Kirby Air Riders Unlock Every Course Guide

Kirby Air Riders is packed with thrilling racing action across 27 diverse courses split between two racing styles: Air Ride and Top Ride. While some tracks are unlocked right from the jump, unlocking the more exciting ones requires completing specific in-game challenges, making each new course a rewarding milestone for players who want to explore everything the game has to offer.

Air Ride mode features 18 courses in total, with a mix of nine fresh tracks and nine classics returning from the original game. Many of these familiar tracks start locked, so unlocking them adds another layer of achievement to mastering this mode.

Air Ride has a total of 18 courses, nine of them being new and the other nine returning from the first game. You can unlock one new course, but every returning course has to be unlocked.

Galactic Nova is unlocked by winning 15 races in Air Ride mode. You can choose any race conditions for these wins, so to speed things up, setting races to just one lap with low-difficulty AI opponents is a practical way to rack up victories quickly.

• Air Ride – Win a total of 15 times

To unlock the Galactic Nova course, you have to win 15 races in Air Ride. You can do this under any rules and conditions you wish. So if it helps, you can set races to one lap with low-level CPUs and knock this challenge out in no time.

Fantasy Meadows

Unlocking Fantasy Meadows requires winning two races consecutively in Air Ride. Maintaining a win streak can be tricky at first, but just like with Galactic Nova, lowering the race length and CPU skill level can help you secure back-to-back wins without much frustration.

You have to win two races in a row to unlock Fantasy Meadows. Win, and then win again! Using the same strategy for unlocking Galactic Nova, you can lower the laps and CPU levels to do this.

Celestial Valley

To get Celestial Valley, focus on the Cyberion Highway course and break at least 10 triangular obstacles in a single race. These obstacles are concentrated just after the loop and along the red split path. Thanks to the multiple laps and abundant obstacles, this challenge is very manageable with some careful driving.

Breaking 10 triangular obstacles in one race on Cyberion Highway unlocks Celestial Valley. These obstacles are found in two spots on the course: momentarily following the loop, and on the red path where the course splits in two. There are hundreds of these obstacles and Cyberion Highway has two laps, so there are plenty of opportunities to break these in one go.

Sky Sands

Sky Sands unlocks by completing a race with laps on Cavernous Corners without touching the large Golem blocking the path. This enemy’s movements are telegraphed by brighter patches on the road, so watch those carefully. Using a wheeled machine like the Wheelie Scooter, known for its sharp turning, makes dodging it much easier.

To unlock Sky Sands, you have to complete a race on Cavernous Corners with the rules set to laps and not touch the Golem. The Golem appears after the sharp turn that ends the part of the course with crystal edges. It’s also very large so it’s hard to avoid it if you can’t turn very well, but you can tell where it’ll land by paying attention to the brighter spots on the road. I also recommend Wheelie Scooter since it has great turning.

Frozen Hillside

Lead the race for the entire duration of two laps on Crystalline Fissure to unlock Frozen Hillside. Since this course defaults to two laps, focus on maintaining your lead steadily. If staying ahead proves challenging, increase laps or switch to a time-based race for extra breathing room.

Being in first place at the end of two laps in Crystalline Fissure will give you the Frozen Hillside course. Crystalline Fissure is two laps by default, so if you can be in first place for the majority of a race, that should do it. But if you end up having trouble completing this, you can either increase the number of laps or set the rules to time to give yourself more chances.

Magma Flows

Magma Flows calls for finishing Steamgust Forge with laps while avoiding any contact with molten steel. The molten streams appear just after the first jump past the rail section, spread unevenly across the track. Keeping your kart centered and aware of these hot spots prevents accidental collisions and unlocks this fiery course.

Magma Flows is unlocked by finishing a race on Steamgust Forge with laps rules, without touching any molten steel. The molten steel is found at the first jump past the course’s first rail section. There are five spots where molten steel is pouring, three spread out to the right of the course and two very close to each other on the left. As long as you aren’t too far on either side, you should be fine when trying to avoid them.

Beanstalk Park

Hold onto the lead for 60 seconds straight on Mount Amberfalls to gain access to Beanstalk Park. Since Mount Amberfalls usually has just one lap, grabbing the lead early is crucial. Opt for fast, nimble machines like the Wheelie Bike to help you keep the advantage through turns and stretches.

Stay in the lead for a full minute on Mount Amberfalls to unlock Beanstalk Park. Mount Amberfalls is only one lap by default, so you’ll have to get the lead pretty early in the race and maintain that lead for a long time. A speedy machine that can turn decently, like Wheelie Bike, is great for this challenge.

Machine Passage

Machine Passage requires you to pass through four ancient rings and complete a full lap on Airtopia Ruins without reversing. These rings, essentially dash zones located after the first rail on the waterfall, must be hit on two separate laps ensuring you aren’t reversing during the race.

Unlocking Machine Passage requires passing through ancient rings four times and not reversing in a lap on Airtopia Ruins. The ancient rings are circular dash zones that appear after the first rail section on the waterfall. There are only four rings, but the course has two laps, so if you get at least two each lap you should be fine.

Checker Knights

For Checker Knights, race on Fantasy Meadows under laps rules and finish three laps in under one minute. This is a challenge even against weaker AI. To shave off precious seconds, maximize speed bursts by attacking opponents, hitting dash zones, and defeating in-race enemies whenever possible.

After unlocking Fantasy Meadows, you have to race on the course with laps rules and finish in less than a minute to unlock Checker Knights. This can be hard to do, even with low level CPUs. Just take every opportunity to gain bursts of speed that you can, whether it be attacking riders, driving over dash zones, or defeating enemies on the course.

Nebula Belt

Nebula Belt unlocks when you defeat five different enemy types on Galactic Nova during a lap. The course’s length and enemy variety make this achievable without much extra effort, especially in the default one-lap races.

Nebula Belt is unlocked by defeating five types of enemies on Galactic Nova and finishing a lap under laps rules. Galactic Nova is one lap by default, but the course is very long with plenty of enemies along parts of it. You should have no problem defeating enough enemies in one go to unlock Nebula Belt.

Top Ride

Top Ride mode offers nine tracks with only one locked course, Nova. Unlock it by winning 15 races in Top Ride mode. Like other unlock challenges, setting races to one lap helps speed up the process.

Nova

• Top Ride – Win a total of 15 times

To unlock Top Ride’s Nova course, you have to win 15 Top Ride races. Just like unlocking Galactic Nova in Air Ride, you can change the rules to have courses as one lap to make this fly by a lot faster.