There’s no shortage of hit multiplayer games I could be playing right now. I could be tearing up the streets of Brooklyn in Battlefield 6, taking down Nightlords in Elden Ring: Nightreign, or diving into any number of hit co-op games currently tearing up Steam charts. I probably should be playing Arc Raiders, considering that it’s the talk of the gaming world right now. And yet, I can’t stop skidding around city streets as a runaway hamster instead.
For the past week, the Switch 2-exclusive Kirby Air Riders has dominated my time in ways I never could’ve expected. While I was initially drawn in by its wealth of unlockables, I’ve found myself sticking with it thanks to its online multiplayer modes. More specifically, I’ve spent countless hours in the racing game’s signature City Trial mode, which may very well be my favorite multiplayer experience of the year.
City Trial originally appeared in 2003’s Kirby Air Ride and returned for the sequel. In it, players are dropped into a city and have five minutes to collect as many stat boosts as they can get, swap vehicles to best suit their playstyle, and participate in random world events that can pay out valuable prizes. All of that builds to a final minigame showdown where players have to put their stat build to the test in endgames that range from a simple drag race to a straight-up boss battle. It’s a joyously creative multiplayer battle that no other game I can think of has ever dared to replicate.
While the thrills of City Trial aren’t new for long-time fans, they’re all kicked into high gear in the Switch 2 sequel. Part of that is due to the power of the console itself, which allows the game to run at a smooth 60 frames per second even when I’m barreling around at an uncontrollable speed as Gordos or meteors rain down from the sky. It’s a sensory blitz that veers into slapstick comedy as the end of a round approaches. That’s helped me pin down why I’m so drawn to City Trial: It plays like a satire of modern video games.
See, so many multiplayer games I play these days are all about escalation. In Elden Ring; Nightreign, for instance, I start with nothing. I gradually boost my stats, collect better gear, and fine-tune my build to the point that I’m powerful enough to melt bosses. Plenty of games follow that formula in some form, encouraging you to collect as much as possible so you can grow increasingly more powerful. The higher the numbers on your weapon stats, the stronger you are.
But what if digital gluttony came with a price? What if it could backfire? That’s the joke Air Riders repeatedly plays on its racers.
While you do want to pad your stats out in a City Trial round, there comes a point where you can go too far. When your speed stat starts approaching 15, you’re suddenly so fast that it becomes harder to deliberately pick up items. Overtuned turning can make that even more difficult, as hairpin swerving at max speed will leave you careening around the city streets. Even more dangerous is a high glide stat, which can turn your machine into a paper airplane that flies off the map the moment you get even the smallest bit of elevation. Some end minigames can even become more difficult with bloated stat builds. One tasks players with gliding into a point board to nab a high score, something that becomes near impossible if you’re too fast and floaty — or if you’re riding a wheeled vehicle and have grabbed too many weight pickups.
It’s a hysterical design decision that initially makes City Trial such a casual thrill, but it’s also what gives the mode its secret depth in the long-term. City Trial isn’t just about gobbling up every stat in your path, though it tempts you to do that with splashy visual feedback that dishes out serotonin each time you nab a boost. In top-level ranked play, restraint is a hidden stat. You have to learn when enough is enough or how to rebalance your machine to bring it back down to Earth. Nabbing weight upgrades can help counterbalance high glide. Negative stats that can appear on the field become a godsend instead of a detriment. Even choosing the right machine to stabilize a build can be crucial. If your speed is way too high, you probably don’t want to be on a Wheelie. It’s like going to an all-you-can-eat buffet; you have to know how to pace yourself and stop before you barf.
That revelation has turned Kirby Air Riders from a bit of casual weekend fun into my favorite multiplayer game of the year, against all odds. Each round of City Trial tests my ability to juggle multiple skills while also dealing with any random chaos that can strike during a match. I have to be able to feel my stat build since I can’t track the numbers in real-time, keeping a mental note of where my vehicle is at so I know when to play aggressively and when to slow down. And when I accidentally let myself gorge too much, all I can do is try to hold on and hope for the best as my machine turns into a bucking bronco.
So, my apologies to my friends in Arc Raiders. I’ll be sure to help you extract all that loot soon enough. But there are some giant pillars in the middle of Skyah that need destroying, and I’m the right hamster for the job.
