Arumana no Kiseki/Gameplay

Controller

 * : Use the control pad to direct Kaito through each stage. Press left and right to make him run in either direction.  Press up or down to make him climb a rope in either direction.  Also, press down to make Kaito squat.
 * : Press the A button to make Kaito jump. Kaito is not a particularly high jumper, and holding the button down will not improve his jumping ability.
 * or : When hanging from a rope, press A while holding left or right on the control pad to make Kaito let go of the rope and drop.
 * : Press the B button to attack by throwing which ever weapon you have currently activated. In the case of the bombs, you must press the B button twice, once to throw it and a second time to make it explode.
 * : Hold up while pressing the B button to launch your grappling gun. While the gun is firing, you may also press A to jump and thereby change the height at which the grapple might connect.
 * : Press Start to begin a new game, or to pause the action mid-game.
 * : Press the Select button to cycle through your available weapons. The activated weapon is the weapon which is blinking in the status bar below the screen.

Player
You control the main character, Kaito, throughout his adventures to retrieve the sacred Almana stone. Kaito is an experienced and intrepid explorer who is proficient with a number of weapons and utilities. The one which he relies upon most is his grappling hook. He uses it to ascend to higher elevations and explore otherwise unavailable regions. While Kaito can jump, he cannot jump particularly high, and must rely primarily on the grappling hook to help him ascend. The grappling hook itself has a long, but finite range, so Kaito must position himself properly in order to get it to connect with far-away destinations.

Kaito has a health meter which starts out with five segments of health. Whenever he gets hit by an enemy or a weapon they throw, or a trap, he loses one bar of health from the meter. If the meter becomes empty, he loses one life and must try again with a new life. If he loses all of his lives, the game will be over, and you will have the opportunity to continue from the beginning of the stage you perished in. However, you only get three continues before you are forced to start the game over. The pendant item can extend your health meter by one segment, up to a maximum of eight total segments. The chicken leg item will fully restore Kaito's health.

Status
Kaito's status is always shown at the bottom of the screen throughout the game. Four important pieces of information are presented here.
 * Current weapon: The weapon which Kaito will attack with is shown among the list of weapons on the left side of the status bar. They are, in order, the Knife, Bombs, Pistol, Bola, Crystal, and Mine (see the items page for more information).  The weapon which is blinking is the one currently assigned to Kaito.  Press the Select button to cycle through the available weapons from left to right, and back over to the left again.
 * Weapon supply: Below each weapon is a number indicating how many of those weapons you have. Only those weapons which Kaito has a supply of will be shown.  Every time you utilize a weapon, your supply is reduced by one.  If you run out of a weapon while using it, your active weapon will automatically switch to the next available weapon.
 * Life: The upper right portion of the status bar displays your health meter. You begin the game with a five segment health meter.  Collecting a pendant will extend the meter by one segment, up to a maximum of eight segments.  Every hit to take reduces your meter by one bar, and you lose one life when your meter is empty.
 * Score: Below the health meter is your current score. You receive points for defeating enemies.