GT Advance features forty-five licensed Japanese cars and places the player in races on thirty-two tracks.[5] Due to positive reaction to the game in Japan, THQ purchased publishing rights for the North American and European releases to the game after a reported bidding war,[6] and added in a controversial password save system into the game to cut costs.[7]
The game was received with mostly positive reviews from critics that praised the game for its fun gameplay,[8] but THQ was criticized by most reviewers for adding passwords to the game when the Japanese version had battery-backed saves.[7][9]