The player must take control of the eponymous Motos, a bumper car whose goal is to force enemies over the edge of the playfield by bumping up against them; however, all the enemies are capable of doing exactly the same thing to it. "Power parts" and "jump parts" can also be collected during the 62 rounds, which will give Motos extra bumping power and the ability to jump over gaps in the playfield.
A "remixed" version of the game featuring Namco's signature character, Pac-Man, was released as part of Namco Museum Remix under the name of Pac-Motos - and Namco Museum Megamix also included the original game along with the remix.