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Nintendo has several big exclusives coming to its new Switch 2 console, with one of them being Kirby Air Riders. A sequel to Kirby Air Ride on the GameCube, the new game was the focus of an in-depth Nintendo Direct livestream hosted by game director Masahiro Sakurai. The presentation lifted the lid on Kirby Air Riders and revealed tons of new information. In case you missed it, here’s everything that we’ve learned so far about it ahead of its arrival on the Switch 2.

Kirby Air Riders: Release date and pricing

You won’t have to wait long for Kirby Air Riders, as the game will be out for Switch 2 on November 20 and it’ll be priced at $70.

Riders on the storm

The roster for Kirby Air Riders looks solid so far, as Kirby is joined by King Dedede, Meta Knight, Banana Waddle Dee, Chef Kawasaki, Magolor, Gooey, and Knuckle Joe. Each rider also has special abilities, adding variety to each race.

The Super Smash Bros. team is back

Kirby Air Riders is a joint effort between Sora Ltd. and Bandai Namco, as the team behind Super Smash Bros. on Wii U and 3DS reunited to develop the game.

“OK, so it is basically Mario Kart.”

Sakurai himself admitted that there are quite a few similarities between Mario Kart and Kirby Air Riders, as both racing games feature a colorful roster of characters battling each other across various courses. Kirby Air Riders still does plenty to differentiate itself from Mario Kart, and as Sakurai added, racing is only part of this game’s appeal.

Ride to survive

Racing is easy to learn, as each machine in the game moves forward automatically without you needing to press any buttons. What you will need to do is steer your machine and keep it steady when you land from a jump. Each machine also has different stats and traits, so learning the nuances of each one is necessary.

Braking good

Another cool trick–that feels very inspired by Mario Kart–is that you can press the B button to start a Boost Charge, brake, and then accelerate out of a corner with a Boost Dash. Mastering this with just enough pressure on the left joystick will allow you to perform drift maneuvers, which will help you gain even more of a speed advantage during a race.

“We’ve added a second button–unfortunately.”

Bad news for fans of one-button games, as Kirby Air Riders will require you to use two inputs during a race. While the B button can be used for boosts, the Y button will let you pull off special moves, switch machines, and pull off more moves.

Special attacks will help even the odds

Each character has a unique special move, and by attacking rivals, you can fill up your Special Gauge. Once it’s full, you can unleash your special attack on anyone in close proximity to you. Kirby can unleash a series of slashes with a giant blade, King Dedede can activate the jet engine hidden in his hammer to dash forward, and Night Wing can can spread their wings to fly forward at an incredible speed.

Kirby has four specials, based on his color variant

Kirby isn’t the only copycat in this game

Kirby and the rest of the roster will have copy abilities, as Sakurai felt it was unfair for the pink blob to be the only character with those skills.

City Trial mode is back

City Trial mode returns in Kirby Air Riders, and it looks bigger than ever. Skyah is the new hub that players can explore, and it’ll see players race around this locale collecting everything they need to improve their machine with power-ups. There’s a five-minute time limit to this, and once it’s up, Stadium Events will kick off and put players through a gauntlet of challenges.

Watch out for random events

While you’re scavenging for parts and attacking other players, random Field Events will occur throughout this phase. You don’t have to participate in them, but completing them will earn you power-ups based on your performance. One of the events shown off was Dustup Derby, where the goal is to knock your opponents out, and another was Short Race, where you’ll get to race through a sectioned-off area of the map.

Stadium arcadium

Each stadium offers different challenges, so you’ll need to ensure that you stock up on the right power-ups and have the right machine selected.

Multiplayer has been expanded to 16 players

Up to 16 players can compete in online mode, and in local wireless, Kirby Air Riders supports up to eight players and eight CPU opponents.

You can listen to some of the new Kirby music already

The official Kirby Air Riders box art is adorable

Like other Nintendo first-party games released so far this year, Kirby Air Riders won’t be a Game Key Card release. The box art is devoid of that disclaimer, allowing the full cover art to shine.