True to form, Super Smash Bros. legend Masahiro Sakurai spent the latest Kirby Air Riders Direct breaking down the game's features in meticulous detail, and you'd be forgiven for thinking that after 60 minutes of info, there wouldn't be much left to announce. But no, there was one more thing at the end – the reveal of a pair of beta weekends set to run ahead of the Switch 2 racing game's launch in November.
"During the Global Test Ride event," Nintendo says in a press release, "players can check out Lessons, Air Ride, and City Trial. For Air Ride, the following courses will be playable: Floria Fields, Waveflow Waters and Mount Amberfalls. Players can also jump into a paddock, in which they can create a room, invite friends to a City Trial or play with others worldwide. The paddock can accommodate up to 16 people during the Global Test Ride, while the retail version will allow up to 32 players."
The Global Test Ride demo will be available "starting the afternoon of Friday, Nov 7," Nintendo says. That's a bit before the first beta event actually starts, but you'll be able to play through the Lessons tutorials even while the servers are offline. You'll need a Nintendo Switch Online Membership to access much of the content, but you'll be able to play Lessons and Air Ride mode even without the subscription.
Here's the full list of beta times:
- November 8, 12:00 am – 6:00 am PT
- November 8, 4:00 pm – 10:00 pm PT
- November 9, 7:00 am – 1:00 pm PT
- November 15, 12:00 am – 6:00 am PT
- November 15, 4:00 pm – 10:00 pm PT
- November 16, 7:00 am – 1:00 pm PT
Kirby Air Riders will launch in full on November 20. It's one of the three big first-party upcoming Switch 2 games still on the horizon for 2025, launching just a couple of weeks after Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment and just a couple of weeks before Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. Switch 2 owners look to have a veritable feast ahead of them.
These are the best Switch 2 games you can play so far.
