The following is a list of different playing modes featured in the game:

• Tournament: The primary game mode. Race for money to buy parts or pit droids, and unlock new tracks, racers, and upgrades. There is no difficulty setting in this mode.
• Free Race: Allows you to practice any previously unlocked courses using any unlocked racer. However, you cannot earn money or unlock tracks and racers. You can, however, set the difficulty of your opponents.
• Time Attack: The same as Free Race except you race against the clock constantly trying to improve your time. This mode is absent from the PC version in which, instead, the free play mode allows the player to set the number of computer opponents to 0.
• 2 Player: Race against another real player on any unlocked course. You can adjust the difficulty, number, and speed of the computer opponents.
• Multiplayer: Race against other players on a local network on any unlocked course. The PC version uses the deprecatedIPX protocol in order to accomplish this, while the Macintosh version uses the TCP/IP stack.

Can support up to 8 players

The Nintendo 64 version received a special edition Star Wars Episode I Racer hardware bundle with the standard gray/black console and a copy of the game. While the Nintendo 64 cartridge took advantage of Nintendo's Expansion Pak memory unit to add additional textures during in-game play, the N64 cartridge memory limitations resulted in all prerendered cinematics and all but one of the movie soundtrack tunes being removed from the game (Duel of the Fates).

• Aldar Beedo
• Anakin Skywalker
• Ark "Bumpy" Roose
• Ben Quadinaros
• Boles Roor
• Bozzie Baranta
• "Bullseye" Navior
• Clegg Holdfast
• Cy Yunga (N64 Version)
• Dud Bolt
• Ebe Endocott
• Elan Mak
• Fud Sang
• Gasgano
• Jinn Reeso (N64 Version)
• Mars Guo
• Mawhonic
• Neva Kee
• Ody Mandrell
• Ratts Tyerell
• Sebulba
• Slide Paramita
• Teemto Pagalies
• Toy Dampner
• Wan Sandage

The arcade and Game Boy Color releases featured entirely different game play from the others. While using a vastly superior in-game graphics engine, the arcade version included just four tracks (unique from the PC/Mac/Dreamcast/N64 tracks) and used separate control sticks for each pod engine as standard. The arcade version featured a full-sized cockpit for the player to sit in while playing. The Game Boy Color system was technically incapable of rendering the high speed 3D graphics used in the other versions, so the Game Boy Color release was instead based on abbreviated tracks using an overhead 2D view. Many versions of the Game Boy Color version of the game had an additional "Rumble" feature, in which you could put an AAA battery into the game card to activate vibration.

• Star Wars: Racer Revenge

• In March 2004, GMR Magazine rated Episode I Racer the fifth best Star Wars game of all time.

Review scores

Publication	Score
IGN	7.6 of 10 (N64)	7.2 of 10 (PC)
GameSpot	8.4 of 10 (N64)	8.2 of 10 (PC)
EGM	9.5/9.0/9.0/9.0 (N64)	8.0/8.0/8.0 (PC version)
Compilations of multiple reviews
Game Rankings	75.78 of 100 (N64)