Kirby Air Riders, the sequel to 2003’s cult classic Kirby Air Ride, finds you duking it out with Kirby characters via vehicular combat on aerial raceways. Everything in Kirby Air Riders is over in a flash. In just a few minutes, I can soar through the sky in an Air Glider challenge, squelch dozens of buttons in a Button Rush challenge, and ace a drag race.
These individual challenges are won or lost in seconds — calling its races “fast-paced” would be the understatement of the year. Vehicles chaotically zip by in blink-or-you’ll-miss-it moments. While I’ve never played the original, I’m already enamored with the 2025 title; I can’t get enough of its bite-sized game modes. In a world ruled by short-form content, Kirby Air Riders is the perfect game for my rapidly declining attention span.
Where I once delighted in hour-long YouTube video essays, my mouse now gravitates toward seconds-long YouTube Shorts taking up more and more real estate on YouTube’s homepage. And where I was reveling in Mario Kart World’s long-ish four-race Grand Prix and Knockout Tour modes this summer, I’m now gravitating toward Kirby’s racer, where the longest multi-lap race might take… three minutes to finish? Three-and-a-half, tops.
With how digestible Kirby Air Riders is, it lends itself to both quick, ten-minute sessions and longer periods. Blasting King Dedede with a fireball or making Knuckle Joe spin off a track during a quick race is a great way to pass the time during an NFL game’s commercial break or while waiting for pasta to boil. When I don’t have the attention span for another six hours on the couch exploring Ghost of Yōtei, Kirby Air Riders is here with a 10-second Target Flight challenge.
Lack of attention isn’t my only day-to-day obstacle in life. I’m also terrible at making choices. What to play, what to read, to eat — I’m paralyzed by choice. Kirby Air Riders does well in making choices for me. Its Road Trip mode, which doubles as a story campaign, is effectively a grab-bag of everything the game has to offer.
You’re continually presented with three options (like a Top Ride race, an Air Ride race, and a City Trail challenge), and beating one of them will have your rider move on to the next set. Sometimes, only one option is presented, like a boss fight or merchant, and to that I say, yes, please. Choose for me.
It’s no secret that society is collectively suffering from brain rot, the catch-all term for a decline in our attention spans, ability to focus, and generally degraded intellectual states. Despite staying away from TikTok, Instagram Reels, and more, I’m still as susceptible to a rotting brain as anyone. At least now, with Kirby Air Riders, I have a chaotically enjoyable outlet to turn to, full of goals to progress toward, for when focusing becomes too much a challenge. I much prefer kicking King Dedede’s butt as Rick the hamster than picking my phone up for yet another doomscroll sesh.
