The game is a mascot kart racing game, similar to other games in its genre like Mario Kart, Konami Krazy Racers and Crash Team Racing. Players can choose to race as one of 20 characters from various Sega franchises such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Crazy Taxi, Super Monkey Ball and Fantasy Zone. Characters race through various race circuits themed on different Sega franchises and collect power-ups to boost their speed or hamper their opponents. The items have a rock-paper-scissors effect, in which certain items can be used to defend against others. Also, on occasions when players get three of one item, they can choose to fire or activate them at the same time. Additional boost can be earned by successfully executing drifts (with longer drifts earning more boost), or performing tricks while in midair. Like Sumo's previous Sega game, Sega Superstars Tennis, each character has a special ability (called an "All-Star Move") unique to them that they may use to their advantage (such as Sonic transforming into Super Sonic and AiAi riding in his monkey ball), which they can obtain if they are running behind in the race. The duration of each All-Star move depends on the character's current position. Due to network latency issues, All-Star Moves are not possible in online races.[16]