First things first. As this game was made for the SFC (the Japanese version of the SNES), I will be referring to all buttons using the SFC designations. Here is a table for easy reference, if you happen to be using zSNES to play.

Whenever you level up, your HP gauge fills up completely. It also fills up completely after each fight. You level up by killing enemies. Sounds just like every other RPG, but what I mean is, for example, when Ryoko delivers a finishing blow to an enemy, only Ryoko gets credit for that kill. Also, there's no EXP, they just level up after a certain number of kills, so technically you could just kill enemies in the Carrot Fields (where the weakest enemies in the game are) until all of your characters are max level. Also, lv 8 is max level in this game, which isn't too bad since the game can be beat in around four hours. After each battle, you also get a choice as to where you want to go next, and a chance to save your game.

Now, on to the other aspects of the game. In battle, you move your characters kind of like you would chess pieces on a chess board. The battle screen is divided into squares, and each character has different ranges of movement. Regular people like Tenchi and Aeka have a medium range of movement. Non-human machine-type things like Yukinojou and Aeka's guardians can basically only move one square each turn, and never on a diagonal. Ryo Oki has a much larger range than almost everyone else, being able to jump over obstacles and other characters, instead of being blocked by them, and Ryoko has the largest range, as she can float over things that are generally counted as holes in the ground. Also, some characters' attacks can be blocked by an obstacle or a "hole." Different attacks also have different ranges. Most techs in the game can only target enemies/allies on a direct, non-diagonal line from the user, although some can target any enemy in a square of varying sizes around the user. Some characters also have multiple-target techs.

When a character's turn comes up, they say their tagline (i.e., Mihoshi's "You're under arrest!") and their info menu pops up (pictured right). This info menu shows the character's name, level (in kanji, even if you're using the language patch), strength and defense stats, current HP, max HP, and Kiai. Kiai is this game's equivalent of MP/Mana, and all techs require a certain amount of Kiai before you can use them. Each character generally gains two diamonds of Kiai each time their turn comes up (there are exceptions to this), and with enough Kiai (eight), that character can transform, or "morph," into another form that gives them access to different techs. Here's a crash course on kanji numbers, so you can read your character's levels: 一 (one), 二 (two), 三 (three), 四 (four), 五 (five), 六 (six), 七 (seven), 八 (eight). The other numbers in kanji are irrelevant as, again, max level in this game is 8. :op (also, if those characters show up as a bunch of squares or question marks for you, it's because you don't have Asian languages installed on your computer)

Also during a character's turn, you can use the arrow keys to move a white square around on the screen. You can move it to an enemy to check that enemy's stats, or to another character to check their stats. Move the square back to the character whose turn it is and press B to bring up their battle menu. This menu generally consists of three options (Move, Attack, and End). If you have enough Kiai, the Morph option will be added to this menu. Move, obviously, allows you to move your character around. Choosing this option will darken all of the squares on the battlefield except the ones that character can move to (see "Example: Sasami's movement range" or "Example: Ryoko's movement range" pictures above the previous paragraph). Use the arrow keys to move a white outline around, and press B to choose a square. Your character will now move to that square. If you had the option to transform before moving, you won't have it again after moving, although right after moving you can choose another option from the menu. The Attack option brings up a menu that shows what techs are currently available to that character. If the names are white, you have enough Kiai to use it. If not, the name is greyed out. Selecting a tech will show you its range, and the target(s) you can use it on. If it's a single-target tech, use the left or right arrow keys to change target. Use the A key to cancel any action (including moving), or if you want to choose a different option. The End option is basically for if you want to let that character build up Kiai without moving them from their current location. When you transform, as previously mentioned, you gain access to different techs. Your battle menu will now have a Revert option where the Morph option was. This option exists because, once morphed, that character no longer has access to its non-transformation techs, so if you want to use those you'll have to revert back to that character's original form. Also, if your Kiai goes down enough, the game will automatically revert your character.