Save 26% Off Kirby Air Riders for the Nintendo Switch 2

At first glance, Kirby Air Riders is a kart racer similar to Mario Kart World but with a unique cast of characters that includes Kirby, Waddle Dee, King Dedede, and Meta Knight. That comparison, however, is skin deep. These two games are different enough that they’re both worth adding to your Switch 2 collection, even if Masahiro Sakurai had hinted otherwise.

In his Kirby Air Riders review, Logan Plant points out that Air Riders is a “significant leap forward” versus the original Air Ride for Gamecube. Although both Air Riders and Mario Kart World involve racing against other characters in go-karts, even the fundamental gameplay is quite different. Mario Kart World focuses on racing mechanics, but Kirby Air Riders is much more battle-oriented. In that respect, it actually shares some similarities to Super Smash Bros, even down to every character having its own super move.

Kirby Air Riders also has a couple of modes that distinguishes itself from its competition, most notably a single player campaign called Road Trip that actually has a story behind it. Equally enjoyable (if not more so) is City Trial mode, a battle royale fest that has you exploring a big city to collect power-ups and customize your vehicle across a total of 150 different challenges. Mario Kart World’s Free Roam allows you to do some of these things, but not nearly all of it.

The next time I expect the price to drop will be around Black Friday in November. The price might go down a bit more (I’m guessing $49.99), but you’ll have to wait a few months to save a few bucks.

If you’re out of space, double your storage with this memory card deal

The Onn 512GB MicroSD Express Memory Card is still available at Walmart for $84.77 and the 256GB model is also available for $46.77, both with free shipping. The Switch 2 console will only accept MicroSD Express cards. If you have a standard MicroSD card from your previous Switch, it won’t work on the Switch 2. Although the two might look similar, the MicroSD Express card is much faster than its precedessor. The Onn model is no different, with speeds of up to 800MB/s write and 600MB/s read.

Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn’t hunting for deals for other people at work, he’s hunting for deals for himself during his free time.