The Goonies II/Getting Started

Side-scrolling scenes

 * : Use the direction pad to control Mikey throughout the house. Press left or right to make him run in either direction, or to swim when underwater.  Press up or down to climb ladders and vines.  Press down to duck when not by a ladder or vine to duck.  Press up when standing in front of a door to enter the door.
 * : Press the A button to make Mikey jump. The longer the button is held down, the higher he will jump.  Tap the A button when underwater to make Mikey swim higher.
 * : Press the B button to attack with Mikey's currently selected primary weapon. Hold up while pressing B to plant a bomb or throw a Molotov cocktail.
 * : Press Start to begin a new game, or to switch between the main screen and the subscreen.
 * : Press Select during the game to pause the action.

First-person scenes

 * : The primary use of the direction pad is to navigate through the menu selections. Press up or down to point to a different command.  When the hammer or fist is on the screen, use the direction pad to place it somewhere in the room before using it.  When using the "GO" command, press the direction that you wish to travel in.
 * : Press A to select the current chosen command or item to use.
 * : Press B to cycle through the pages of available items to use.
 * : Press Start to cancel the currently activated command.
 * : Press Select during the game to pause the action.

Mikey
You control Mikey on his journey to rescue all six other Goonies and the mermaid Annie, who have been captured by the Fratelli family. Regardless of how many people Mikey rescues, it's a solo mission the entire way. He'll have to travel through a variety of locations based around the Fratelli's remote wilderness hideout. Mikey's primary means of defense is his yo-yo, which he can use to attack anything in his range. He can later obtain other weapons, as well as auxiliary weapons such as bombs or Molotov cocktails, which are limited in supply. Mikey has a health meter, which starts out with two bars. For every Goonie that Mikey rescues, he will gain one extra bar, for a total of eight bars. Mikey will lose one life whenever his health meter is entirely depleted. If all of Mikey's lives are lost, the game is over, and the player may opt to continue the game, or Ma Fratelli will provide the player with a password that the player can use to continue with all of the currently collected items and rescued Goonies at a later time.

Status bar
The status bar is visible at the top of the screen of the side-scrolling portions throughout the game. From left to right, it shows the following pieces of information:
 * Your current supply of keys, Molotov cocktails, bombs, and slingshot stones.
 * Your currently assigned primary (left box) and auxiliary (right box) weapons.
 * Your current amount of health in comparison to your current maximum health.

Subscreen
The subscreen shows you a lot of information pertaining to your inventory and location within the Fratelli hideout, including the following:
 * Upper-left: Your currently assigned primary and auxiliary weapon, and shoes.
 * WEAPONS: This box shows all of the weapons you have (you start with and can never lose the yo-yo), and you use the direction pad to select which primary weapon and auxiliary weapon you would like to assign.
 * SHOES: This box shows which shoes you have collected (you start with and can never lose the regular gray sneakers), and you use the direction pad to select which shoes you would like to wear.
 * Lower-left: The current set of Goonies which you have successfully rescued.
 * IMPLEMENTS: This box shows all of the items which you have collected, whose use is automatic. It also shows you how many remaining lives you have.
 * MAP: This shows you either the front layer or the back layer of the hideout, depending on which layer Mikey is currently occupying. His position will be shown on the map as a red dot.  If Mikey is in possession of one of the Magic Locator Devices, the position of a kidnapped Goonie will appear as a blue dot.