Like its predecessor, the game is a mascot-based kart racer, although it features many new mechanics and improvements from the last game. The most notable new mechanic is that the vehicles now have the ability to transform into sea and air-based vehicles during a race, and the racetracks in the game now terraform as players proceed through them, in a manner similar to games such as MotorStorm: Apocalypse and Split Second: Velocity. For example, one of the tracks in the game, a course based on Panzer Dragoon (a new addition to the Sega Superstars series), features one of the titular creatures destroying a bridge, forcing players to continue the race in the air. They may also opt to continue the race by dropping into the river below and transforming into a boat. The player does not completely decide when they transform; this is mostly decided by the game. Transformation is done by passing through brightly coloured "transformation gates" or coming into contact with the surface of water.