Cruis'n Exotica plays similarly to the previous games in the series,[3] but it adds a PIN system to track progress like San Francisco Rush 2049.

The levels take place in exotic locations in the universe, such as Las Vegas, Hong Kong, Atlantis, India, Alaska, The Amazon jungle with dinosaurs, Sahara, Tibet, Korea, Ireland, Holland and the surface of Mars.

The game also allows a player to choose a driver visible onscreen during races, including a Martian, a baby, a clown, and a cowboy.

Shoemaker also wrote that the game "requires very little skill or finesse, but for the casual gamer who doesn't want to commit lots of time to racing a track, that's not really a bad thing".

[9] Cory D. Lewis of IGN wrote the Nintendo 64 version featured nearly identical gameplay to its predecessors, saying "that right there spells certain doom for this latest title.

[3] Frank Provo of GameSpot wrote that the Game Boy Color version "bears only a passing resemblance to its arcade and console counterparts".