The game is completed by passing through 16 different stages which are divided into three major themes; Feudal Japan (8 stages), Future World (5 stages) and Prehistoric Times (3 stages). Each stage is very linear, and requires that Gaou run from the starting position on the left, to the final ending location on the right. At the end of each stage, Gaou must either defeat a boss, or overcome a specific obstacle in order to collect the card that each stage contains. Even if Gaou has already collected a card from a stage, he must still fight the boss again if he happens to revisit that stage.
Upon completing a stage, Gaou will ordinarily advance to the next stage in the same time period. If he reaches the last stage, he will be returned to the first stage. The only exception to this rule is the seventh stage of Feudal Japan, which returns Gaou to the first stage. The only way to access the eighth and final stage of Feudal Japan is to find the secret warp in one of the Prehistoric Times stages.
Every stage (with the single exception of the sixth Feudal Japan stage) has at least one warp to another stage. These warps are the only means by which Gaou can escape from the current stage's time period theme and enter another. Warps are always hidden behind breakable walls, so Gaou must search for these warps by firing his chisel at some of the walls to see if they break. At the very least, Gaou must take no less than three warps to complete the game; from Feudal Japan to Future World, from Future World to Prehistoric Times, and from Prehistoric Times to the eighth stage of Feudal Japan where the 16th card can be collected.
Once all sixteen cards have been collected and arrange to create the final picture, the Phoenix will be revealed and the game will be complete. The staff credits will roll, and then the game can be played once more at a higher level of difficulty.