Kishin Dōji Zenki is based on a TV and anime series. With help of demon spirit, the master of the Enno temple, Enno Ozuno, was able to defeat the demon goddess Karuma centuries ago. In present time, this demon spirit, called Zenki, appears again, after having been sealed in a column by Enno Ozuno - Zenki was freed by Ozuno's descendant in present day, a school girl called Chiaki Enno. However, Zenki has only the form of an ill-mannered child, and Chiaki can only transform him into a useful form by using a magic bracelet. Together, Zenki and Chiaki must avert the threat caused by the seeds of Karuma, who started to appear and transform people into monsters.

The game is a platformer which lets you control either Chiaki or Zenki, which both have different abilities. While Chiaki can break stones with her powers to clear the way and look for power ups, Zenki has spinning attack. Like in Sega's Astérix games, you choose at the beginning of each level which character to play. Further, the level can be left to pick the other one. For boss fights, the game switches to a different mode reminiscent of one-on-one fighting games, where Zenki faces the opponent in a more powerful form.