The realm of the Crystal Palace was once a thriving kingdom, until the evil war spirit Zaras came and started wreaking havoc, causing the inhabitants of the palace to run for their lives. One young swordsman, Farron, comes forward along with his faithful guardian dog Zap in order to defeat the demon and restore peace to the kingdom.
The game has five levels where Farron will jump, hack and slash his way through enemies and encounter bosses. From time to time, he can purchase items from a shopkeeper named Kim, who will also brief him on the current situation around the Crystal Palace, if he so asks.
This game uses the following tropes:
- Anime Chinese Girl: Kim, complete with tying her hair in buns.
- Blow You Away: Kergen, the second boss, will occasionally blow you toward the edge of the screen.
- Canine Companion: Zap, who can be summoned in and out of battle to attack enemies or be used as a mobile Temporary Platform for Farron.
- Descending Ceiling: The path leading to Zaras has a spiked ceiling that quickly drops on Farron. If he doesn't open the door fast enough, the spikes will crush him and you'll lose a life.
- Dual Boss: Kentar and Kellix, the first bosses.
- Fastball Special: If you use the Dog Whistle while Zap is on the screen, you can launch him into enemies at high speed.
- Flunky Boss: The third stage boss.
- In a Single Bound: The Jump Shoes increase your jumping height. If you also selected the Flight Crystal at the beginning of the game, the effects stack so that you can jump the full height of the screen.
- Lethal Lava Land: The fourth level, the Gateway of Flame, has lakes of fire on the top and bottom of the screen that periodically shoot prominences. These get even faster when you face the stage boss.
- Non-Lethal Bottomless Pits: The two castle stages (the second and fifth) have them. Instead of dying, you get bumped back to the last (invisible) checkpoint you passed.
- Precision-Guided Boomerang: The Boomerang Annihilator magic weapon has short range, but will eventually return to Farron no matter where he is on the screen. With clever jumping, he can make the bullet orbit around him (à la Ryu from the NES Ninja Gaiden games).
- Save the Princess: An optional challenge, but if you do complete it, you'll get the powerful Moon Mirror, which destroys weak enemies instantly.
- Smart Bomb: The Moon Mirror.
- Sword Beam: Collecting a sword power-up empowers Farron's sword to shoot short-ranged energy beams at enemies. It only provides twenty shots, so it's important to make every strike count.
- Victory Pose: Farron does a dance and flashes a V-Sign after defeating a boss. If Zap is alive when you win, he runs around you for a few seconds before doing the same thing.
- Video Game Cruelty Punishment: If you try to buy an item several times when you don't have enough money for it, Kim gets angry and throws you out of the shop.
- Womb Level: The third level, the Lair of Hungry Ghosts.
