As a departure from Neversoft's Tony Hawk games, Downhill Jam emphasizes gaining speed and racing opponents, as well as competing for high scores and completing goals.

This version is played with the Wii Remote held sideways, and players tilt it left or right to steer their character down the track.

The Wii version features a multiplayer mode with four players competing head-to-head in split screen.

In its story, the player recruits skaters into Tony Hawk's skate crew and battles a rival crew run by Antonio Segul (a reference to Tony Hawk, being a bird's name), an "old-school" skater trapped in the 80s.

The Nintendo DS version maintains a traditional Tony Hawk control scheme and much of the same trick set from Sk8land.

This version supports online multiplayer, but it is no longer available because the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection servers were shut down in 2014.