When four players each have a copy of the game, bonus features and new modes of play become available.
The Japanese version of the game had online capabilities, which were done through connecting an adapter so that the GBA could hook up to a cell phone, presumably to allow ghost exchanging. The service was discontinued on December 14, 2002.
Most of the game's preloaded Time Trial records were changed between the Japanese and international versions. The 1st Place times and best lap records are the same for all versions, but 2nd-5th Places are different. In the Japanese version, 2nd-4th have a slightly slower time from the 1st Place record and 5th Place is always set to 3'00"00; in the international versions, times are all 30 seconds apart from the 1st Place record.
This is currently the only Mario Kart game not to introduce a new character or item.
The main rhythms for the BGM for courses Shy Guy Beach and Cheep Cheep Island are similar to Percy Faith's "Theme from A Summer Place".