Gain Ground/Gameplay

In Gain Ground, players control one of a set of characters at a time. There are twenty characters, each with different weapons. To beat a level, players must reach the exit point with at least one character or destroy all enemies on the level before time runs out.

Littered across the level are captive characters, which can be rescued by walking over, then escorting the controlled character to the exit point. If a player-controlled character is killed, that character turns into a captive, except that they will disappear if the next active player-controlled character dies, exits the level without them, or the player has no characters left in their party.

The game is over when all controlled characters in the party are killed without any reaching the exit. However, there are three continues, which allow a player to restart the level with their original three characters.

There are forty levels in the arcade version of the game. The Master System and the Genesis/Mega Drive have an additional ten. The last level has been known for requiring suicide tactics and the wasting of one's character stock, rather than actual skill.

Characters
There are twenty playable characters, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Each character has a minor, weak weapon which can be fired in any direction, and a special weapon which has different capabilities from the normal attack, and which vary between characters.

The characters in Gain Ground also vary in which hand they hold their weapons. This was originally done purely for cosmetic purposes, but it was very soon discovered that this feature made it easier for some characters to shoot around certain walls and obstacles than others. When selecting a character for a situation, one must consider the character's speed, weapon type and range, and with which hands they hold their weapons.