
There are 24 different tracks and seven arenas, with the potential to unlock mirrored races through the secret shop. No matter how well you've played the race, it's pretty much a guarantee that at your first crash or flip-over, you'll be passed by at least three or four racers. However - and this is what's most noticeable in the races - the competitors are all always extremely close by. You can get away without braking and simply power-slide around corners, turboing out of the power slide to ensure that you're coming away with the most speed. In the earlier levels, the races feel a bit like a lesser version of Burnout, and as you cause crashes, the camera will cut away to a slow-motion view of the crash. Since you can hold on to the boosts and both of the weapons to fire at your own discretion, there is a fair amount of strategy to employ during any given race. Weapons that you drop behind you include oil slicks, mines, stationary turrets, and attack drones. Red eco is responsible for the weapons that you shoot out of the back of the car, and yellow for the forward projectiles. Green and blue eco are used to replenish your car's health and to give you turbo boosts, respectively. There are four types of eco that can be collected from the track. Most of the environmental challenges are simply the twists and turns of the track, although a few levels have more immediate threats, such as giant rolling snowballs or lava. In a standard race, you'll come across the threat of other racers and various obstacles within the environment. Aside from earning medals, you also accumulate points based on the different accomplishments of your race, such as the number of enemies taken down or the length of your longest drift, which can be used to purchase car upgrades, new vehicles, and a number of different goodies from the secret shop.

Limited races are available at the start, but as you win medals and earn one, two, or three points, respectively, for bronze, silver, and gold finishes, additional tracks and challenges unlock. The main single-player mode is the adventure mode, which allows you to compete in four different cups, consisting of 20 different competitions each. Though the story plays a fundamental role both in making the game cohesive in and of itself and in tying the rest of the games together, the crux of the gameplay is in the races.
