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| Kirby Air Ride Reviewed by Pirate Yoshi Over-view: Brought to us by the Super Smash Brothers Melee team at HAL, Kirby Air Ride (which possesses one of the more annoying names I've seen in a game as of late) is the world's simplest racing game, guarenteed. It's amazing two-button control scheme is meant to make the game a pick-up-and-play title for everyone from a four-year old newbie to a college-age gaming master to your great great grandma who thinks the controller is a cross between a blender and a geiger counter. Air Ride features three different modes, lots to unlock, and even LAN multiplayer support. Graphics: 9.7/10 Kirby's latest title has, if nothing else, very astounding graphics. The characters are magnificently animated, the backgrounds are incredible, and the effects, such as attacks, clouds, and more all give the game an amazing haze-over on reality. As HAL showed us with Super Smash Brothers Melee, even the most magnificent multiplayer masterpieces can come out with phenominal graphics! Sound: 9/10 If there's one thing Kirby's games are known for (yeah, yeah, besides sucking up enemies) is the bouncy, cheerful tunes that accompany much of the gameplay. I have always found Kirby's music to very much fit the situation, whether it be a boss battle, a pleasurable romp on the beach, or riding a wild boat down a raging waterfall. Kirby Air Ride has no disappointments attatched--the music is glorious, and I would DEFINATELY buy a soundtrack without a second thought, if I were to find one. The sound effects, while rather weak, sound like you would expect them to in a Kirby game--lots of pops, bops, and whaps. Sadly, there doesn't appear to be any Kirby voice in the game, but I have really no complaints with sound done poorly, I only wish I had seen more of some pieces. Controls: 10/10 Well here's the part that Air Ride boasts about: its ability to be an action-packed racer using only two buttons, which is, by today's standards, quite rare. And I compliment Air Ride immensely, the two button system works VERY well, and I can't even think of a reason or use to have more buttons playing roles in this game. No complaints WHATSOEVER with the controls, and I can't even think of a way to improve them! Major kudos to the SSBM team again! Gameplay: 9.6/10 Air Ride, like most racing games, centers around your knowledge of the tracks, your abilities with your vehicle, and your skills at outdoing your opponents on the move, be it through hard, clever racing or dirty, sneaky sabotage using nasty weapons a la Mario Kart. The three modes, each very different from the others, provide you with a lot of different action; Air Ride Mode is solid 3rd person racing, like every game, over wild, winding tracks filled with enemies, power ups, and, of course, opposing racers. Top Ride, a mode in which you watch the race from above and control your Kirby around the tracks while other players race using the same, full map of the track. Rather than enemy-eating for powers, special power-up icons are available in Top Ride to keep things fast and furious. The third mode, City Trial, is an amazing mode that feels a lot like a dumbed-down, weak version of Grand Theft Auto: players take out the star (or bike, etc.) of their choice, then race around the city trying to smash their opponents silly while collecting various power up items scattered about to increase their machine's abilities; there are many different stats to power up (or down, by grabbing the wrong type of item), as well as ability icons, to give you an edge against your competitors and obtain the best upgrades for your machine before time expires. During this trial, events will often occur that have no real importance to the mode, but offer a challenge to those bored with racing about, and some of these events result in unlockables worth fighting for! If you dislike your machine, or have it blown to bits, you can jump off and go find someone else's (there are always additional vehicles laying around that have no driver). Jump on one of these, and you've got yourself a new ride. This is especially fun to do when you know that another player has hopped off their machine for a moment, and plan on getting back on later. Once you've finished in the city, it's time to try a random challenge in the stadium; challenges range from hitting a huge target for points off of a jump to drag racing, and even a big brawl using your souped up machine! Obviously, you'll want to snatch up a wide variety of power-ups while in the city, or you'll be doomed to failure if the challenge following isn't weighted for your particular machine. Though Kirby Air Ride is not a once-in-a-lifetime title, it still deserves your recognition as a trend-setter, a next generation racer, and an outstanding video game. Replay: 9.5/10 Replay, the shining gem of SSBM, returns for a fabulous on-core with Kirby Air Ride. Replay is a big name of this game, as most of the tasks to be done require at least MANY reruns through the level with varying settings and numbers of players, and you'll be busy for a long time. Even after completing everything, this won't be a game to put down--the multiplayer is stunning, the courses are always a blast, and City Mode offers an always-changing experience that never feels tired. Plus, it's a racing game, and racing games, as we all know, stay fresh way past when other games have died of old age. Excellent replay here! **Story: 0/1 This game has no storyline. **Multiplayer: 1/1 Air Ride might not have a storyline, but it has multiplayer, and LOTS of it! This game is a lot of fun with one player....but it's not really at the exceptional level unless you have a second player to enjoy it with! Although there's no co-op mode, if you and your friend/relative/significant other/nameless, faceless second player cooperate, you'll get a lot accomplished and make some major progress. Of course, cooperation isn't for everyone, so if you'd rather destroy that friend/relative/second player (sorry, significant other), you can do so by taking it to them in a race or challenge. If you happen to be a rich, bored person (and want to be friends...), you can hook up multiple Game Cubes and monitors (tvs) to take on up to four friends, each using their own screen to play on (which is great, since some of the racing action feels lost whenever you scrunch up onto four mini-screens). Just remember, you gotta find a Broadband/LAN adapter first! (heh-heh....good luck, suckers!) Graphics: 9.7/10 Sound: 9/10 Control: 10/10 Gameplay: 9.6/10 Replay: 9.5/10 **Story: 0/1 **Multiplayer: 1/1 Total Calculated Score: 9.76/10 Total Assigned Score: 9/10 Final Score: 9.38 Last Words: Kirby Air Ride, like many of Nintendo's games, was made for pure enjoyment, and that's really all you'll get out of it. A bit repetitive, it doesn't last for very long, and the low challenge ensures that anything you want to unlock will not take long. That said, however, the multiplayer aspect (and, in particular, the GTA-influenced City Trial) is a welcome relief from the racing action, and is perhaps even the highlight of the entire game! Stadium events are a blast, also. Rent, Buy, or Pass: Fans of the series and casual gamers alike will get a kick out of Air Ride, making it worth a RENT or BUY, but if you're a hardcore sports or racing fan, then this is one offering you can afford to PASS on. Pros: The music is sweet, the controls are simple, and the pure fun factor is pretty darn high! Cons: A bit too easy and short for some gamers, and the game feels a little too unsolid, with three different almost-half-baked games shoved into one. Needs: More abilities, and more combat-based multiplayer support, to match Smash Brothers Melee's outstanding multiplayer settings. |
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