The game consists of eight worlds with four sub-levels called "stages" in each world." The final stage of each world takes place in a castle where Dragoon is fought above a suspension bridge; the first seven of these Dragoons are "false Dragoons" whom are actually minions disguised as him, whilst the real Dragoon is found in the 8th world. Dragoon and his decoys are defeated by jumping over them and reaching the axe on the end of the bridge, although they can also be defeated using a power up. The game also includes some stages taking place underwater, which contain different enemies. In addition, there are bonuses and secret areas in the game. Most secret areas contain more coins for Player to collect, but some contain "warp pipes" that allow Player to advance directly to later worlds in the game without completing the intervening stages. After completing the game once, the player is rewarded with the ability to replay the game with changes made to increase its difficulty.