It has no outlines and some paths are drawn differently. The map of Resort Island used by the course map is different to the one used in the final game.
Course map is barely functional - it has no character icons and always displays Resort Island's layout.The course timer and character icons are slightly closer to the center of the screen than they are in the final.The HUD is slightly transparent in this version.The pause menu has no options to retry or quit - it just pauses the game.The countdown at the start of a course uses "3, 2, 1, GO" instead of "READY, SET, GO".Objects such as coins, item emblems and rings have smaller hitboxes, making them much harder to collect.No "Reverse" alert for going the wrong way in a course.No unique sound for collecting all Sonic coins.A buzzer sound is used instead of a voice for the countdown at the start of a race.If both 1P and 2P jump at the same time, the jump sound does not play.The jump sound is higher quality than the one used in the final game.Sonic's double jump makes the same sound as the first jump, whereas in the final it has a higher pitch.A lot of sound effects are quieter than they are in the final, making some (footstep sounds) near impossible to hear.Background sounds persist when the game is paused.Replays use the title screen theme instead of an instrumental of the current course.The fanfares for starting and ending a race are slower: The loading screen was changed from a disc saying “LOADING” to a Sonic head in the final. These were renamed in the final game to Resort Island, Radical City and Reactive Factory respectively.
Only three courses can be selected - "Island", "City" and "Factory".