Players can choose to be one of four heroic pilots, Paris Tetsuo, Hawtin Raydar, Pi, a 3-foot tall blue cat or Sinclair, a robot. All are members of the elite combat team Retro Force. As the levels progress, the plot unfolds pitching Retro Force against a giant alien mother-ship intent on the destruction of their world. The battle rages across space and time as the two sides are transported across millennia in their bid for supremacy.
Spacecraft change with each character and are all heavily armed with 6 permanent weapons. Three front firing blasters and three types of bombs combine to keep the action fast and furious. As the game progresses power-ups can be collected which can increase your level of firepower by up to 5 times. 20 Pickups are available including homing missiles, forward firing rockets, a force field and a plasma ball generator as well as extra lives and shields.
There are four main end-of level guardians along with a number of smaller mid-stage boss' to defeat. Your ultimate goal is to destroy 'Kyati' who pilots the four main guardians: A huge flying robot, UFO and Robo-Spider, with the last battle of the game being against Kyati himself.
Graphics are clean and crisp as a result of a hybrid between hand-drawn and more realistic work. The characters have the heroic appeal of the G-Force pilots from 70's animation classic, The Battle Of The Planets, the result is cartoon-like, with rich 3D landscapes, real time lighting effects and a dynamic camera system. Retro Force also features a curved geometry collision system, a first for Playstation.