When timed to match an enemy attack, the dodge results in time slowing down for a few seconds, the player becoming invincible during this period of time, and the player gaining access to an instant kill counter attack against enemies with low health. Attacking while dashing also results in dashing attacks. A spirit power gauge builds up in combat, and can be used to unleash a powerful special attack with the square button when full. Another feature shown in the demo is the wall dash, which is performed automatically when dashing towards specially designated walls in areas (the player can wait till the end of a wall dash to jump off automatically, or manually jump off at any time).

Sakura Wars is the first entry in the main Sakura Wars series to use an action-based battle system. Instead of using a menu interface, the player selects commands directly mapped to the buttons on the controller. The Combat Revue World Games can be played for up to a maximum of three rounds. The player can select up to two characters to assist Kamiyama in the matches.