It kind of does, if you put it in manual mode. That way you can dictate how long you can stay in a certain gear, to a point. Yes, it's not like the sport mode on my BMW but then again, for $10K less, I think most of us can adapt to it's "shortcomings".
I agree with you, and knowing what the competition for this compact SUV offers, still the best tranny in class. Mazda achieved it gas mileage goals without cheating like Hundai/Kia.