Controlling Dennis Mitchell, the player has to go through four stages, collecting five large coins in each one. If the player manages to find both of Dennis's friends along with Mr. Wilson's entire coin collection, he will have won the game.
Health is represented by hearts. If Dennis is touched by an enemy, one heart will disappear, and Dennis is temporarily stunned. Once all of the hearts are gone, the player must restart the level (but retains all main coins found). Pieces of candy located throughout the levels fully restore Dennis' health when collected.
The player has 999 seconds (16.7 minutes) to complete each stage. If time runs out, there is an immediate game over, which completely eradicates all work done on a level. The clock is not reset when Dennis loses a life.