Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom is a single-player science fiction themed obstacle race where you control Buck Rogers' space ship and guide it through multiple pairs of pylons throughout the game. Controlling the ship involves side scrolling to the left or right, stopping, moving forward (and faster), and moving backwards/breaking (and slower). The spaceship can also fire its weapon to unleash a pair of energy bolts.
The player starts in sector 1 and will finish this level after successfully going between an allocated number of pylons, indicated at the top left side of the screen. The first requirement is 9 pylons, which increases with each new sector. As you progress, you'll encounter flying saucers that fly in a pattern, robots that fly erratically, and other challenges.
The game ends when you lose all three lives by crashing into pylons or enemy space ships. You can also run out of time, indicated by a long bar at the top center screen. The overall score increases by distance traveled, pylons traveled through, and enemy spaceships shot down. Your latest and high scores are saved and shown in the main menu.