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# #
# ~ Kirby's Air Ride ~ #
# Z-Menu/Set-up Screen #
# Translations/Explanations #
# ver. 1.2 #
# #
# by elumelum, copyright 2003 #
# #
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Contents
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1. Introduction
2. Air Ride Mode (Red)
3. Ue\Top Ride Mode (Yellow)
4. City Trial Mode (Green)
5. Conclusion and Thanks
6. Copyrights Etc.
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1. Introduction
---------------
This guide was written originally as a translation of all of the various
options for each of the three modes in Kirby's Air Ride (the Japanese
version). It then blossomed a bit into what we have here, which also explains
each option somewhat. There are some minor spoilers contained herein because
certain menu options are only available once unlocked by completing challenges
(see my other Kirby FAQs at www.gamefaqs.com for explanations of challenges),
but I hoped people would be more appreciative of the help than offended by
revealed secrets.
This file is best viewed in a font where each character takes up an equal
amount of space. It should be readable by any text editor, it just might not
be very pretty. I don't like dropping too many ads in this kind of space,
but I highly recommend TextPad as a viewer for this file.
There may be more menu options that I haven't unlocked yet--if I find more, I
will try to update this guide at that time. Enjoy!
Version History:
1.3 Made some small tweaks, added info about "Amount of Tricks".
1.2 Added "Amount of Tricks" to the Top Ride Additional Rules.
1.1 Added an unlockable item set to the Top Ride Additional Rules.
1.0 The first version.
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2. Air Ride Mode (Red)
----------------------
Pressing Z in either the Course Select screen or the Machine Select screen
after selecting Game Start (the top option of the Air Ride menu) takes you
to what I call the "Z-menus", or the Game Set-up screens.
You can also access these menus before selecting Game Start by selecting the
third option from the Air Ride menu, Game Settings.
The first Z-menu/Set-up screen in Air Ride mode contains the following five
options:
Rules: (-Lap Mode-, Time Mode)
Laps/Time: (depending on which rule is selected, see below)
Durability (Damage): (-Off-, On)
Boost: (None, -Weak-, Strong)
Go to Additional Rules ->
Rules: (-Lap Mode-, Time Mode)
In Lap Mode, you race against other CPU players and/or humans to complete the
specified number of laps in the shortest time. This is the default mode.
Some challenges (from the challenge grid) require you to select Time Mode, in
which you compete to see how far (how many meters) you can race in the
specified amount of time. The menu selection below this one controls the
amount of laps or time.
Laps: (-Recommended/Default-, 1 to 99 laps)
If Lap Mode is selected above, then the second menu option chooses the number
of laps. The default setting is "Recommended/Default", which is different from
course to course. You can also choose to set the number of laps yourself
anywhere from 1 to 99.
Time: (-3 minutes-, 1 to 99 minutes)
If Time Mode is selected above, then the second menu option chooses the amount
of time to race in. The default setting is "3 minutes", which is what all of
the time mode challenges require. If you desire something other than a 3
minute time limit, you can set it anywhere from 1 to 99 minutes.
Durability (Damage): (-Off-, On)
When Damage is set to Off, if you take damage then you slow down a bit, but
you can never be destroyed or taken out of the race from damage. With the
Damage set to On, a health bar will appear on the right side of the screen.
Different crafts will have different sized damage bars. If your damage bar
runs out, you're out of the race! Be careful, you can take damage from
enemies, other racers, and from parts of the track.
Boost: (None, -Weak-, Strong)
This is like the "Catch-up" feature in many racing games. If you fall behind
the leader a ways, it will make you a little faster, so as to keep the
competition closer. The default setting is Weak, which gives you a small
boost when you fall behind.
Go to Additional Rules:
You can select this option with the A button, by pressing right on the stick
or D-pad, or by pressing the Z button again. You will then be presented with
another screen of additional rules, which contains the following three
options:
Enemy Characters: (-On-, Off)
Game Tempo: (-Usual-, Slow)
Course Select: (-On-, Off, Loser Chooses)
Enemy Characters: (-On-, Off)
This controls whether there are the enemy characters littered through the
track that you can either inhale and spit out or inhale and get copy abilities
from. The default setting is On. Turn this off if you want a race with no
weapons/powerups.
