The Adventures of Bayou Billy/Gameplay

Controls
Note that controls for this game have much higher lag than normal - it takes around 6 frames (1/10th of a second) for a kick or punch to start as soon as you press a button.

Bayou Billy
You control Bayou Billy throughout the game, as he attempts to rescue his girlfriend Annabelle Lane from the clutches of Godfather Gordon. You will control Billy through three different perspectives during the game; from the side during the side-scrolling brawler sections, in first person perspective during the shooting sections, and behind the vehicle during the driving sections.

During the brawling and shooting sections of the game, Billy has a life meter which is displayed at the top of the screen. It is designated by 7 red blocks. Each block represents multiple hit-points, so Billy does not necessarily lose a block every time he is hit. He will also not necessarily die when the last block disappears, although he is certainly only a few hits away from death. When driving in the American version of the game, you will die instantly from any collision or explosion. However, in the Japanese version of the game, you maintain the life meter, and won't necessarily die with every hit.

If Billy dies, he loses one life. You will earn one extra life at 20,000 points, and then one extra life for every 30,000 points thereafter. If Billy loses all of his lives, the game is over. After the game ends, you will have the opportunity to continue from the beginning of the stage that you died on, but you can only continue five times.

Brawling
In the street fighting stages, Billy has a basic repertoire of punching and kicking attacks, as well as a jump kick, and can pick up weapons from the enemies such as a throwing knife, a whip, and a wooden stick. The player can also use a gun after picking it up for the first time by pressing the select button. Other power-ups in these stages includes a bulletproof vest which reduces damage from enemies and also saves him from being shot, and a health-restoring meat.

Shooting
The shoot-em-up stages can be played with the regular controller in mode B or with a NES Zapper light gun peripheral in mode A. Played from Billy's perspective, the objective of the shooting stages is to defend oneself from the other gunmen until reaching the stage boss, while conserving as much ammo as possible. The player can pick up bullets and a first-aid kit to restore their ammo and life energy respectively, as well as an hourglass which gives the player unlimited ammunition for a limited period.

Driving
The player takes control of Billy's jeep during the action driving segments, where they travel the road from the swamp to the city as they maneuver their way through enemy vehicles and other road hazards, before the time limit runs out. Billy's jeep is armed with a machine gun that can be used to take out other cars, as well as grenades that be thrown at enemy planes. Gasoline can be picked up to gain more time.