Crash Team Racing is a racing game in which the player controls characters from the Crash Bandicoot universe, most of whom compete in karts. While racing, the player can accelerate, steer, reverse, brake, hop or use weapons and power-ups with the game controllers analog stick and buttons. Two distinct forms of crates are scattered throughout the tracks and arenas of Crash Team Racing. Crates with question marks (?) on them hold power-ups and weapons, which can be obtained by driving through and breaking apart the said crates. When the player collects a weapon or power-up, it will appear in a box at the top of the screen. The player can activate the weapon or power-up to wreak havoc on the other racers or help the player go faster. Fruit Crates carry Wumpa Fruit that increase the speed of the players kart and strengthen the players weapons and power-ups if ten of them are obtained.

A crucial maneuver in Crash Team Racing is the power slide, the player executes the slide by holding down one of the shoulder buttons to perform a hop, and steering before the kart lands. While sliding, the Turbo Boost Meter on the lower-right corner of the screen fills up and goes from green to red. At the same time, the exhaust gas from the players kart turns black. To get a speed boost, the player quickly presses the opposite shoulder button while the Turbo Boost Meter is red. The player can execute three speed boosts in a row during a power slide, with the third speed boost being more powerful than the previous two. If the player waits too long into the power slide for a boost, the kart back-fires and the chance for a speed boost is lost, power sliding for too long causes a spin-out. Aside from power slides, speed boosts can be obtained by gathering hang time when leaping over gaps in the track. The longer the player is in the air, the bigger the speed boost will be when the kart lands.