How to see the true ending and secret boss in Kirby Air Riders and what do you unlock

Kirby Air Riders for Nintendo Switch 2 has a single player mode called Road Trip, that consists on a series of levels with different short challenges brought from the rest of the modes (Air Ride, Top Ride, City Trial, and all the minigames). It is the best way to learn how to play and master Kirby Air Riders, mixed with cutscenes between levels that show a... weird story.

But once you finish it, you will see a surprisingly epic ending. The mode consists on 12 stages... but you only see the first 11 in your first run. At the end of the eleventh stage, no matter which route you take, you will fight the final boss. It takes approximately 2-3 hours to finish a Road Trip, depending on your difficulty.

But finishing it only once will give you the "normal" ending. For the true ending, and the true boss, you have to finish it a second time. The key aspect for unlocking the "true ending" is unlocking every ship in the mode, you don't need to see every stage "variant".

Here are the steps to follow to see the true ending in Kirby Air Riders:

• Finish the road trip mode once. That unlocks New Game +.


• Restart the game via New Game+. That will reset your stats, but you will keep all your ships and coins, so you will level up much faster. You can do it with the same or a different character, it does not matter.


• Play Road Trip again from start to finish, but make sure to unlock all ships you didn't get the first time.

• TIP: When you progress, you will see a "!" on every route where you can find a new ship you missed the first time.


• TIP: Make several save files in case you accidentally pick a route where you cannot find a new ship


• TIP: It is entirely possible to unlock all ships during a second playthrough


• TIP: Remember that unlocking ships in Road Trip does not unlock them for the rest of the modes

• If you have every ship unlocked (23 in total) you will see a different cutscene at the scene of Chapter 11, although the boss is (mostly) the same


• You will unlock the 12th and final stage, with the true boss fight and ending cutscene

What do you unlock with the true ending?

Seeing the true ending, without spoiling the story, will unlock you a character you can only unlock this way: Dedede Noir (and its ship Leo). You will also get an achievement.

After that, you can keep replaying the Road Trip with other characters, so that their face icons appear on the main menu of the mode, as well as seeing every alternative stage for the first time... but (that we know of) nothing of substance for Kirby Air Riders is unlocked that way. Back to the multiplayer now!