Air Ride Machine Artwork of four Kirbys on various Air Ride Machines from Kirby Air Ride. Details Type Special Ability Function Allows for controlled transport Found Random parts of the city and Skyah, Underground Skylight / Parking Garage (Free Run only) Game(s) Kirby Air Ride, Kirby Air Riders

This box: view • talk • edit

	Notice: It has been suggested that this article be renamed to Air Ride machine.
	Please discuss this proposal on the talk page, or rename the article if appropriate. Reason: "New world" situation; the lowercase spelling is officially used more often than the title case spelling

Air Ride Machines (also formatted as "Air Ride machines", and referred to as simply machines) are the main method of transportation in Kirby Air Ride and Kirby Air Riders. They come in many different types, each having their own appearance and stats.

In Air Ride, only the Warp Star (along with the Winged Star and Wagon Star in Kirby Air Riders) is initially available, and other machines must be unlocked from there. In City Trial, each character starts with the Compact Star and can dismount it to get on other vehicles around the city. In Kirby Air Ride, Top Ride has only two machines, with the only difference being how they are controlled.

In Kirby Air Ride, only Kirby was able to dismount and mount other Air Ride Machines, with Meta Knight and King Dedede serving as other options in the machine selection menu: however, Kirby Air Riders allows every rider to dismount their machine and board other ones, influencing the machines' stats based on the character.

Machines also have HP in some modes, such as City Trial, and when a machine runs out of HP, it gets destroyed and its rider will collapse on the ground. In order to make Air Ride Machines stronger, characters can patch their machine with various patches found across the city.

While no explanation is given for the existence of the machines in Kirby Air Ride, the non-legendary machines in Kirby Air Riders are shown to be creations of Galactic Nova, made in response to Zorah's wish to move freely. The legendary machine Gigantes is also shown to be one of Nova's creations, having been built from Zorah's body.

Machines[edit]

In Kirby Air Ride, there are 20 machines with two additional characters, making a total of 22 options. In Kirby Air Riders, there are 28 machines, 18 of which return from the previous game; the two additional characters and the two Top Ride-exclusive machines are absent (Meta Knight and King Dedede being considered regular riders that can now ride any machine, and any machine being selectable in Top Ride with the Free and Steer control styles being changed to selectable options) while ten new machines are introduced.

