You play Sir Arthur, a knight who must run and jump through six horziontally- or vertically scrolling levels to rescue his sweetheart, Princess Guinevere. Throw lances, axes etc. to kill zombies, bats, demons and other assorted foes. You must defeat the end-of-level boss before you can move on to the next stage.

Ghosts 'n Goblins is a platform game where the player controls a knight, named Sir Arthur, who must defeat zombies, ogres, demons, armored giants, dragons, and other undead creatures in order to rescue Princess Prin Prin, who has been kidnapped by Satan, King of Demon World. Along the way the player can pick up new weapons, bonuses and extra suits of armor that can help in this task.