Digimon Rumble Arena received mixed reviews from critics, who noted the game's similarity to Super Smash Bros., and believed that the gameplay, while simple and accessible, lacked polish.

[1] In the game's single-player mode, the player controls a Digimon and fights a series of computer-controlled opponents, unlocking new characters in the process.

[3] Landing successful hits against the opponent or guarding against attacks will gradually increase a gauge that allows the player character to undergo "Digivolution"—a transformation into a more powerful character—when it is filled.

[6] The game's arenas feature interactive elements and traps (such as falling rocks or lava flows) that players can avoid or use to their advantage.

The game was designed by Hiroyuki Seki, Yasuaki Takahashi, and Yutaka Sato, and was programmed by Masahiro Tobita and Takayuki Hanamasu.

[16] It garnered a 64/100 aggregate score (indicating "mixed to average reviews") from five reviewers on Metacritic,[13] with most of them pointing out the gameplay's resemblance to Super Smash Bros..[c] Jeanne Kim, Chris Johnston, and James Mielke of Electronic Gaming Monthly faulted the game's lack of originality, but opined that it fulfilled a single purpose of allowing fans to fight Digimon in real time.

Additionally, Johnston complained of the overly difficult final boss and inability for two human players to select the same character in two-player gameplay.

[12] Fennec Fox dismissed the music as "typical generic anime stuff",[1] and Romendil was disappointed by the "unremarkable" score and low variety of sound effects, adding that the voices were barely intelligible.

The game features a roster of 45 playable characters representing the first four seasons of the anime series, fully destructible environments, and four-player gameplay.