Players select a fighter and battle through a single-player tournament of one-on-one matches. The objective is to deplete the opponent's life bar before the timer expires; each match is generally decided by the best of three rounds.

Four attack buttons provide light and heavy punches and kicks. Fighters can jump, crouch, block, throw, use special and desperation moves, and shift between the main lane and the foreground or background. Winning matches advances the tournament and leads to a final boss encounter.

Learn the range and recovery of each normal attack before relying on special moves. Use the foreground and background lanes to avoid predictable attacks, then punish the opponent's recovery with a fast normal or throw.

Preserve the guard meter by blocking selectively and avoid repeated jumps. Desperation moves are strongest when used after creating space or reading an opponent's approach, not as random reversals.