TOKYO — In a recent Nintendo Direct, director Masahiro Sakurai confirmed that, after decades of speculation and demand, he would finally add Waluigi to the roster of Kirby Air Riders.
“I have always tried to be aware of the characters demanded by fans,” explained Sakurai. “In my last title, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, I had over 80 different characters! But even then, I wasn’t able to please everybody. I remember lots of people in particular who wanted to see Waluigi, so I quickly promised myself I would add him into my next game. If I knew at the time my next game was a sequel to Kirby Air Ride, I probably wouldn’t have done this.”
Initial reaction to the character reveal has been mostly positive.
“I think I can speak for the entire community when I say we’ve been waiting a long time for this,” said Warren Wallace, moderator of the “Waluigi For Air Ride” Discord server. “A lot of us had begun to worry that Sakurai had some kind of vendetta against Waluigi after refusing to make him playable for so long. I mean, he wasn’t even in the original Air Ride at all! But seeing him use all those copy abilities in the trailer erased all our doubts in an instant. Not only is he in, but Sakurai’s doing the character justice in a way that will make all his fans proud. For the first time ever, Waluigi will be playable in a racing game.”
However, other fans remain skeptical.
“This is Kirby Air Ride, not Fortnite,” complained long-time Kirby fan Ren Lace on Reddit. “Sakurai should know better than to flood his games with a bunch of nonsense crossovers. This is supposed to be a celebration of the Kirby series. Waluigi’s slot on the roster could easily have gone to Poppy Bros. Jr., Adeleine, Coo, or any other characters that people actually care about. Personally, I’m still mad that they showed Sir Kibble as a non-playable assist character, so we already know he won’t be playable. Waluigi fans will never know what that feels like. And besides, have you ever seen how long Waluigi’s limbs are? There’s no way he could possibly pilot the same Warp Star as Kirby. He’s too big!”
At press time, everybody has already forgotten about Waluigi and are waiting for Sakurai to reveal Sora.