Machine	Kirby Air Ride	Kirby Air Riders	Type	Description
Warp Star			Star	The Warp Star is one of the most balanced machines. All of its stats are average all around. It has no real flaws, but doesn't excel at anything.
Turbo Star			Star	The Turbo Star has great top speeds, but unorthodox handling. Its turning and charge are based off of speed, with more speed meaning a longer turn but a faster charge.
Formula Star			Star	The Formula Star is a vehicle that has high top speeds but a really slow acceleration. It lacks gliding capabilities and has poor handling, but it can really shine during Drag Races.
Slick Star			Star	The Slick Star is a slippery machine with above average charging. It can take time to get used to, but can use its bad traction to its advantage. All of its other stats are average.
Swerve Star			Star	This machine cannot turn while moving and can only turn while charging. Its charge speed is good and it has incredible acceleration, reaching its top speed almost instantly. All of its other stats are average. An exception to this is gliding, which is below average.
Wagon Star			Star	The Wagon Star cannot charge at all, leaving its charge gauge completely empty at all times. As a result, it cannot boost. To make up for this, it has good handling and excellent HP.
Bulk Star			Star	This machine relies on charging to move, not being able to go anywhere if not charged. However, this machine has great battling capabilities and can even go at high top speeds.
Shadow Star			Star	The Shadow Star has high acceleration, gliding and offensive capabilities, but has low HP and poor defense, making it very fragile.
Winged Star			Star	The Winged Star is a fairly slow machine, but picks up with its excellent gliding stat. It is pretty weak though and cannot take many hits. Its other stats are average.
Rocket Star			Star	The Rocket Star has incredibly low top speed but it has an excellent boost, shooting it forward at very high speeds. It has a slow charging speed, however, and all of its other stats are average.
Jet Star			Star	The Jet Star is an average machine and well-rounded everywhere. When it leaves the ground, it gets a boost of speed and can directly glide upwards. When it lands on the ground, it gains another burst of speed.
Wheelie Bike			Bike	The Wheelie Bike is the standard bike-type vehicle, meaning it is unable to glide. Because it is always on the ground, it automatically hits any boost panels it may drive upon. Its stats are mostly average, with gliding and handling being below average.
Wheelie Scooter			Bike	This machine excels at jumping instead of gliding. It has low top speed, but it can gain it fairly easily from driving off of ramps and boost panels. It has great acceleration, handling and charging speed, but it is lacking in fighting capabilities.
Rex Wheelie			Bike	The Rex Wheelie is a heavy bike with great battling capabilities but poor handling. It has weak acceleration and is not good at gliding, but has fast top speed.
Compact Star			Star	Compact Star is the machine everyone starts with in City Trial. It has good acceleration and nice handling, but it is very slow, has poor battling capabilities and is very frail.
Dragoon			Legendary	The Dragoon is a legendary machine that is assembled by finding its three parts around the city. It has outstanding top speed and gliding capabilities, able to stay airborne for a very long time and shoot through the sky.
Hydra			Legendary	The Hydra is a legendary machine that has amazing power, being able to do huge damage by ramming into others at incredible speed. It has a massive bulk and can take a lot of hits. However, it can only move by charging up and will stay in place until charged.
Flight Warp Star			Star	The Flight Warp Star is a unique Air Ride Machine, only being able to be used in the Free Run mode of City Trial. Its stats are mostly the same as the Warp Star aside from its glide, which can be used to fly across the city and to practice flight.
Free Star			Star	Free Star is one of two Air Ride Machines available in Top Ride. Its turning is determined by the direction the control stick is pointing at.
Steer Star			Star	Steer Star is the only other machine in Top Ride. Its stats are the same as the Free Star, but it can only turn left or right from where Kirby is facing.
Meta Knight			Character	A special character who flies like Wing Kirby but slashes anything in front of him like Sword Kirby. He cannot use copy abilities.
King Dedede			Character	The self-styled king riding his Wheelie Bike Dedede Custom. He uses his hammer to bash anyone in front of him. He cannot use copy abilities.
Hop Star			Star	The Hop Star replaces its Quick Spin with a jump, accelerating momentarily and allowing it to evade hazards on the ground. Boost Charging in mid-air will make it crash back down, damaging nearby enemies on impact.
Vampire Star			Star	The Vampire Star automatically bites nearby enemies and rivals, dealing damage and briefly enhancing its stats; the range of the bite increases with a Boost Dash. The bite will also steal Copy Abilities and items from rivals. Its stats are average while it is not in a powered up state.
Paper Star			Star	Light as paper but just as fragile, the Paper Star excels at gliding, handling, and acceleration but has very poor combat stats.
Chariot			Chariot	The Chariot is a grounded vehicle similar to the Wheelie Bike and its variants, distinguished by having two wheels instead of one. This gives it high maneuverability among a spread of overall decent stats, and it has notable air speed as well, leaping swiftly off ramps.
Battle Chariot			Chariot	The Battle Chariot is a heavyweight variant of the Chariot that is less mobile in all respects except for a higher top speed, in exchange for having powerful combat stats.
Tank Star			Tank	The Tank Star is another variant of grounded vehicle that has normally poor handling and powerful Boost Dashes; while charging, the machine cannot be steered but the rider can aim themselves in any direction, and the Tank Star will instantly redirect itself in that direction when released.
Bull Tank			Tank	The Bull Tank is a less agile but more powerful variant of the Tank Star, similar to the Battle Chariot.
Transform Star			Star	The Transform Star switches between star mode and bike mode whenever it performs a Quick Spin. The star mode is better suited to gliding, while the bike mode has better turning and charges faster.
			Bike
Gigantes			Legendary	Gigantes is a colossal war machine, nominally categorized as a legendary machine and assembled the same way in City Trial but functioning in a wholly unique manner. It is able to flatten buildings and deal extreme damage to other Air Ride Machines with its Quick Spins, homing missiles, and arena-spanning Boost Dashes, and has other attacks that are performed automatically against anything that is not simply run over by it. It serves as the final boss for the normal route of the Road Trip mode. Its sheer size prevents it from being used in any Stadium except for its own "VS. Gigantes" mode, which pits its rider against all other players, and it is also unusable in any mode's Time Attack or Free Run. It does not benefit from power-up patches, but it can only be damaged by attacks aimed at specific weak points.
Leo			Legendary	Leo is a lion-like legendary machine that arrives to assist the rider in Road Trip's true ending, only obtainable in City Trial once it has been achieved. A grounded mount with well-rounded high stats in all regards except flight, it has several functions similar to other machines introduced in Kirby Air Riders, jumping instead of Quick Spinning like the Hop Star and automatically attacking nearby enemies like the Vampire Star. It cannot tolerate water and will take constant damage if exposed to it.

