- use the Circle Pad or D-Pad to maneuver
- textures and environments look sharper than they did on the DS version
- subtle 3D effect
- handful of racers to choose from
- L or R button in conjunction with various directions on the D-Pad lets you pull off of a number of tricks
- pulling off tricks also gives you a speed boost
- various difficulty options
- online and local multiplayer modes
- World Tour offers several different racing tours for you to complete
- Quick Race lets you play through a single course at a time
- includes options like letting you adjust the number of racers (you can have two to four people on the track at a time, including yourself), number of laps, CPU difficulty and racing style (you can choose either a standard race or Elimination, which axes whoever comes in last)
- Time Trial
- Freestyle, where the focus is on racking up points from tricks
- choose to race on each track in its standard, reverse, extended or extended reverse form