The player controls the safari adventurer Sabreman, who runs and jumps between platforms to retrieve treasure guarded by the Sabre Wulf.

As Sabreman, the player fights through eight worlds—each consisting of a sequence of platforming levels and culminating in a laboratory level—to retrieve an eighth of the amulet and return Sabre Wulf to captivity.

[3] En route to the treasure, the player can also summon Sabreman's collectible creatures, who give the character special abilities needed to advance through the levels.

Sabreman has several speech samples, such as "run for it" when Sabre Wulf starts to chase and "smashing" when finishing a level.

[8] Reviewers from both sides considered its gameplay repetitive[1][8][2]—as GamesTM put it: the player rehearses and memorizes short, basic levels for the fastest time.

[3] GamePro put Sabre Wulf in the lineage of WarioWare in that its quick and otherwise mundane levels became interesting when paired with its varied creature puzzle and racing hooks.

[8][14] Sabre Wulf is oriented towards action, and IGN considered its few adventure elements of brief "busy-work wandering" and non-player character conversation weak.

[7] GameSpot felt that player creativity was constrained by the limited helper creature choices,[1] a game mechanic similar to that of The Lost Vikings.

[15] Of British outlets, GamesTM too wrote that Sabre Wulf did not match the legacy of its forebears[11] and Retro Gamer found the remake disappointing,[16] though Eurogamer figured that players familiar with the developer's history would at least appreciate the in-game references and nostalgia.

[3] In the United States, IGN considered the game a "welcome throwback" to Rare's 1980s ingenuity but expected much of its British humour to be lost on players.

[4] Play found the humour entertaining[14] and GameSpot thought that the British accent in Sabreman's sound effects perfectly fit his persona.