Blue Rider

The ship can only take a small number of hits before it explodes and then the entire stage needs to be replayed. There are often multiple enemies on the screen creating 'bullet hell' situations where a large amount of bullets needs to be dodged. Sometimes there are chasms or lava the ship can hover over, but these drain health as well. Next to mere completing the level, the goal is also to get a high score, based on a stage score combined with secrets, a time bonus and a health bonus. A lot of points can be scored through a score multiplier called 'rampage', encouraging the player to string together encounters quickly to counter the steady decrease of the rampage bar. Maintaining a high rampage provides rewards, such as an extra life. Next to the strafe-like movement to dodge bullets, there is a separate button to boost and move faster.

The ship has a primary weapon with an unlimited amount of ammo and a secondary one, often shooting poweful rockets. The secondary weapon has a limited amount of ammo. Additional ammo can often be found in the environment. There are also hidden relics, providing a rampage bonus or a temporary companion ship, next to stations that provide upgrades or swaps for the primary and secondary weapon, a rampage bonus or additional health. There is a strategic element to picking them up, as they switch colour every few seconds if they are left alone, so the player can wait to get an upgrade for a specific weapon. New or upgraded weapons provide more damage or different types of firing patterns. Enemies also sometimes drop green, purple and blue orbs providing health, bombs and rampage respectively. The game has a high difficulty level, especially for the boss encounters as the player needs to figure out the patterns and avoid attacks that can sometimes destroy the ship in one go.