Other appearances[edit]

While the Air Ride Machines aren't prominent in any other Kirby games, they still appear every so often, mostly through cameos of some individual machines (particularly the original two legendary machines):

• Paint Roller can make the player draw pictures of the Compact Star, Rocket Star, Swerve Star, and Winged Star in Kirby: Canvas Curse's Paint Panic sub-game.
• The horns of the Hydra appear as a treasure in The Great Cave Offensive in Kirby Super Star Ultra.
• Stone Kirby can transform into a statue of the Dragoon in Kirby's Return to Dream Land and Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe.
• One of Beetle Kirby's Rare Hats/Headgear in Kirby Fighters Deluxe, Kirby Battle Royale, and Kirby Fighters 2 is based on the Hydra.
• The icons of the Dragoon and Hydra from Kirby Air Ride are depicted on stickers in Kirby: Planet Robobot.
• Starting with version 3.0.0, the Dragoon can appear in the background of the map of World of Miracles: Planet Popstar in Kirby Star Allies.
• Character Treats depicting the Warp Star, Shadow Star, Dragoon, and Hydra using their artwork from Kirby Air Ride can be obtained in Kirby's Dream Buffet.
• The Hydra appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
• Most notably, the Dragoon appears as a powerful item in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, where collecting its three parts allows the player to hit someone with it to deal a huge amount of knockback. It also appears as a trophy in the former two games and a spirit in the latter, and plays a major part in Super Smash Bros. Brawl's The Subspace Emissary mode, where Kirby uses it to fly straight through the Subspace Gunship.

In Kirby: Right Back at Ya![edit]

In Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, some Air Ride Machines are predominantly featured in the final few episodes of the show, most notably Air-Ride-in-Style - Part II. There, a squad of solders call the Air Riders pilot some of the machines seen in Kirby Air Ride: the Formula Star, Rocket Star, Winged Star, and Shadow Star. The machines behave differently than in their debut game, being able to run out of fuel and glide for way longer.

In the Kirby novel series[edit]

In the Kirby novel series, the Air Ride Machines appear in Kirby: Big Race in Pupupu Land!, where they are used in a race that is broadcasted around the universe. The Air Ride Machines are lined up after the first checkpoint where there are seven to choose from. Mr. Frosty boards the Slick Star, Burning Leo takes the Formula Star, Cappy picks the Jet Star and the Meta-Knights pile up on the Shadow Star. Kirby and Waddle Dee show up last and have to use the Warp Star and Wheelie Scooter respectively. Unlike in Kirby Air Ride, King Dedede takes the Rex Wheelie instead of using his own custom made Wheelie Bike.

Trivia[edit]

• Early sketches for the Air Ride Machines shown in the Kirby's 20th Anniversary Celebration Book show concepts of Kirby transforming into the Air Ride Machines instead of riding them.

Gallery[edit]

Artwork[edit]

• 

  Kirby on the Warp Star from Kirby Air Ride

• 

  Kirby on the Warp Star from Kirby Air Ride

• 

  Kirby on the Wheelie Bike from Kirby Air Ride

• 

  Kirby on the Free Star from Kirby Air Ride

• 

  Kirby on the Steer Star from Kirby Air Ride

• 

  Yellow Kirby on the Formula Star from Kirby Air Ride

• 

  Yellow Kirby on the Winged Star from Kirby Air Ride

• 

  Red Kirby on the Winged Star from Kirby Air Ride

• 

  Red Kirby on the Flight Warp Star from Kirby Air Ride

• 

  Blue Kirby on the Shadow Star from Kirby Air Ride

• 

  Blue Kirby on the Shadow Star from Kirby Air Ride

• 

  Blue Kirby on the Slick Star from Kirby Air Ride

• 

  Sword Kirby on the Jet Star from Kirby Air Ride

• 

  Yellow Bomb Kirby on the Rocket Star from Kirby Air Ride

• 

  Red Fire Kirby on the Rex Wheelie from Kirby Air Ride

• 

  Kirby on the Warp Star from Kirby Air Riders

• 

  Kirby on the Warp Star from Kirby Air Riders

• 

  King Dedede on the Tank Star from Kirby Air Riders

• 

  Meta Knight on the Shadow Star from Kirby Air Riders

• 

  Bandana Waddle Dee on the Winged Star from Kirby Air Riders

• 

  Chef Kawasaki on the Hop Star from Kirby Air Riders

Other[edit]

• 

• 

  Character Treat of Blue Kirby on the Shadow Star from Kirby's Dream Buffet

Videos[edit]

Names in other languages[edit]

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	エアライドマシン[1][2] earaido mashin	Air Ride Machine
English	Air Ride machine	-
Traditional Chinese	馭天飛行器[2] yù tiān fēi xíng qì	Sky-Riding Aircraft
Simplified Chinese	驭天飞行器[2] yù tiān fēi xíng qì
French	Machine Air Ride[1] Bolide Air Ride[2]	Air Ride machine Bolide refers to both a bright meteor and, in French slang, a fast car. Bolide is consistently used instead of "machine" in the French localizations of Kirby Air Riders.
German	Air-Ride-Maschine[1][2]	Air Ride Machine
Korean	에어 라이드 머신[2] e'eo raideu meosin	Air Ride Machine
Portuguese	Máquina rasante[2]	Low-flying machine The name of the "Air Ride" mode in Portuguese also incorporates the word "rasante".
Latin American Spanish	Nave Air Ride[2]	Air Ride ship

References