far you can glide, while others test to see you can finish a course the fastest. I should tell you that even though you can unlock different Kirby colors, rides, or characters in the normal Racing Mode, they will not be able to be used in the overhead racing or the City Trial. Each mode requires you to unlock the different Kirby colors, rides, and characters by either getting first place or playing it for a certain amount of time.
The more you play Kirby Air Ride in each racing mode, the more you will unlock throughout the game. Like Smash Bros. Melee, there are literally tons of different things to unlock. Players can unlock different Kirby colors, more tracks, different types of rides, secret characters, music, sound effects, video-clips, and even more mini-games for City Trial.
Though there are a small amount of courses, players will want to come back more and more with their friends to have some racing mayhem fun. HAL has once again showed us that they can make any type of game and perfect it. Racing and Kirby fans will surely love this title.
Developer HAL has yet to fail me. They have created a fast action, though not as fast as F-Zero GX, simplified, yet very in depth, Kirby racer. The game will blaze by you at a fantastic speed with NO drop in frame-rate what so ever. Even when playing the game with three other friends, there is no frame-rate drop. Before you begin to play, you must choose the version of the game you want to play. There are three ways to play; 3D Racer, Over-Head View, or City Trial. Once the mode is selected, players must choose which type of "ride" Kirby will race along on. On initial boot-up, the selected "rides" is a minimal of two. With progression through the game; playing for along time in each mode; players will unlock different vehicles for Kirby to ride on, different colors of Kirby, and even some characters from past Kirby games will join in on the fun. My favorite is still the huge box that wears a tie and has some Japanese writing on the side of it.
Each ride or secret characters that you unlock will all control uniquely different. The type of controls can be compared to Mario Kart. As always there will be average rides, while others are fast with horrible turning speed, and some have slow acceleration with high speeds, similar to Bowser or Wario in Mario Kart. Not only will the controlling of the rides factor into the game-play, but how the rides move will determine the paths you may have to take while playing. Some rides are land based and some are flying based. Although the land based rides are primarily used for driving on land, they do have to ability to glide for a short amount of time. I have found that one secret character is extremely cheap in the game as he has excellent turning, great speed, and since he is a flyer can fly above or below the obstacles found on the tracks.
The controlling of Kirby and pal during the race is rather simple, but it has been designed to take along time to master. Taking a sharp curve? You must decide whether to use an item or to boost, as you can't do both at the same time. Players must also decide which ride they like the best, as each as their advantages and disadvantages. Although Kirby and crew have automatic continuous movement, players must decide whether to press down or up when going off a ramp. Pressing down will move the player fast to the ground, while pressing up will let Kirby glide through the air just a tad. If you press up way to much though, it will create an air drag and Kirby will slow down a lot. The decision of gliding is up to you, but you must decide sometimes whether to glide or not on certain paths to access the shortcuts that are in some courses. Another way of controlling Kirby is determining when to use a sharp turn or not. If you press and hold the A button it will slow Kirby down just a little bit to make the cornering easier, but when you release the A button it will give players an extra boost. Other decision players must make while racing is whether to suck up the enemies that are floating along the course. If you suck up the winged enemy it will put wings on our character and it will help you glide across chasms. The floating enemies can also go against you. If you are far behind grabbing the fire or blue laser enemy will not help you at all. Once the enemy is copied, players must use the A button to use their ability. The decision of sucking up enemies, and how to control your character provide a mixed bag of choices that you must be ready to make in order to win, as Kirby Air Ride will provide for some tough races, especially with your friends.
HAL has created some of the most creative designs I have ever seen in racing games. As usual with racing games there are shortcuts, but in this game, there are some paths which you might think is a shortcut, but actually it could lead you from first to maybe even last. While some courses are fairly short, there are some courses which seem to take forever. Each track has their own unique feel about them, and they all come with their own surprises. Players must decide which character to use and whether or not to copy the certain enemies floating about, because the tracks are designed for better abilities than others. The Tire ability helps on courses with ramps, but on courses with sharp turns, the Tire will only mess you up. My favorite course is Sandoola which from the name, you can tell it's a track involving sand. Other tracks boast a futuristic, fire, space, or ice feel to them.
Gamers have gotten use to the excellent music HAL provided in Super Smash Bros. Melee, and the tradition continues here in Kirby Air Ride. Fans of Smash Bros. Melee or Kirby will instantly recognize the theme song to Kirby Air Ride as it is the exact same song as the one in Smash Bros. However, all other music, unlike Smash Bros, is not orchestrated, but it feels very Smash Bros worthy. Not only has HAL outdone themselves in the music department, the sound effects, while few, are also very well done. The trailing of the stars, pounding into the walls, sucking up and copying enemies, and hitting the other racers with power ups, all lead up to be an enjoyable race for your ears.
Not only is there a regular 3D racing mode, but players can join in some old-school-style racing with an overhead view that will makes the replay vale of Kirby Air Ride sky rocket. The same feel of the courses, whether being futuristic, space, etc, all remain intact for another enjoyable type of racing. Another mode in Kirby Air Ride is called City Trial, in which players control Kirby in a 3D world while battling in out in a city. There are also several different mini-games in City Trial. Some test how far you can glide, while others test to see you can finish a course the fastest. I should tell you that even though you can unlock different Kirby colors, rides, or characters in the normal Racing Mode, they will not be able to be used in the overhead racing or the City Trial. Each mode requires you to unlock the different Kirby colors, rides, and characters by either getting first place or playing it for a certain amount of time.
The more you play Kirby Air Ride in each racing mode, the more you will unlock throughout the game. Like Smash Bros. Melee, there are literally tons of different things to unlock. Players can unlock different Kirby colors, more tracks, different types of rides, secret characters, music, sound effects, video-clips, and even more mini-games for City Trial.
Though there are a small amount of courses, players will want to come back more and more with their friends to have some racing mayhem fun. HAL has once again showed us that they can make any type of game and perfect it. Racing and Kirby fans will surely love this title.
February 8, 2010
