To stop the evil Ivan Ooze, the Power Rangers must brawl their way through seven large stages, featuring city streets, an aircraft carrier, a ski resort (complete with downhill snowboarding), a moving freight train, and more. The rangers must face off against Lord Zedd's Putty Patrol (whose troops come in more than a dozen varieties), several small and one large boss per stage. Six different rangers (Red, Yellow, Blue, Pink, Black and White) are available for selection before every level. In the two-player mode, two rangers can play at the same time.

The rangers begin each level in their civilian outfits and must collect power-ups from defeated enemies to slowly fill a power bar. Once that bar is full, they can transform into their ranger outfit at the press of a button, making them more resilient to damage and their attacks more powerful. Filling the power bar again allows them to use a signature weapon unique to each ranger for a limited time or perform an extra powerful special attack.

The game takes place on two lanes, and at most points in the game it is possible to jump between foreground and background to get to enemies or evade obstacles. In two-player mode it is of course possible to keep each ranger on their dedicated lane and only switch if absolutely necessary.