Doraemon and his friends were going on a picnic using a time machine to visit the past. However, their plans were ruined by Gigazombie, who had captured all of Doraemon's friends and trapped them in different time periods. Now, Doraemon must travel through time to rescue Nobita, Shizuka, Gian, and Suneo from Gigazombie's henchmen!
Doraemon: Meikyū Daisakusen is an action puzzle game viewed from an overhead perspective. Each stage consists of a maze filled with various enemies and items. You must collect all of the keys on the stage to open the exit door while avoiding or eliminating enemies. Your primary method of dealing with enemies is to dig holes; if an enemy walks into a hole, they are momentarily trapped and you can then fill the hole to kill the enemy.
You can also obtain temporary weapon powerups such as rayguns and yo-yos, as well as extend your digging reach to dig multiple holes at once. There are also several bosses encountered throughout the game.