There Were Earthbound “Cameos” In Kirby Air Riders Presentation

We’re all allowed to have fun, right? That is a cornerstone of our lives in a nutshell. Or, at least, it should be. As such, when you create something for yourself, you’re allowed to have certain references, cameos, and Easter Eggs within it, if you think you can get away with it without ruining what you’re doing. For example, Masahiro Sakurai is a guy who loves gaming history and isn’t afraid to show that off in various ways. Last week, he did the massive Kirby Air Riders Direct to help players learn what his newest creation would be like. However, at one key point in the presentation, he may have hidden a special Easter Egg that references his old workplace.

Specifically, when Sakurai showed off how the game could support 16 players in the City Trial mode, he put up an image of the sixteen characters and the names that would be “associated” with them. In that block of sixteen were the names Lucas, Jeff, Frank, and Paula. Why does this matter? Those are all names of characters from the Earthbound/Mother franchise! As other fans have noted, Hal Labs was one of the teams that helped create that franchise, and Sakurai himself may have worked on it in some fashion. Plus, this isn’t the first time that Sakurai has made references to the series, including putting both Ness and Lucas, the two main protagonists, into his fighting game.

To be clear, that doesn’t mean you should expect characters from that franchise to drop into Kirby Air Riders, as Sakurai has plenty of characters to pull from via Kirby’s universe without doing any kind of cross-promotion with other Nintendo series. That being said, it’s still a cool thing, and it’s nice to know that certain developers want the franchise to come back, too.

As for Kirby’s racing title, the game is set to be packed to the gills with things to do, including the aforementioned City Trial mode, which will be a unique free-for-all of sorts, and the main racing mode, where you’ll be able to customize the races for you and your friends to try and make the most competitive thing around. Plus, Sakurai himself teased at the end of the Direct that there would be more information about the game in the future, which may mean we’ll learn more during the next Nintendo Direct, whenever that may be.

And now, you shouldn’t expect a “certain announcement” about a certain RPG series there…don’t give yourselves false hope.