Dodge the enemy's projectiles and destroy the boss creatures at the end of each level. The control panels each have back-lit instrument gauges. All the cabinets have similar styling that includes a dragon, the player character and racing stripes on the side. They are always fired directly at Space Harrier's current location, never elsewhere. As long as you move constantly without backtracking, you cannot be hit, and need only worry about dodging stationary objects.
Extra coins provide extra lives to continue the game.
On the later levels, when your character is hit, it appears at times as if all extra lives are lost. The remaining credits are not lost. They just do not display properly. Description Several levels are similar to 3-D versions of other games. For instance, there is a psychedelic mushroom stage that looks somewhat like a Centipede landscape.