Honestly, if you’re still sleeping on Starman in Kirby Air Riders, you're probably losing more City Trial matches than you’d care to admit. For the longest time, everyone just saw him as that weird, bulbous yellow guy with the cape who gave you the Hi-Jump ability in the main platformers. He was an uncommon enemy, a minor obstacle, basically just a glorified power-up delivery system. But in Kirby Air Riders—the 2025 revival that’s taken over the Switch 2—he’s evolved into a legitimate high-tier threat.
It's kinda wild.
We went from inhaling him for a quick vertical boost to actually piloting him through Crystallian Fissure. But here’s the thing: most players treat him like a slightly faster Kirby. That is a massive mistake. Starman isn't just a "fast" character; he is a physics-breaking aerial specialist. If you aren't exploiting his unique glide decay and his specific "Super Starman" special, you’re basically driving a Ferrari in a school zone.
🔗 Read more: Dares of Eternity Loot Pool: How the Rotation Actually Works and What to Chase
The Secret Sauce: Why Starman is Actually Meta
Most riders in the game have a pretty standard relationship with gravity. You jump, you glide, and eventually, the game’s physics engine decides it's time for you to hit the floor. Starman doesn't really play by those rules. His passive ability, Airborne Mastery, is the real reason he's consistently appearing in top-level ranked play.
Essentially, Starman has the lowest speed decay in the air of any character in the roster. When you launch off a ramp, most characters start losing velocity the second their wheels (or stars) leave the ground. Starman maintains that momentum. It’s subtle, but over a three-lap race on a track like Skyah, those extra seconds of maintained top speed add up to a massive lead.
Then there’s his unique special move: Super Starman.
Unlike King Dedede’s Jet Hammer, which is a pure horizontal burst, or Meta Knight’s Night Wing, which focuses on slashing, Starman’s special is a vertical-to-horizontal hybrid. When you trigger it, he performs a quick upward "shiver" before lunging forward. This isn't just for show. You can use that tiny upward hop to clear low-hanging obstacles or—more importantly—to reset your glide height without losing forward speed. It’s basically a double-jump for vehicles.
How to Unlock Starman Without Losing Your Mind
If you’re looking at your character select screen and seeing a silhouette where Starman should be, you’ve got two paths. One is easy but boring; the other is a genuine test of your patience with the game’s flight mechanics.
- The Top Ride Method (The "Easy" Way): Head over to the Crystallian Fissure (often called the Crystal Course). You need to complete four laps while staying in the lead for the entire duration. If a CPU passes you for even a second, the challenge fails. Tip: set the difficulty to the lowest setting and the laps to exactly four. It’s a bit of a grind, but it’s the most consistent way to get him.
- The City Trial Challenge: This one is a nightmare for some. You have to go to the Field Course and perform a 6-second freefall after using only a single boost.
That 6-second requirement is tighter than it sounds. You basically have to grab a high-glide machine like the Winged Star or the Swerve Star (if you've kitted it out with Glide patches), fly to the absolute ceiling of the map—specifically near the Sky Garden—and then hold the boost button while plummeting. If you hit the ground at 5.9 seconds, you get nothing. You’ve gotta be high enough that the "respawn" trigger doesn't kick in before the timer hits six.
✨ Don't miss: Disc Traders Jackson MI: What Most People Get Wrong
Stop Pairing Him With the Wrong Machines
I see people putting Starman on the Bulk Star all the time because they think his speed will compensate for the machine's weight. Please, stop. Starman is a glass cannon. Putting him on a heavy, slow-turning tank is like putting a world-class sprinter in a suit of lead armor.
If you want to actually win, you need to lean into his strengths. The Slick Star is his best friend. Yes, it’s slippery. Yes, it’s hard to control if you’re a beginner. But the Slick Star already has a high base speed, and Starman’s boosted Turn and Grip stats actually make that machine feel "normal." It’s the only way to make the Slick Star feel like it's actually on rails.
Alternatively, if you’re doing a Stadium trial that involves distance—like the Air Glider—the Winged Star is the obvious choice. Because of Starman’s Airborne Mastery, the Winged Star’s natural descent is slowed even further. You can legitimately clear the entire stadium floor if you time your "Super Starman" special at the peak of your arc.
The Red Variant and Completionist Traps
Once you’ve unlocked him, you might notice there’s a red version of Starman. To get the alternative colors in Kirby Air Riders, you basically have to complete the "other" unlock method. So, if you got Starman by leading the race in Top Ride, you now have to go do that 6-second freefall in City Trial to get the Red skin.
Is it worth it?
Strictly for the flex, yes. In terms of stats, the Red Starman is identical to the Yellow one, but in the current 2026 meta, rocking the alt-skin is basically a way of saying "I know how to exploit the flight physics."
Pro Tips for the 2026 Ranked Season
- The "Sky Island" Farm: In City Trial, use Starman to reach the Sky Islands as fast as possible. Most players struggle to get up there early game, but Starman can do it with zero patches. Loot those chests before anyone else even figures out where the launch pads are.
- Drafting is a Trap: Because Starman relies on air time, don't get stuck in a "drafting" battle on the ground. If you’re behind someone, don't just follow their trail; look for the nearest ramp. You’ll gain more ground by staying in the air than you will by catching their wind.
- Avoid the "Rail" Magnetism: On tracks with lots of rails, Starman can actually feel a bit sluggish. His air mobility is his strength, so try to jump off rails early if there’s a shortcut you can glide toward.
Starman is proof that Kirby Air Riders isn't just a simple racing game. There is a layer of technical depth here that most casual players miss. He’s finicky, he’s fragile, and if you get hit by a Gordo, you’re basically done. But if you can master that 6-second glide and learn when to pop his special, he’s arguably the most rewarding character in the game.
🔗 Read more: Pokemon Sword and Shield Cheats: Why We Call Them Glitches Instead
To get the most out of Starman, head into the Training Mode and practice the "Special Reset." Jump off a ramp, glide until your speed starts to dip, then trigger the Super Starman special to see how it "kicks" your velocity back up while you're still in mid-air. Once you nail that timing, you’ll be untouchable on any track with a vertical element.