Gameplay is pretty much like any other kart racer. Accelerate, brake, and turn. The key to cutting corners is drifting (the "Sonic Drift"), and in essense it turns into a mimic of classic 8-bit arcade racers like Outrun. It's actually kind of fun, and the music is top-notch.

   But this is still a Sonic game (sort of), and there are a few items to collect scattered around the courses. You've got Rings, of course...it costs two to use each character's special ability. Then there's Springs, which quite obviously bounce you into the air...sometimes over opponents. You'll find item monitors of two colors: red ones give you a brief dash of extra speed, and blue ones make you temporarily invincible. (The invincibility music is based on "Sonic: You Can Do Anything", the Sonic CD theme!)

   The courses themselves are all from the classic Sonic: Green Hill, Marble, Spring Yard, Labyrinth, Star Light, and Scrap Brain. They come in three different difficulty flavors: the Green Emerald Prix, the Yellow Emerald Prix, and the Red Emerald Prix (Green being the easiest, Red being the hardest). This makes 18 tracks in total. (The difficulty setting of your opponents can be altered in the options screen.) The cast of racers includes:

• Sonic (in the Cyclone) -- Fast, but has poor handling. His special move is a brief dash of super speed, having the same effect as a red monitor.
• Tails (in the Whirlwind S7) -- The all-round balanced one. His special move is a leap, having the same effect as a Spring.
• Amy (in the Breeze) -- Slow, but with good handling. Her special move is the "Heart Attack", a tiny heart which she tosses onto the track. Anyone who hits it becomes confused and slows down.
• Eggman (in the Egg Typhoon) -- Good cornering, but poor traction. His special move is a Mine, which he hurls onto the track. Anyone who hits it is temporarily stalled.

   Complete the Green Prix or the Yellow Prix and you get to see your character's face on a flag. Complete the Red Prix and you get a brief animation starring your character along with the credits. There's also a versus mode provided you've got a Gear-to-Gear cable and know someone else with the game...