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.