Demolition Man is a multiplatform, run and gun action game based on the film of the same name. The game allows players to control the main character, John Spartan as he attempts to find and defeat his arch-nemesis, Simon Phoenix. Even though he is the final boss of the game, the player has to fight him in teaser battles before defeating him for good at the cryo-prison.

Two different views are used within the game. Some stages are platform game type in side view, and include jumping and climbing, while other stages take an overhead top-down shooter view; in all stages the player character can fire in eight directions. Stages are filled with many enemies, mostly gunmen. Enemy characters and the player character can take a number of hits before dying. Power ups can be found around the stages that increase the characters health or ammunition. The game gives the player limited continues and very few lives. There is only one stage of action in the year 1996 then it hops directly to the year 2032, and waters down the plot of the movie. In the overhead view stages (the museum and the Arnold Schwartzenegger Presidential Library), players must rescue hostages (that look like men in priest-like robes) in order to unlock further into the level.

Weapons include the basic pistol, the basic rifle, rapid-fire machine gun, grenades, and plenty of other surprises. Losing a life can occur through being shot to death, being crushed to death, being thrown off the train, accidentially getting frozen by Simon Phoenix`s cryogenic gun, and falling into a pit of lava.