Tetsuwan Atom (also known as Astro Boy ) is a side-scrolling platformer based on the famous Japanese manga and anime series by Osamu Tezuka. Thieves have stolen all the money from Professor Ochanomizu and you, in the role Astro Boy, are sent out to retrieve it. The game features ten or less linear stages. In some stages you can only make progress after finishing certain tasks or solving little puzzles, like finding keys or special items or repeating a certain sound with bells. At certain places Astro Boy must also make use of his jetpack, which can only be used a certain amount of time, after which you have to wait a bit until it has cooled down enough for reuse. Astro Boy's remaining life energy is determined by an uranium value. This can be filled up again a few times by calling Professor Ochanomizu.
The gameplay revolves around navigating through levels while avoiding enemies and obstacles. The jetpack is used to traverse the environment, but it must be carefully managed due to its limited duration. The game requires strategy and timing to overcome challenges and reach the end of each stage.