There are four classes of kart in the game, and these correspond to four difficulty levels. The classes are:
All cups and tracks are available in each of the four classes. The main difference between the classes is the quality of the computer controlled opponents. They are very mild during 50cc races are rarely attack players. In 150cc and Extra modes however, CPU racers drive very aggressively and frequently use weapons against other racers - they sometimes even appear to cheat! The other main difference between the classes is the speed and size of all the karts. Play the Bower's Castle to see the difference between the classes.
The major difference between the Extra class and the other other classes is that all the tracks are 'mirrored'. In other words, it is as though you are looking at the track in a mirror. All turns are in the opposite direction to their non-mirrored counterparts and even the billboards around the track are reversed. This mirroring of the tracks effectively doubles the amount of courses in the game to 32.