Super Pitfall II

The game is a side-scrolling platform game, similar to Super Mario Bros. , but unlike in that game, it is possible to scroll in both directions on the screen in Atlantis no Nazo rather than just the right-hand direction. However, the somewhat choppy physics of Atlantis no Nazo , its one-hit deaths, and its multiple pathways make it much more challenging than Super Mario Bros . The levels in the game are referred to as "zones", and the player travels through various locations such as fields, caves, ruins, temples, and even across clouds.

The games consists of 101 of these zones (zones 1-99, the final zone, and the secret final zone), and features not native to Atlantis, such as Moai face statues and pyramids appear in backgrounds of the zones. In later zones, the terrain may be difficult to see because of the dark, or it may become hard to control the character because the ground is covered with ice. Some zones (called "black holes") only involve falling. Three zones are not connected to the main game, so they can only be accessed using a hidden command that allows the player to select and play any zone they want.

The player starts from the first zone, and must head towards the final zone to rescue Wynn's master while fending off numerous enemies by throwing sticks of dynamite. The player warps into different zones by going into the entrances placed within each zone, but the zones do not come in numerical order, as several warp entrances may be placed within a single zone. The earlier zones are generally easier in terms of difficulty, and the later zones are more difficult. Certain entrances may take the player from an easy zone directly into a harder one (with secretive warps jumping the player by a great number of zones), or vice versa.

A time limit exists for each level, and the timer displayed on the lower part of the screen begins counting down from 999 all the way to 001 followed by OUT. Failing to reach the next zone during the time limit results in a loss of one life. The player also loses a life if their character touches an enemy, gets hit by an enemy attack, falls into a pit, or is caught in the explosion of their own dynamite stick. The game over screen appears once the player has no lives remaining.