Everything You Need to Know From Today’s Kirby Air Riders Direct

In another hour-long presentation, Kirby Air Riders director and Kirby creator Masahiro Sakurai revealed even more about the upcoming racer. Much from the original 2003 game is set to return alongside a robust character selection.

Ahead of the Direct, many had doubts about what else could possibly be shown after the first one showed off many new riders and machines, and went in-depth on several modes. Sakurai winked at these concerns as the presentation started before going into the return of Top Mode. A top-down racing mode from the original Kirby Air Ride on GameCube, players race on small tracks related to the main race courses. Players will be able to have the camera focused in on them or zoomed out for all players, depending on the multiplayer style and preference. There will also be a suite of options in the game, with multiple languages for the announcers and accessibility options to reduce screen motion and field of view, a rarity for anything published by Nintendo.

Also returning from the original game is the entire game. Every race course is returning for Air Riders, remade on par with most Mario Kart retro tracks, with their original music as well. Although these will not all be available at the start of the game, Sakurai assures players that they will have easy unlock conditions. There will be plenty more to unlock, from hats for riders to cosmetic vehicle customization options, thanks to the returning Checklists, one for each of the game’s five modes. Some features, like the Checklists, will be available in the game after a day one update, although there aren’t any current plans for DLC or major content updates.

The game’s new Online mode was given a lot of attention in the Direct. Sakurai went into the most minute details—customizable licenses, characters given animations just for the lobby, and how team matches of City Trial will throw everyone into the same final challenge, unlike the regular matches, to name a few. There will be an online demo on November 8-9, and November 15-16, and players with digital pre-orders will get an exclusive hat to wear in the demo (that bafflingly, does not transfer to the actual game).