Of note is that only in this mode, Kirby is capable of dismounting his vehicle and running around, though this makes him a sitting duck and it’s only helpful to hop onto any other nearby vehicle. Everyone starts with an easily controlled but slow Compact Star, tasked with finding upgrade patches and better machines to constantly improve their abilities. With this new goal, stopping and boosting with the A button changes from a mild speed bump to an extremely appreciated tool. This is mostly done by collecting random powerups from mystery boxes, which must be broken with brute force. Depending on chosen rules, inflicting damage on other racers either gives the attacker a little speed boost or brings their opponent closer to destruction and disqualification. Copy abilities provide an assortment of attacks from automatic melee slashes to chargeable projectiles and enhanced spins. All other offensive options revolve around using enemies dotted on the course, making them equivalent to items in other racers but with instantaneous use. Frontrunners can use it too if they notice any slipstream riders coming up close on their tail. The quick spin gives every player a weak but easily available attack to harass foes ahead or beside them. Instead, Air Ride has more focus on offensive mechanics. This vehicle is incapable of coming to a complete stop, which made it extremely difficult to handle as a child. And that much vehicular variety is bound to affect your racing style, but all of them still race using the same principles described above with exception of the Slick Star. A few machines are literally just Wheelies fashioned into bikes, trading hovering and gliding for traction. The Swerve Star instantly accelerates and stops on a dime, but can’t turn unless it’s stopped. The Bulk Star uses boost energy as fuel and won’t move without it, but bulldozes the competition once it’s topped off. There are over a dozen unlockable vehicles that all have different nuances and gimmicks compared to the vanilla Warp Star. During a race, it can feel off-putting compared to maintaining a high speed while you dangerously drift around a corner. Air Ride takes a drastically different approach to the genre, asking me to cruise and stop in repeated moderation. Most of the racing games I enjoy constantly keep me going at high speeds. It’s a creative twist but not quite as thrilling given it temporarily stalls most machines until the turn is complete and they rocket forward again. Since most vehicles constantly accelerate automatically, there’s little way to maximize speed other than nailing turns by braking and boosting - not quite drifting, more like gradually slowing down and rapidly re-accelerating once you face the correct direction. These are clever and intuitive controls, but technically, that’s all there is to normal maneuverability mechanics. If pressed in front of an enemy, the A button instead uses Kirby’s traditional inhale, after which he automatically either spits out a projectile or acquires a copy ability (and each ability comes with its own appropriate spin/A button actions). The A button is used for both braking and drifting, slowing Kirby’s machine as it slides in a set direction until it stops, allowing him to turn and charge up energy for a boost to quickly accelerate again. The analog stick steers your character on the ground and in the air, and can also be used for a spinning melee attack by wiggling left and right rapidly. Unlike most racing games, Air Ride only uses the analog stick and a single button. To understand these modes, it helps to understand the fundamentals of Kirby Air Ride.
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