Road Trip: Shifting Gears is a lighthearted racing game that has players choosing from a selection of souped-up vehicles and competing on more than 64 different courses, which are often full of stunt jumps, shortcuts, and power-ups. Like the console versions, as well as their unofficial predecessor, Gadget Racers, Road Trip: Shifting Gears allows players to customize their car's performance, and add special abilities, with a selection of more than 100 realistic and fantasy parts. The in-game Body Paint Shop lets them see to it that their cars look just as fast as they run, too. Shifting Gears is a portable companion to the GameCube's Road Trip: The Arcade Edition, and hidden features are revealed in both games when they're connected by a link cable. The cartridge also supports multiplayer races against up to three other properly equipped Shifting Gears players, through a GBA link-cable connection.