Controlling one of seven assassins, players are tasked with defeating opponents with different types of weapons, while also avoiding different obstacles brought on by various stage gimmicks.

Weapons range from firearms such as pistols, machine guns and rocket launchers, to more outlandish items such as pie and bowls of hot soup.

It was largely ignored upon release, due to 3D fighting games overshadowing 2D ones and the market being dominated by both Capcom and SNK.

Several have recognized it for pioneering gameplay elements found in later arena-based fighting games, particularly the Super Smash Bros. series.

[2] The game features seven playable characters: John Smith, a mercenary; Betty Doe, a business woman; Prof. Ching, a scientist in a wheelchair; Bernard White, a biomedical engineer with a prosthetic hand; Danny and Demi, twin children; Dweeb, a chimpanzee; and Eve, a former film star turned criminal.

[3] The weapons vary from conventional pistols, machine guns, rocket launchers, flamethrowers, and swords to more outlandish items such as hot soup or pie.

[1] The environments also employ thematic events and scenarios which can damage players and dynamically change the playing field over the course of the fight.

Coincidentally, Suda is a fan of The Outfoxies and owns a copy which is displayed and playable at Grasshopper Manufacture's offices.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun wrote that they were constantly surprised by the variety of throwable items and the outlandish stage gimmicks.

They believed The Outfoxies was ahead of its time and a "one of a kind" game, describing it as a cross between Rolling Thunder (1989) and Elevator Action Returns (1994).

[1] The Outfoxies is regarded as an early example of an arena fighting game, vastly predating and possibly inspiring the Super Smash Bros.