Dark Adventure - Gameplay

Gameplay

The player characters are transported into another dimension after opening an ancient relic. In order to return to their world, they must embark on a quest to defeat the evil ruler of the Devil World. There are over 40 stages or worlds in the game, including boss battles. The objective in the majority of these stages is to find a key that will allow the player to open the entrance to the next world.

The player can choose between Labryna, a female reporter equipped with a bowgun, and Condor, an archeologist armed with a pistol. The controls consists of an eight directional joystick and three action buttons (power-up, jump, shoot) for each player, as well as a map button which will briefly displays the player's current location in the stage, as well as the location to the key and exit. Much like Konami's Gradius series, each player has a level meter which can determine what kinds of weapons the player can choose. By picking up power orbs, the cursor on the level meter will move forward by one space. When the cursor is on a desired power-up, the player can confirmed their choice by pressing the power-up button. The available weapons includes a machine gun, a laser gun, a shot gun, a flamethrower, and a bazooka. The player can also increase the walking speed of their character or accompany each gunshot with a dynamite toss. The player can also pick up food items such as soft drinks to replenish energy. If the player remains idle for too long, they will gradually lose energy. The final power-up on the level meter, represented by a question mark (?), is a force field similar to the Gradius series.

The game features different endings. While fighting the Demon King, the player cannot continue or be joined by another.