Primal Rage is a one-on-one fighting game featuring dinosaurs and giant apes as the fighters. The graphics are done with digitized stop-motion animation. Gameplay is similar to Mortal Kombat in that it is viewed from a side perspective, and features deadly finishing moves at the end of the match.

A massive meteor strike has devastated Earth. Human civilization comes to an end in the ensuing cataclysms and humanity regresses into tribes of Stone Age dwellers. A primordial rainforest covers the land and the continental landmass has shifted into the shape of a fire-breathing dinosaur skull. The planet is now primitively referred to as "Urth" by the survivors of the cataclysms.

Seven fearsome creatures emerge from their slumber deep within the Urth's crust, and become worshiped as gods by the humans, who form segregated clans beneath the ones they follow. The beasts themselves are divided between those who wish to keep peace on Urth, and those who attempt to plunge the world into further chaos for their own benefit.