Kirby's Air Ride (Nintendo 64)
| ||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||
- This article is about the canceled Nintendo 64 game. For the GameCube game, see Kirby Air Ride.
Kirby's Air Ride was a canceled racing-sports spin-off Kirby game intended for release on the Nintendo 64, which would have featured Kirby and other characters riding Warp Stars like snowboards down slopes. 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 canceled, with the name later being inherited by the 2003-released Nintendo GameCube title.
Before becoming Kirby's Air Ride, the game was originally known as カービィボウル64 (Kirby Ball 64), with Kirby Ball being controlled rather than characters on Warp Stars. It was most likely originally 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.
In Masahiro Sakurai's 2023 video discussing Kirby Air Ride for the GameCube, he explains that the GameCube title has no direct relation to Kirby's Air Ride on Nintendo 64, stating that the two differ in fundamental game essence. He does admit however that the Nintendo 64 title "...sparked some ideas about what might or might not work."
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.
- The hat Kirby is seen wearing in later builds of this game resembles the one Kirby gets from Yo-Yo ability.
Gallery
First version
Four-player splitscreen match
Two-player splitscreen match
GamePro, July 1997
Second version
Riding on a hilly course
Riding on a snowy course
Hovering over the terrain
Performing a big jump
Gliding over a wind farm
Leaping through a bunch of rainbow-colored rings
Floating next to one ring
Videos
Electronic Entertainment Expo 1996 footage
|
A short introduction to the game.
|
Kirby and King Dedede racing each other
|
Promotional VHS for upcoming games on the Nintendo 64 (Kirby's Air Ride starts at 8:17)
|