Game Tempo: (-Usual-, Slow)
The Usual setting causes the game to run at its normal pace, whereas Slow will
slow the entire game down quite a bit. The slow mode is good for trying to
pull off tough manuevers or perhaps for playing with someone who can't handle
the speed (or someone who has never played before), but you'll probably want
to keep this at the default most of the time. Too bad there isn't a "Fast"
option for more blinding speed!
Course Select: (-On-, Off, Loser Chooses)
With this option turned On (the default), the Course Select screen will come
up before each race. With it turned Off, the computer will always select a
random track for you before every race. If you select the third option,
"Loser Chooses", whoever comes in last in the previous race gets to pick the
next track. This can help keep things fair in multiplayer matches of uneven
skill levels.
------------------------------
3. Ue (Top) Ride Mode (Yellow)
------------------------------
Pressing Z in either the Course Select screen or the Machine Select screen
after selecting Game Start (the top option of the Ue (Top) Ride menu) takes
you to what I call the "Z-menus", or the Game Set-up screens.
You can also access these menus before selecting Game Start by selecting the
third option from the Top Ride menu, Game Settings.
The first Z-menu/Set-up screen in Top Ride mode contains the following five
options:
Laps: (-Reccommended/Default-, 1 to 99)
Items: (Off, Few, -Usual-, Many)
Boost: (None, -Weak-, Strong)
Camera: (-Usual-, Fixed)
Go to Additional Rules ->
Laps: (-Reccommended/Default-, 1 to 99)
With the default option selected, you will race the default number of laps on
each course, which changes from course to course. Otherwise, you can set the
number of laps you want to race from 1 to 99.
Items: (None, Few, -Usual-, Many)
This controls how many items will appear scattered throughout the track from
None to Many. Select Few if you want to keep items on but tone them down a
bit, or select Many for total item craziness!
Boost: (None, -Weak-, Strong)
This is like the "Catch-up" feature in many racing games. If you fall behind
the leader a ways, it will make you a little faster, so as to keep the
competition closer. The default setting is Weak, which gives you a small
boost when you fall behind.
Camera: (-Usual-, Fixed)
The default (Usual) camera will pan around and zoom in and out to be as close
as possible while still having all players on screen. The Fixed camera, a
nice alternative, shows the whole track at once from a zoomed out perspective.
Go to Additional Rules:
You can select this option with the A button, by pressing right on the stick
or D-pad, or by pressing the Z button again. You will then be presented with
another screen of additional rules, which contains the following options (some
must be unlocked):
Game Tempo: (-Usual-, Slow)
Course Select: (-On-, Off, Loser Chooses)
*Camera Angle: (-Usual-, Diagonal, Side)
*Amount of Tricks (None, -Usual-, Many)
*Item Set: (-Usual-, Attack, Good Gracious!)
Game Tempo: (-Usual-, Slow)
The Usual setting causes the game to run at its normal pace, whereas Slow will
slow the entire game down quite a bit. The slow mode is good for trying to
pull off tough manuevers or perhaps for playing with someone who can't handle
the speed (or someone who has never played before), but you'll probably want
to keep this at the default most of the time.
Course Select: (-On-, Off, Loser Chooses)
With this option turned On (the default), the Course Select screen will come
up before each race. With it turned Off, the computer will always select a
random track for you before every race. If you select the third option,
"Loser Chooses", whoever comes in last in the previous race gets to pick the
next track. This can help keep things fair in multiplayer matches of uneven
skill levels.
*Camera Angle: (-Usual-, Diagonal, Side)
This option must be unlocked first by completing any of the challenges that
unlock new camera angles (e.g. finishing in 1st place on all of the
courses, see my Top Ride Challenges FAQ).
The Diagonal option lets you view the action from a slightly more angled
viewpoint. The Side option shows the action from a more extreme angle
(somewhat of a side view), which looks cool but is hard to play from, in my
opinion.
