Axelay's gameplay varies quite a bit from that of traditional 2D scrolling shooters. Instead of the player collecting weapon power-ups from defeated enemies in order to acquire more advanced weapons, the player earns weapons as they advance in the game. There are three weapon types with which the fighter is outfitted at the start of the level: a standard weapon, a special weapon, and a bomb or missile. The player may freely switch between each of these weapon types during a level. At the end of each level, a new choice of one of these types of weapons is added to the player's armory, and the player is given the ability to modify the fighter to suit the needs of the next level. Levels transition between vertical and horizontal scrolling layouts, forcing the player to select weapons that will be most effective for each level. Finally, the game removes the standard one-hit-kill model in normal space shooters, instead when damaged the currently selected weapon is disabled and reduces the player to a weak default version of that weapon type. Sustaining a second hit while using a weakened weapon will destroy the player's ship. However, directly colliding into an enemy will still destroy the ship instantly. The game's graphics utilize the Super Nintendo's mode 7 and parallax scrolling effects. Such visual effects combined with what was then seen as an advanced selection of weapons available, as well as the music score, made Axelay into a popular shooter for the SNES console.