The player controls pairs of blocks that drop into a pit-like playfield. Twelve blocks tall by six blocks wide, with the fourth column from the left being thirteen blocks high. Gems can only be eliminated by coming into contact with a Crash Gem of the same color, which eliminates all adjacent gems of that color, setting up the potential for huge chain reaction. All of the playable characters in Puzzle Fighter, with one exception, are borrowed from Capcom's two major fighting game series, Street Fighter and Darkstalkers.