Once again, the open world has changed since Cars Mater-National (2007). All of the changes brought in, including the Ornament Valley Airport, Fillmore's Nature Park and the Upper Mine, have been removed, but some new changes came as well, which include a road running through the field in Ornament Valley, a new section tunnel in the Abandoned Mine in Tailfin Pass and the gates to Sarge's Boot Camp being open. Besides that, the 3 parts of Radiator Springs are now 1 world with no loading required to switch between any of the 2. Players can also explore 4 new locations outside of Radiator Springs, which are Radiator Springs Speedway, Santa Carburera, Autovia, and Motoropolis City.
Meant to be a sequel to Cars: Mater National (2007).
Most of the new characters introduced from Cars: The Video Game (2006): The Video Game, a lot of which returned in Cars Mater-National (2007), do not return in Race-O-Rama. This includes Fletcher, Gerald, Papo, El Guapo, Vince, Barry, Sonny, Lenny, Buford and Judd. Of which, Papo and El Guapo did not return in Mater-National. On top of that, one character from Cars (2006), the film who appeared in the other 2 games, Lizzie, does not return here.
There are a few other differences Race-O-Rama has from the past 2 games. A typical race now consists of 8 cars instead of 5. Paint jobs and bonus content are unlocked via winning races and earning points rather than purchased with points. Drifting has replaced powersliding and Lightning McQueen's body parts can be customized, not just his paint and tires. However, this game is also not available on the PC and GameBoy Advanced.