Holy Diver/Gameplay

Controls

 * : Use the direction pad to control Randy. Press left or right to make Randy walk, or fall through the air, in either direction.  Hold down to make Randy duck.  Hold up while firing to make Randy shoot a projectile straight up.
 * : Press the A button to make Randy jump. Press left or right while jumping to leap in either direction.  The longer A is held, the higher Randy will jump.
 * : Press the B button while Randy is gray to fire your main projectile. After pressing  to turn Randy blue, press the B button to activate your currently selected magic spell, provided you have enough mana to cast it.
 * : Press the Start button to begin a new game. While playing a game, press the Start button to pause the action and bring up the sub-screen where you can select which magic spell to activate.
 * : Press the Select button to toggle Randy back and forth between shooting his regular weapon (Randy will appear gray), and using his magic power (Randy will appear blue).

Randy
You control Randy throughout his adventure to destroy the evil Black Slayer. To do so, Randy must survive a voyage through six hellish landscapes, each one more difficult than the last. Randy has a few skills at his disposal in order to achieve that goal.

Randy has the ability to shoot blast of fire from his hand at will. These blast are fast, but they don't travel too far. Enemies must be within Randy's range in order for him to hit them. Randy also has great jumping ability. He must leap over gaps and barriers to reach his destination. He can jump high or low, depending on how long the jump button is held down. Randy can obtain an item that extends the height of his jump.

Randy is also skilled in the use of magic, although he only knows one spell at the beginning of the game, the Twin Fire magic which drastically increases the range and power of his normal attack. Randy must locate new spells by defeating bosses of several stages. Upon collecting them, he will advance to the next stage. Each spell requires a certain amount of mana. Randy starts out with a certain amount, and he can collect orbs or blue potions to restore lost mana. If he finds a wing item, the amount of mana he can store will increase. Another item will reduce the cost of each spell if he can find it.

In addition to his mana power, Randy can withstand several hits before losing his life. A health meter at the top indicates how close Randy is to death. Finding hearts or red potions can heal damage that Randy has sustained, while finding large red pitchers will extend his health meter. If Randy's health meter is depleted, or if he falls through a gap and off the bottom of the screen, Randy loses one life. If Randy loses all of his lives, the game is over, but you have an unlimited number of continues. Each continue places you at the beginning of the stage where you last perished.