Air Ride: Sky Sands

Air Ride: Sky Sands
Various arrangements of "Air Ride: Sky Sands".
Details
Debut appearance Kirby Air Ride (2003)
Last appearance Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe (2023)
Other appearance(s) Kirby Mass Attack
Kirby's Dream Buffet
Composer(s) Shogo Sakai
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"Air Ride: Sky Sands" (capitalized as "Air Ride: SKY SANDS" in the Sound Test) is the theme of the Sky Sands course in Kirby Air Ride. It was composed by Shogo Sakai.[1]

CompositionEdit

 
Racing through the sands in the sky.

"Air Ride: Sky Sands" has a fast-paced rhythm, set at 144 beats per minute in the key of E minor. The song features an eclectic range of instruments: while grounded by acoustic guitar and electric bass, the lead switches between instruments such as shakuhachi and bagpipes, and its percussion primarily consists of a set of tabla drums. It also incorporates a brass section and a male choir.

Game appearancesEdit

Kirby Air RideEdit

"Air Ride: Sky Sands" makes its first appearance here as the default theme of the course of the same name. As a checklist reward, clearing Sky Sands in Time Attack with a time of less than 3 minutes and 10 seconds will unlock the theme in the Sound Test.

Kirby Mass AttackEdit

A remix of the Sky Sands theme plays in the fourth and tenth stages of Sandy Canyon in Kirby Mass Attack, rearranged by Shogo Sakai. In the Sound Test, this remix is titled "Night Desert". Because of the more limited Nintendo DS hardware, it's changed from a CD streamed track to a MIDI sequence; there are some differences in instrumentation as a result, such as replacing the electric bass with an 8-bit square wave. However, the male choir has been retained as a vocal sample.

Kirby's Dream BuffetEdit

The original version from Kirby Air Ride, named "Kirby Air Ride: Memorial Song 2" in-game, is unlocked for potential use in races upon reaching Gourmet Rank 111 in Kirby's Dream Buffet.

Kirby's Return to Dream Land DeluxeEdit

In Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, a remixed version of the theme paired with an arrangement of "Air Ride: Machine Passage", named "Dusty Steel Field", plays during level 3 of the Booming Blasters sub-game. A chiptune arrangement of the theme, named "Dusty Steel Field (Secret Song)" is unlocked after clearing all the missions associated with the sub-game, and is used under similar circumstances. Both of these were arranged by Yuki Shimooka.

Other appearancesEdit

The song is available on the Japan-only albums The Very Best of Kirby: 52 Hit Tracks and Kirby's Airride Business trip Sound Test.

On The Sound of Kirby Café album, "Air Ride: Sky Sands" is remixed for Track 6, titled やすらぎのオアシス/エアライド:サンドーラ (Peaceful Oasis / Air Ride: Sky Sands). It is once again arranged by Shogo Sakai. The track is now in major key instead of minor, and has a much slower tempo with a bossa nova feeling. It has also been extended with regards to the original melody, including a piano solo.

Names in other languagesEdit

Language Name Meaning
Japanese エアライド:サンドーラ
Earaido: Sandōra
Air Ride: Sandoola


References

  1. Kirby's Airride Business trip Sound Test