The Japanese version didn't have a number of completed challenges and total challenges in the Checklist screen. This was a feature added to the international versions of the game.

The music that plays during the Checker Knights course is the same music from a track that plays in the Kirby of the Stars Anime (Renamed Kirby: Right back at Ya in the English Dub) titled "Strong Star Warrior".

The box art in the American version shows Kirby angry, with the title above him, on the Japanese box art Kirby is smiling and the title is at the bottom.

The game features one of the largest debug modes found on the GameCube. It has a wealth of debugging features which provide extensive information on how the game was made.

The song for the Magma Flows track sounds very similar to the theme for Tim Burton's film "BettleJuice".

The game's debug menu looks almost exactly like the debug menu for Super Smash Bros. Melee. Both games were developed by HAL Laboratory.

Kirby Creator, Masahiro Sakurai, resigned from HAL Laboratory surrounding the development of Kirby Air Ride.

Kirby Air Ride was originally going to be released for the Nintendo 64. When the game was first announced, it was known as Kirby Bowl 64. A year later, the name was changed to Kirby's Air Ride along with many elements. Reportedly, the game's development was very long and was mostly quiet. After the game went through many changes, it was eventually cancelled. Years later, the game was resurfaced on the Nintendo GameCube in the form of a short preview in March of 2003 at the D.I.C.E. Summit in Las Vegas and at E3 in May 2003.

While playing in City Trial on a good flying vehicle, there are two locations where flowers are hidden.

The first flower is at the highest point of castle hall, on a very small point.

The second flower is on the corner of Heat Top, at the highest point.

Both flowers serve no purpose, yet are believed to be small gifts to the players that find them.