Swerve Star
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The Swerve Star is a ridable machine in Kirby Air Ride. Its standout characteristic is needing to stop and charge, or glide, in order to turn.
Appearance
The main body of this vehicle appears as a small, four-sided pyramid which has been introverted to point downwards, with the rider sitting upon the base. The pyramid is mostly composed of large golden bricks, but the seams between the bricks are a bright green. Floating at both the left and right side of the base is a pair of smaller and more elongated pyramids, which are not composed of bricks; each of the four is a single golden unit. Each pair of pyramids has a green base facing the base of its opposite, with one pointing straight upwards and the other pointing down. Between the two bases is a small sphere which glows green-white. All four of these floating pyramids spin clockwise, and spin at a greater speed with the faster the vehicle is moving. The glowing sphere is dull when the machine is stopped, but glows brighter at higher speeds or when the machine is holding a large charge ready to be loosed. The glowing spheres seem to be the machine's method of propulsion, as white trails shoot out from them in the opposite direction of the machine's velocity, while the machine is in motion.
Mechanics
The Swerve Star is one of the more unusual machines in the game, as it is completely unable to turn under normal circumstances--it can only turn of its own accord while gliding or charging. In addition, it comes to a dead stop as soon as it begins charging, and does not begin moving again until the charge is unleashed. After the charge is unleashed, or after the machine otherwise accelerates from a stop, it instantly moves to its top speed of 31.18 km/h. As such, the machine cruises at that speed, then abruptly stops to aim its new trajectory, then begins to cruise once more until it must turn again--hence the flavor text of "Cruise! Stop! Cruise! Stop!"
Aside from its inability to effectively turn or boost, most of the Swerve Star's statistics are average or above average. In particular, its top speed is very high, and it also has a practically perfect acceleration. Despite its apparent inability to turn, the ability to stop, precisely aim one's trajectory, and then start in that direction, gives it an unparalleled level of control. The combination of these factors make it excellent for racing in Air Ride mode, as well as precisely navigating the city of City Trial, and even allow it to excel in almost all Stadiums, barring only High Jump and Air Glide. It does, however, have some flaws when attempting to use certain Copy Abilities which only activate when charging--such as Fire or Freeze.
The Swerve Star is considered by many players to be to be the best all-around accessible machine in the game, due to its pristine level control, along with perfect acceleration and relatively high top speed. Because of the high regard it holds, however, this vehicle is occasionally banned from use in competitive environments.
How to Unlock
To unlock this machine for use in Air Ride mode, the player must beat a two-lap standard race of Sky Sands in under 02:05:00 with any vehicle.
In City Trial, the Swerve Star can occasionally found randomly throughout the city and be mounted like most other air ride machines. It is always available in Free Run as well.
Instruction Booklet Description
"This special machine has two speeds: fast and stopped! It can change directions only during a boost, but it can accelerate to its top speed instantly."
