The game features several contrasting modes of gameplay, including side-view platforming, top-view, and horizontal shoot 'em up. It follows Jim Power in Mutant Planet as a different title, but at the same time reinterpreting the original game by taking many basic elements and levels from it. The soundtrack was composed by Chris Hülsbeck of Turrican fame.

Jim Power: The Lost Dimension in 3-D is often considered by gaming aficionados to be one of the most difficult games ever made. Despite its name, it is an entirely 2D game, although the game uses many layers of parallax scrolling backgrounds moving in opposite directions to give a great sense of depth. Together with the 3D glasses that were packaged with the game, designed around the Pulfrich effect, this provided a unique "3D" experience for the time when polygonal 3D graphics were rudimentary and too expensive to implement. The 3D feeling could also be related to the overhead stages, showing rotating effects in the same vein than those depicted in similar games like Contra III: The Alien Wars.

A version of this game was also developed for the Mega Drive/Genesis under the name Jim Power: The Arcade Game. However, despite being in an almost complete state, this title was never published and remained unreleased until a ROM image was eventually leaked. This unpublished version features all levels and can be finished, although only a single music track (once again, arranged by Chris Hulsbeck) is present in the whole game. Jim Power: The Arcade Game is mostly the same game as Jim Power: The Lost Dimension in 3-D, albeit with some minor graphical differences derived from technical aspects. All the top-view stages were also replaced by additional shoot' em up levels, hence the rebranded title of this version depicting a further arcade experience rather than a "3D" one.