Demolition Man is a multiplatform, run and gun action game based on the film of the same name, that takes the main character, John Spartan as he attempts to find and defeat his arch-nemesis, Simon Phoenix, who is the final boss of the game. 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. This emasculation of the movie eliminates all of the comedic elements and turns the game into a straight action game with only minor witty comments like "avoid fatty foods" (as seen in the Super NES version of the game).