While everyone was busy dissecting all of the gameplay elements shown in the Kirby Air Riders Direct, Bandai Namco Studios and Sora apparently snuck in a few Easter eggs referencing Nintendo’s classic Mother franchise. As spotted by Game*Spark, during the segment where director Masahiro Sakurai talks about local and online multiplayer, rider names similar to those of Mother characters were used as placeholders:
Among the names are Susie, Paula, Jeff, Frank, and Lucas – all of whom are Mother characters. The name Susie may be a reference to “Suzy”, one of the characters in the first Mother game (Not to be confused with Kirby’s own Susie). Paula and Jeff are part of Ness’s party in EarthBound (known as “Mother 2: Gīgu no Gyakushū” in Japan), while Frank is a boss in the same game. Lastly, Lucas is the main protagonist of Mother 3.
Aside from the Mother references, other placeholder names include Haruka, John, Alex, Matt, Monica, and Steven. With the exception of Haruka, the placeholders consist of English common names. While there is a possibility that names like Paula and Jeff were used because they are so common, Sakurai’s history with Mother creator Shigesato Itoi and HAL Laboratory might prove otherwise.
Kirby Air Riders is set to release on November 20, 2025 for Nintendo Switch 2.
