Wonder Boy

The gameplay is a side-scrolling platform game where Tom-Tom can go anywhere as long as he has the right shape or equipment. He must defeat various dragon bosses and collect charms stones to gain new abilities such as flying, swimming, walking on ceilings, or clinging to walls. These abilities also allow access to new parts of the world.

The basic actions consist of attacking and jumping, and in the status screen, it is possible to equip swords, shields, and armor. Special attacks include fireballs, tornadoes, arrows, boomerangs, and thunder strikes. Along the way, the player collects keys (only one at all times) and gold left behind by defeated creatures.

Tom-Tom can buy items in towns using a password given at the start of each town to continue playing from where he left off. The Game Gear version has minor tweaks to level layouts to accommodate the smaller resolution better, with prices of shop items also changed.