Wonder Boy

The titular Wonder Boy is a tribal islander-like boy whose girlfriend Tina has been captured by the Dark King. The player must guide the Wonder Boy through seven "areas", each consisting of four "rounds". The levels are made up of forests, hills, oceans, caves, ice palaces and occasionally mountains lands. The levels always run from left-to-right, with some vertical movement.

The boy can arm himself with a stone hatchet, which he can throw at oncoming foes, a skateboard with which he can rush through the levels and survive one attack by an enemy, and temporary protection by an angel which allows him to destroy foes by simply running into them. All of the aforementioned power-ups are obtained by breaking open eggs.

These eggs can also contain unpleasant surprises – curses which cause him to lose vitality more quickly than usual, and poisonous mushrooms which reduce the boy's vitality in one go. "Bad eggs" can be easily spotted, as they are covered in red spots, whereas "good eggs" that contain hatchets, skateboards and angels are plain white. The player must remain aware of the vitality meter, which constantly runs down at a steady pace and can only be refilled by collecting fruit throughout the level. There is also one doll to collect in each level, which doubles the bonus points awarded at the end of the level. If all 28 dolls are collected, then an eighth area will be unlocked.

At the end of every "area" (thus every four "rounds"), the boy will encounter an incarnation of the chief antagonist as a boss character. Once defeated, the mighty lord's mask flies off and transforms into an item such as a tea cup or a piece of fruit for the boy to collect. The evil witch doctor then subsequently makes his escape.