Reign of Apocalypse is a side-scrolling action beat 'em up with 12 distinct levels. Each level has waves of enemies plus a mutant boss who all must be defeated to progress to the next stage. Players must defeat enemies to earn points which can be spent at the end of each stage to improve the character's strength, vitality, or mutant power. Each playable character share the same basic attacks but each have a unique special ability: Wolverine has claws that excelling in close-range combat, Rogue has a charge ability, Storm controls tornado projectiles, and Cyclops has long-range optic blasts.