The player will fight as either Red Beard or One Eye through various pirate themed levels, like ships and forts, and even some non-pirate themed levels, battling ninjas, skeletons, and others in a quest to save a princess from an evil wizard. There's also a split screen mode for two players.

The pirates will use several weapons to fight, such as pistols, swords, knifes and their bare fists. At each level, players will have to kill at least 15 enemies to move on and fight the level's boss. Each one of the six levels can be selected freely right from the start, differing only in difficulty (time limit to beat).

Several skull & crossbones flags are distributed through the levels, hiding booty, new weapons and traps (a skull symbol). There are some hidden flags which will appear as the pirate passes by them. At the end of each level, the players can trade their booty for new weapons, each one at different prices (the stronger costing more).