*Amount of Tricks (None, -Usual-, Many)
This option must be unlocked first by completing the "Go in the waterfall 5
times and finish in 1st place" challenge on the Mizu/Water track. It controls
how aggressive or pesky the environmental hazards in each track are. For
example, on the Suna/Sand track, if this option is set to none, you won't have
to deal with the sand worm, the pit that opens by the finish line, or the rock
golem at all. On the default setting, the worm is there and will attack you,
but not nearly as often as on the "Many" setting. Also, things like the
switch on the island on the Sora/Sky track will be inoperable with this
option set to None. Choose None for a more straightforward race, or Many for
a more chaotic one (great for multiplayer).
*Item Set: (-Usual-, Attack, Good Gracious!)
This option must be unlocked first by completing any of the challenges that
unlock additional item sets (e.g. by getting a lap time under 00'56"00 on the
Water course in Time Attack mode, see my Top Ride Challenges FAQ).
When the Attack option is selected, only items that involve attacking other
characters will appear on the course.
When the Good Gracious! option is selected, the items will appear as bags
marked with question marks. This way, you won't know what item you're getting
until you actually pick it up.
I'm guessing that more Item Sets can be unlocked, but I haven't completed much of
the challenge grid in this mode yet.
--------------------------
4. City Trial Mode (Green)
--------------------------
There is only one Z-menu/Set-up Screen for City Trial Mode, which can be
accessed by pushing the Z button at the Player Entry Screen after selecting
Game Start (the top menu option in the City Trial menu).
You can also access the Set-up Screen by selecting the fourth menu option
from the City Trial menu, Game Settings.
The Z-menu/Set-up screen in City Trial mode contains the following four
options:
Time Limit: (-5 minutes-, 3 to 7 minutes)
Game Tempo: (-Usual-, Slow)
Stadium: (-Shuffle-, Zeroyon Attack, Point Strike, Deathmatch)
Events: (-On-, Off)
Time Limit: (-5 minutes-, 3 to 7 minutes)
In City Trial mode, there are two phases--the Driving phase, where you collect
powerups and vehicles, and the Stadium. Play moves from the Driving phase to
the Stadium phase after the Time Limit expires. The default time limit is 5
minutes, but you can set it anywhere between 3 and 7 minutes.
Game Tempo: (-Usual-, Slow)
The Usual setting causes the game to run at its normal pace, whereas Slow will
slow the entire game down quite a bit. The slow mode is good for trying to
pull off tough manuevers or perhaps for playing with someone who can't handle
the speed (or someone who has never played before), but you'll probably want
to keep this at the default most of the time.
Stadium: (-Shuffle-, Zeroyon Attack, Point Strike, Deathmatch)
This determines which mini-game you'll play in the Stadium phase of the City
Trial game. The default option, Shuffle, will choose a game at random for you
to play. You can also specify which type of game you'd like to play, though
some of them have several variations (e.g. Deathmatch 1, 2, 3 etc.) which will
still be chosen randomly. There are others to unlock as well (such as Vs.
Dedede) by completing challenges from the challenge grid in City Mode.
Events: (-On-, Off)
This option controls whether special events will occur during the Driving
phase such as a giant rock appearing that players will try to break, or large
amounts of fog covering the landscape. The default setting is On, although if
you don't like these events or are new to the game and are too confused by
them, you can turn them Off.
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5. Conclusion and Thanks
------------------------
That wraps up the Z-menu/Set-up screen translations and explanations, although
more may be added once I unlock other menu options. Hope this FAQ helps you
enjoy this great (and often underrated) game!
Also, thanks to Nintendo and HAL Labs, Inc. for producing this game, GameFAQs
for hosting the message board and FAQ sections, and Bobby Conover for helping
me get psyched up about this game in the first place.
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6. Copyrights, etc.
-------------------
This document is Copyright 2003 of Brendan McCracken/elumelum.
DO NOT sell, distribute, or reproduce this guide for any purpose without
contacting me. This guide is my work and my property, and I do not approve
of ANY unauthorized copying or distribution--especially not plagiarism.
Please do not post this FAQ on your web site without contacting me first.
Write me a polite e-mail and I'll be glad to assist you.
My e-mail address for this FAQ is
[email protected]. I may not respond to
any e-mails unless they contain pertinent questions or relevant information,
and even then, I'm pretty busy so don't take it personally if I don't respond.
Of course, no spamming, please.
Hope you've gotten help or at least satisfaction out of this guide! See ya
next update.
