Spanky's Quest is a game about a monkey who decides to go on a picnic. While on his way through the forest, he sees a witch in the sky and bricks start making a tower around the area he's in. The witch challenges Spanky to come to the final tower and she will free him. But before she flies away, she turns the fruits in his knapsack into living fruit monsters. Unbeknownst to her, she drops a magic ball which agrees to help Spanky out on his quest.
The object of the game is to get through all six towers, each with 10 levels and a boss battle. To proceed to the next level, you must collect the required number of keys from locked doors. Keys are found lying around, but monsters will pick them up if they're not used first. The magic ball has different attacks: baseball, soccer ball, volleyball, and basketball. To get an even stronger ball, it's bounced on Spanky's head. Spanky also gets different hats which give him specific powers until he loses them or the level ends.