The game takes place on Earth in the middle of the 21st century, where a new sport based around tube sliding was born out of people's desire for speed and competition, after hydrogen-based energy replaced fossil fuels in motorsports.

The player can choose between one of eight futuristic formula vehicles, each one varying in terms of performance, and race against computer-controlled opponents across ten tracks divided into three sessions.

Despite the peaceful and environmental preservationist culture of the world, people sought to satisfy their desire for speed and competition, leading to the birth of a new sport based around tube sliding.

[1][3] A unique gameplay feature is the "Sub Vernier" mechanic; at the start of a race, players can select between booster or turbo speed enhancers their vehicle might employ.

[3][9] The soundtrack was scored by Mitsuteru Furukawa, who previously worked with Masaru Tajima and F-Zero co-composer Naoto Ishida on Maximum Velocity.

[4] He explained that the enclosed tube courses gave NDcube the ability to design futuristic and complex track structures not found in typical racing games.

[18] IGN's Matt Casamassina commended the game's colorful graphics for the unique and varied tube tracks, but found its presentation and audio average.

"[17] GameZone's Louis Bedigian praised its gameplay for being different compared to F-Zero and other futuristic racing titles, visual effects, accessible difficulty and concept.

[25] GameRevolution's Nebojsa Radakovic positively noted the game's smooth framerate and subtleties of speed maintenance, but criticized its uninteresting setting, lack of additional modes and ubiquity.

[16] X-Play's Sandon Chin regarded it as an average game lacking in depth and variety, finding the ability to steal energy from a rival craft as its only unique feature.

[22] Nintendo World Report's Jeff Shirley commended the detailed environments, music and responsitve controls, but leveraged his criticism at its limited number of tracks, cheap difficulty and generic feeling.

[21] Electronic Gaming Monthly's three reviewers criticized its "shallow" gameplay, energy-stealing mechanic for not working well, backgrounds and "questionable" physics, recommending the original Wipeout instead.

[15] GMR's Andrew Pfister praised the title's graphical prowess for its consistent framerate, but ultimately found it boring due to tracks lacking obstacles because of their nature.

[23] Nintendojo's Glenn Dillard summarized that "Tube Slider is a mildly fast racing game with mediocre techno beats, unbalanced gameplay, but “wow" worthy environments.