Kirby's Air Ride (Nintendo 64)

Template:Infobox-CancelledGame Kirby's Air Ride was an unreleased precursor to the similarly-named Nintendo GameCube game set to release on the Nintendo 64. An early version of the game was briefly showcased at E3 (the Electronic Entertainment Expo) in 1996 by Nintendo as part of their Nintendo 64 line-up. Gameplay footage was also shown in a promotional video which featured the game in a later stage of development. Kirby's Air Ride was eventually reworked into the 2003 release on the Nintendo GameCube.

Before becoming this prototype, the game was originally known as カービィボウル64 (Kirby Ball 64), with Ball Kirby being controlled rather than characters on Warp Stars. It was most likely meant to be a sequel to Kirby's Dream Course, which is called カービィボウル (Kirby Ball) in Japanese.^[1]

Gameplay

Gameplay footage revealed that the game would function similar to titles like 1080 Snowboarding, with Kirby and other characters riding down a straight course on Warp Stars, with the ability to jump off of hills and do flips in the air. It was also apparently possible to crash the Warp Star, collect Point Stars on the course, dismount and Hover around on foot, and play splitscreen multiplayer. Also present in later builds was a health bar in the lower-left with a portrait of Kirby's face that bore various reactions.

Playable characters

Trivia

The background image used in early demonstrations of the game is the map image used for the Dyna Blade game in [[Kirby Super Star|Template:KSS KFP]].
The hat Kirby is seen wearing in later builds of this game resembles the one Kirby gets from Yo-Yo ability.
Had this title been released as planned, it would have been Kirby's debut appearance in 3D, as well as the first game in the series to take place in a full 3D environment.

Gallery

Kirby
King Dedede
Mr. Frosty
Poppy Bros. Sr.
Four-player splitscreen match
Two-player splitscreen match
Kirby's Air Ride N64 Screen 1.jpg

Kirby racing down a course (E3 1996)
Kirby's Air Ride N64 Screen 2.jpg

Split-screen gameplay from Kirby's Air Ride (E3 1996)
Kirby's Air Ride N64 Screen 3.jpg

King Dedede racing in Kirby's Air Ride (E3 1996)
Kirby riding on a hilly course
Kirby riding on a snowy course