The control scheme has been expanded upon from its predecessors. This includes the ability for the main character, Simon Belmont, to whip in eight directions. Additionally, Simon can also keep his whip held out. Players can get Simon to hold out his whip by holding the attack button. This feature allows Simon to swing his whip around and in effect, more easily block enemy projectiles or rapidly hit enemies with minor damage. Lastly, Simon can also latch his whip onto grappling points, letting him swing over various obstacles.

In comparison to its predecessors, Simons ability to jump has also been expanded on. To a limited extent, Simon can now be controlled in the air. This opens up the possibility to dodge and maneuver away from danger. Simon can also climb stairs in mid-jump, as well as crouch while moving forward.

Like most Castlevania games, Simon can utilize sub-weapons and whip power-ups. Sub-weapons are powered by hearts found in candles and slain enemies. Specifically, these sub-weapons include a dagger, cross-like boomerang, axe, holy water and pocket watch. Notably, the more powerful sub-weapons, such as the watch, require more hearts to use. Since the control pad is used to aim the whip, the R button is used to attack with sub weapons, rather than pressing up and the attack button. On the other hand, whip power-ups, which increase the strength and length of the whip, are automatic, usually found in candles and are not regulated by hearts.

Following the model set by the previous games, Super Castlevania IV employs the usage of many the series recurring elements, such as moving platforms, pits with spikes, and stairs that one can traverse by pressing the Up or Down direction on the D-Pad.

Unique to Super Castlevania IVs level design is its connection with Simons whip, the Vampire Killer whip. Occasionally, objects similar to door knockers will appear in the players view, and the player must use Simons whip to grab onto them and swing across pits to gain access to the next part of the stage. Simon is also able to adjust the length of the whip while swinging if the player uses the D-pad accordingly.

The game took advantage of the SNESs then state-of-the-art technology to create levels which would have been impossible to render in the 8-bit NES version of the game; one level involves the player running across stationary blocks in the center of a giant, rotating, cylindrical room, while another involves the player being made to jump from platforms suspended from a pseudo-3D chandelier while the screen slowly flashes red and black.

Even though Super Castlevania IV is based on the original Castlevania, this game is more of an expansion. The original game offers six stages of Draculas castle, as does Super Castlevania IV, which also includes five more stages leading up to the castle, for a total of eleven stages altogether.