The game is a beat em up style game like its predecessor that requires players to play as characters from the show, defeating a wide range of enemies to reach the next level. During levels, up to two, three, or four characters can be played for the duration, and switching them will not cause you to switch to another until the meter is full. If the character runs out of health, you will be switched to another character, but if all characters run out of health meters and are defeated, it will force the player to start over. However, a character can be revived if their abilities are impressive. Playable characters include Daniel LaRusso, Samantha LaRusso, Robby Keene, Johnny Lawrence, Miguel Diaz, Tory Nichols, and John Kreese.
The game includes three story modes; the Miyagi-Do story which focuses on Daniel, Eagle Fang which focuses on Johnny, and the Cobra Kai story which focuses on John Kreese with the goal of preparing for the All Valley Karate Tournament. The other mode is a tournament mode based on the All-Valley Tournament, and Cobra Classics mode is where players can alleviate moments from the series. To unlock characters for dojos throughout the game, they need to be recruited at different levels, some of them being mini-bosses or bosses and can join any dojo in the game or be dismissed. While other characters can be unlocked and recruited if the player completes a task that requires them to complete it for that character to join them.
