Kirby Air Riders tops the Japanese physical charts as Switch and Switch 2 games sweep the top 15

Kirby Air Riders has debuted at the top of the Japanese physical sales charts, in a week largely dominated once again by Switch and Switch 2 games.

According to Famitsu’s sales data for physical game sales in Japan, the sequel to Masahiro Sakurai‘s GameCube title Kirby Air Rider sold 194,594 copies in Japan between its release on November 20, and the end of the weekly chart period on November 23.

This meant it sold nearly three times as many copies as the number two game this week, Mario Kart World (which has now sold a cumulative total of over 2.2 million physical copies in Japan alone, including Switch 2 hardware bundles with the game included).

Meanwhile, Pokémon Legends Z:A continues its momentum, selling 50,540 copies across both Switch and Switch 2 (the sales ratio being 57/43 in favour of the original Switch version).

In a typically Nintendo-heavy chart, only two games in the Top 20 were PS5 titles, with the top 15 games being Switch or Switch 2 releases.

As ever, it should be noted that Famitsu’s charts count the sales of physical games, download cards sold at retail, and games included in hardware bundles, but doesn’t include games purchased digitally from in-game stores. As such, the full sales figures for each game won’t be known until Nintendo’s next financial report, when it reveals total physical and digital sales for its bestsellers.

Further reading

Kirby Air Riders review: Masahiro Sakurai’s deceptively simple racer is a pleasant Switch 2 surprise

It's not the Nintendo GameCube revival we would've chosen, but Air Riders is a great little racing game with engaging modes

The charts for this week are as follows:

Japanese physical charts for November 17-23 (via Famitsu)

(Cumulative total to date in brackets)

1. Kirby Air Riders (Switch 2) – 195,594 (NEW)
2. Mario Kart World (Switch 2) – 67,068 (2,202,125)
3. Pokémon Legends: Z-A (Switch) – 28,480 (1,271,576)
4. Momotaro Dentetsu 2: Your Town is Surely There Too – East & West Japan Edition (Switch) – 28,704 (118,780)
5. Pokémon Legends: Z-A (Switch 2) – 22,060 (798,015)
6. Momotaro Dentetsu 2: Your Town is Surely There Too – East & West Japan Edition (Switch 2) – 20,751 (77,558)
7. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment (Switch 2) – 9,129 (100,121)
8. Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake (Switch) – 8,302 (286,589)
9. Minecraft (Switch) – 4,909 (4,050,014)
10. Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Switch) – 4,908 (8,258,611)
11. Donkey Kong Bananza (Switch 2) – 4,836 (378,576)
12. Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake (Switch 2) – 4,754 (108,179)
13. R-Type Delta: HD Boosted (Switch) – 3,325 (NEW)
14. Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero (Switch) – 3,324 (15,525)
15. Railway Nippon! RealPro Long-Distance Driving! Limited Express Hinotori: Kintetsu Edition (Switch) – 3,057 (NEW)
16. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 (PS5) – 2,899 (15,210)
17. Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Switch) – 2,881 (100,714)
18. Sumikko Gurashi: Let’s Create! A Wonderful Sumikko Island (Switch) – 2,532 (NEW)
19. Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake (PS5) – 2,492 (113,664)
20. Model Debut4 #nicola (Switch) – 2,351 (NEW)