Blue Max

The game opens with the player's aircraft parked on a runway while the theme - a rendition of "Rule, Britannia!" - plays. After selecting from various control and difficulty options and pressing start, the screen shows the aircraft speeding up down the runway. The player is required to push the joystick in order to take off, but not before the plane reaches a certain minimum speed. From then on the screen scrolls diagonally in the fashion of Zaxxon, using oblique projection to simulate three-dimensionality. The player can move left and right, forward and backward, or raise or lower their altitude with the joystick. The fire button shoots the machine guns continually, while pressing and moving the stick down at the same time causes a bomb to drop.

The game is divided into several areas, each one ending with a runway on which the player should land. The first area consists of a large river on the left side of the screen and a grassy treed area on the right. In the second area the river eventually gives way to land and roads filled with tanks and enemy airbases. The third and final area is the city, composed of skyscrapers and bunkers, destruction of which is the main goal of the game.

Each area contains various targets to destroy, including warships in the river that fire flak, tanks, bridges, various buildings, and enemy biplanes that appear periodically in front or behind the player and shoot at the player's aircraft.

The player's aircraft may be damaged by enemy firepower. Each shot taken causes one of four possible impairments: gun damage, bomb gear damage, fuel leak, or decreased maneuverability. The fifth shot taken obliterates the plane. The player may also die by colliding with ground or an enemy plane, or by using up all of the fuel.

After flying a certain distance the player is notified, by a beeping sound, that a friendly airbase is about to appear. The player should then land on the airfield, which refuels the aircraft, fixes its damage, and replenishes its supply of bombs.

In order to access the next area, the player must destroy a certain amount of special targets - flashing cars and planes, and buildings and bridges marked with a flashing cross. If not enough special targets have been destroyed, the plane, upon taking off, will fly through the same area again.

The ultimate goal is to reach the final area and bomb the three bunkers inside the heavily defended city, and then reach the airfield at the end of the stage. Upon finishing, either by succeeding or dying, the player is given a numerical rank based on their performance.