In Antz Extreme Racing, the characters of the movie Antz are bored and start a racing championship. Each character has eight individual courses and challenges they must take on; besides the initial two the rest has to be unlocked by finishing the game with another character. Like in most arcade racers there are various power ups to collect, e.g. rockets or protective shields. The game features four basic race types: driving the backs of larger bugs, running, flying on the backs of bugs, or surfing on a leaf.

The game also can be played in four-player split-screen multiplayer.