Saudi Arabia’s video game rating agency is very pleased with Kirby Air Riders.
The General Authority of Media Regulation shared this rating on Twitter (translated with DeepL):
Kirby Air Riders returns with a fun interactive racing experience that combines speed, simplicity, and the beloved characters of the Kirby universe.
The game has been rated 7 and above.
#Game_Rating
General Authority for #Media_Regulation
Saudi Arabia’s video game rating system is straightforward, if a bit blunt. They have age ratings for 3, 7, 12, 16, 18, and 21, respectively.
Simple enough, Kirby Air Riders is good for ages 7 and above. It’s only one level short of being good for all ages. But we suspect many parents will find that it’s good enough to play for toddlers as well.
What Do We Know About Kirby Air Riders ?
Kirby Air Riders was the big final surprise of the big Switch 2 Direct. This is a co-production of Nintendo, HAL Laboratory, and SORA Ltd. That would be the natural consequence of bringing together Masahiro Sakurai and his creation Kirby to make a Switch 2 game.
Even until now, Nintendo, HAL, and SORA have been mum about the game. All that we’ve seen so far is you will be playing different colored Kirbys riding different vehicles to race.
There’s no information on any story, gameplay modes, local and online multiplayer, GameChat and GameShare features, and more.
That One Strange Rumor
There was a rumor that Nintendo gave Sakurai the opportunity to make Kirby Air Riders as a ‘negotiating tactic’, to coax him to work on the next Super Smash Bros. game. But Nintendo and Sakurai have yet to acknowledge the story. So they won’t even talk if the rumor is true or not.
What The Game Rating Means
Gamers know what a game rating usually means. There is a version of Kirby Air Riders that was complete enough for someone to play through and provide a content rating. And it suggests that Nintendo and HAL are going to release the game very soon.
But, it doesn’t always play out like that. Sometimes a game releases months after it gets ratings from agencies around the world. In these cases, the game may be complete, but new reasons come up to delay its release. Often video games do get ratings before they even go gold.
This rating at least tells us that Kirby Air Riders is close to completion. Even if it hasn’t gone gold, it would have to be close enough there for rating agencies to do their job.
Will Nintendo Show Kirby Air Riders Soon?
Nintendo has played their cards quietly so far. They haven’t talked much about Metroid Prime 4: Beyond either. Both games and Pokemon Legends Z-A could all get dedicated Nintendo Directs in the next five months. Or, they could get some Directs with two or more of them together. Or they could all be delayed.
Nintendo simply won’t tip their hat until the schedule comes up. But everyone definitely wants to see what Sakurai did to reinvent the Kirby racing genre two decades later.
