Kirby Air Ride

Kirby Air Ride is a racing 3-D game that was released for the Nintendo GameCube in 2003, though was originaly supposed to be on the Nintendo 64. There are four modes: Air Ride, Top Ride, City Trial, and Free Run (within City Trial). Each mode is unique. Kirby Air Ride only uses the A Button and Control stick. The "L" and "R" buttons can be used as a substitute for the "A" Button

Production
This game was going to be a game on the Nintendo 64, but that idea was scrapped early in the making. The makers then made it for the Nintendo Gamecube. The game was finally released in 2003.

Intro
The intro starts off with two Broom Hatters racing next to Kirby on his Warpstar. Kirby then swallows a Heat Phanphan and throws some fire. A few clips from the real game are shown. Later, two Sword Knights are shown racing towards him. With Kirby's Sword, he slashes at the Knights, knocking them away. Meta Knight is then shown charging at Kirby after Kirby flies off a ledge. After a few more clips, Pink, Red, Yellow, and Blue Kirbies are shown racing.

Gameplay
Kirby Air Ride is a 3-D racing game. It features Air Ride, a 3-D racing mode, Top Ride, a 2-D miniature racing game, and City Trial, where you have to collect power-ups and other items to compete in a Stadium.

Other than Pink, Blue, Yellow, and Red Kirby, you can unlock other Kirbies with different colors and different characters; by getting certain checks on the checklists. Playing is simple, since you only need to use the control stick and "A". Meta Knight and King Dedede also make an appearance as unlockable characters. Both of them have a unique charge meter. If either of them lose all their health, they cannot get on top another vehicle. Instead, they must "crawl" on the ground helplessly.

Machine Abilities and Power-ups

 * Top Speed: Top Speed is the highest speed a machine goes without stopping. The higher the top speed rating is, the faster the machine will go. It is essential to have this on relatively straight courses such as Drag Races and Nebula Belt.


 * Boost: Boost basically acceleration in-game. Boost is the time it takes for a vehicle to reach its top speed. The higher the acceleration, the less time it takes for the machine to reach its top speed. It seems increasing boost increases too speed given when releasing a charge.


 * Offense: Offense is the amount of damage the player can do to an opponent. The higher the offense rating, the more damage the player can take out. Offensive power is disregarded when Air Ride races don't have HP bars.


 * Defense: Defense is decreasing the amount of offensive power added to the vehicle. The higher the defense, the less damage the machine will take from enemy attacks. Defense is disregarded on matches where there are no health bars in it.


 * Charge: Charge is the amount of time it takes to fill up the Boost Gauge. The more Charge power the vehicle has, the faster the Boost Gauge fills up for a boost.


 * Turn: Turn is how efficiently a vehicle can turn. The more turning ability the machine has, the faster and tighter the turns it can handle.


 * Gliding: This is the amount of time the vehicle stays in the air. The more flight the machine has, the farther the machine flies.


 * Weight: Weight is the amount of bulk the vehicles have. The more weight a vehicle has, the more skidding the vehicle has. Weight can also lower the flight time a machine has.


 * HP: HP is how many hits the machine can take before getting destroyed, shown by the Damage Bar on the right part of the screen. On Air Ride matches with the Damage Gauge turned off, there is no Damage Gauge to represent how many hits a vehicle can take before getting destroyed.

Playable Characters
Note that the player can play in different colored King Dededes and Meta Knights as well as Kirbys. The King Dededes and Meta Knights will still get represented by the Kirby's color, for example, the second player's Meta Knight is green, but the background in the select screen is yellow.

Modes
Below are the three modes the player can choose while playing this game.

Air Ride Machines available in only Air Ride and City Trial modes

 * Warp Star
 * Slick Star
 * Winged Star
 * Formula Star
 * Shadow Star
 * Swerve Star
 * Rocket Star
 * Wagon Star
 * Turbo Star
 * Jet Star
 * Bulk Star
 * Wheelie Bike
 * Wheelie Scooter
 * Rex Wheelie

Top Ride exclusive Machines

 * Free Star
 * Steer Star

City Trial exclusive Machines

 * Dragoon
 * Hydra
 * Flight Warp Star
 * Compact Star

Enemies

 * Balloon Bomber
 * Bronto Burt
 * Broom Hatter
 * Caller
 * Cappy
 * Chilly
 * Dale
 * Flappy
 * Gordo
 * Heat Phanphan
 * Noddy
 * Pichikuri
 * Plasma Wisp
 * Scarfy
 * Sword Knight
 * Walky
 * Waddle Dee
 * Wheelie

Courses in Air Ride Mode

 * Fantasy Meadows
 * Celestial Valley
 * Sky Sands
 * Frozen Hillside
 * Magma Flows
 * Beanstalk Park
 * Machine Passage
 * Checker Knights
 * Nebula Belt (needs to be unlocked)

Courses in Top Ride Mode

 * Grass
 * Sand
 * Sky
 * Fire
 * Light
 * Water
 * Metal

City Trial Stadiums

 * Drag Race 1
 * Drag Race 2
 * Drag Race 3
 * Drag Race 4
 * Destruction Derby 1
 * Destruction Derby 2
 * Destruction Derby 3
 * Destruction Derby 4
 * Destruction Derby 5
 * Air Glider
 * High Jump
 * Target Flight
 * Single Race
 * Kirby Melee 1
 * Kirby Melee 2
 * Vs King Dedede