In both games, the player controls John Spartan, the main character from the film, as he attempts to find and defeat his nemesis, Simon Phoenix.

In the two overhead view stages the player must find and rescue hostages in order to unlock doors elsewhere in the level.

Weapons include the basic police-issue handgun, a more powerful magnum, a shotgun which fires in a wide spread, and various types of hand grenades.

Even though he is the final boss of the game, the player has to fight Simon Phoenix in short-lived "teaser" battles before defeating him for good at the cryo-prison.

"[2] Captain Squideo reviewed the Super NES version for GamePro, and commented that it "parallels the recent Genesis game: it's fast, fun, and explosive."

He remarked that though veteran gamers may find the game too simplistic, it is intense and fun overall, and that unlike the Genesis version the graphics are colorful and effectively convey the postapocalyptic settings.

The light gun levels are set on a static background on which digitized enemies pop out at random, in a shooting gallery style of gameplay.

The one-on-one fighting levels are similar to Mortal Kombat, in that they feature digitized sprites viewed from a side perspective.