Whereas Slightly Mad's Shift is more of a realistic racer, EA Montreal's Nitro focuses more on arcade-style racing. The Wii edition utilizes a variety of control devices, including Wii Remote, Nunchuk, racing wheel, classic controller and GameCube controller.

"We wanted to fuse together attitude with car culture and the best of arcade racing, to create a new and unique racing experience," said senior producer Joe Booth, citing the "varied track designs, deep controls, and intuitive drift and nitro mechanics."