Collision detection and battle management for action game

I'm working currently on a Platformer / Action game similar to a Mario 64 meets X-Men Legends. It's currently a workable product, battle and platforming are all working, however, the battle manager is really not optimized for gameplay the best it can be.

I don't necessarily need code, more theory assistance than anything else. I have the weapons getting set to active to do damage when the characters start the attack animation, when it senses collision with an enemy, sending information to them to get hit, and resetting upon exiting the collision mesh for the enemy.

Like I said, it's working, but if anyone knows resources to get this to work better, any sites someone can point me to or threads, that would be most appreciated. Thanks :)