- change tires, frames, gliders and more
- pick a heavy or light frame
- pick high-grip tires or big dirt tires
- 16 new courses
- past courses have had underwater sections added
- Wuhu Island is one long course without looping
- several new characters, but only Lakitu and Metal Mario revealed
- throw fireballs in front and behind
- once again, SpotPass being used for ghost data
- StreetPass for exchanging of ghost data with other local people
- register those met via StreetPass to your friend list to play online
- 8 player local multiplayer and online
- gyroscope allows you to steer by moving the 3DS, which is accompanied by an in-kart view