In this game, you play Riki. Kyoko, your beautiful Japanese girlfriend, has been kidnapped, and in order to rescue her, you must get through a tireless army of enemies. These enemies come equipped with weapons that include whips, knives, swords, and flamethrowers, but Riki has to make do with his well-trained martial arts body.

Black Belt is a side-scrolling game that is split into seven chapters. During these chapters, you are fighting Chinese Kung Fu men, wrestlers, jujitsu men, eagles, ninjas, and black women. When you get halfway through the chapter, you will fight a different enemy than one that you encounter before. At the end of each chapter, you have to defeat several bosses before continuing on to the next round. Each type of these has their own personal strengths and weaknesses.

Once you touch an enemy or boss, you will lose energy. once you lose all energy, you lose a life, but more life can be restored by getting the cake when it comes across the screen in mid-air, or by defeating an enemy that will come at you halfway and you receive a bonus for doing so.

The game is a modified version of the Japanese-exclusive Hokuto no Ken, with the licence removed and new level designs.