Tricks of different difficulties can be performed during the race to gain points and different-colored gates can be passed through for a variety of purposes. Players can also punch and kick opponents to knock them down. Health dictates how easily a player can be knocked over by an obstacle or other racer, and decreases when a player accelerates. 2 Xtreme has four different difficulty levels. A player can choose in the options to race without the other computer characters, and also turn off fighting.

On 2 Xtreme a player can either do a normal 'Exhibition' race or a season which involves all 12 tracks and creates standings based on the score the player achieves in each track. The score is calculated mainly by the time the player finishes in and place in the race. Points from gates, knockdowns and tricks are then added to this. On 2-Player mode both for Exhibitions and Seasons the screen is split horizontally and both players start at the back of the race. This makes the game a little more difficult as it becomes harder to see and avoid the obstacles in your path.