Controls
Since the battles in Goku Hishōden involve mostly strategy (as it's a turn-based RPG), the only controls that need to be known are 
to select and 
to cancel. All that will need to be known is what attacks to use and defense strategies by picking them. For a better explanation of the battle strategy, go to the strategy section or to get started on the first battle, go to the Walkthrough.
Strategy
To the right is a diagram of what your screen should look like at the beginning of the battle. You and your opponents' portraits will be displayed. The diagram shows the first battle, against a clone of Goku as an introduction to the game. Health Points (HP) is displayed at the top of the character stats. These are lost when your opponent successfully executes an attack on you. Ki is how much energy you have, depending on what kind of move you want to execute on your opponent. Lastly, SP determines how many attacks you have left before it's your opponent's turn to attack. Right at the start of the battle, the SP bars will fill up and the fight will begin.