City Hunter is based on the manga by Tsukasa Hojo . The story follows Ryo Saeba, a young man with a mysterious past, who founds the City Hunter team in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The City Hunter is an underground private detective agency that handles particularly dangerous cases. In the game, you play through three of these cases, which are unrelated to each other and can be played in any order.
The gameplay is a side-scrolling shooter where you navigate Ryo through stages, dispatching enemies with his gun. The gameplay system is simple: you can carry multiple mission items, but different weapons or power-ups are not available for use. The levels are often vast indoor areas with many rooms to explore. The game also has adventure elements, such as speaking to characters, receiving items like keys, and backtracking to reach previously inaccessible areas.