Dash Panel
A Dash Panel[1] (referred to in the North American manual as Boost Panel[2]) is an object that makes up part of a race track in Kirby Air Ride. It is a section of floor that glows green (usually with an arrow pointing in the direction it will boost), and will cause a vehicle to rapidly accelerate when the player either taps the charge button, or will happen automatically if a wheel-based vehicle is used.
Details
The Dash Panel boosts the player's Air Ride Machine when activated. It is present in every Air Ride course but Nebula Belt, and spawns in the Grass Top Ride course. There are many different kinds of dash panels, and they come in many different sizes. Only the large and medium ones are found in Air Ride courses. Small ones are found in certain Stadium events.
Most dash panels are green in color. Besides differences in size, there are two different kinds - The kind that appears as two green chevrons change the player's direction when boost is activated immediately into the direction it is pointing in, regardless of the player's original direction. The other kind, which resembles two green diamonds stacked on each other, does not change the player's direction, but simply applies the boost in the current direction.
The last one, only present in the Drag Race #2 Stadium, is not a panel at all, but a vertical yellow-orange, semi-transparent energy field that boosts the player when passed through.
Since the green ones cover a certain area, there is a technique in Air Ride mode referred to as double or even multiple-boosting, whereby the panel is activated multiple times as the player's Air Ride Machine passes over it to maximize speed gain. The efficacy of the technique is affected by the size of the Air Ride Machine - the larger the machine, the more difficult it is to perform multiple boosts using one Dash Panel.
Gallery
- Magma Flows 5.png
Using a Dash Panel in Magma Flows
- Drag Race 4.jpg
A Dash Panel is just ahead on this Drag Race course
References
- ↑ "Top Ride: GRASS Finish 1st and hit 5 or more Dash Panels!" --one of the Top Ride Checklist objectives in Kirby Air Ride
- ↑ "It's easy to skid on this course because most of it is made of ice! Even during Boosts, your top speed will not decrease dramatically, so race aggressively and use the Boost Panels!" --Kirby Air Ride North American instruction booklet, page 36
