In Blue Max, you take the role of a pilot who needs to help win the First World War.
On the title screen, you modify the options within the game. cycles through available options, while changes the option's setting.
- Gravity determines whether your plane will automatcally move downward.
- Normal and Pilot control determine how you will move the plane up or down. Note that this will affect diagonal movement.
- The third option allows setting the difficulty, either Beginner, Advanced and Expert.
When you start, your plane is almost refueled and ready for launch. When it begins to take off, wait until it reaches 100 speed before gaining altitude; you are now inflight and can engage targets at will.
The altitude determines how high your plane is flying, in relation to the ground. When you are low enough to strafe targets, which is 25 or below, the background will be brown to indicate this. If you are at risk of colliding with ground objects, it will blink yellow.
When your plane takes damage, four letters will light up on the right. If you are hit after all four letters are lit up, you will crash against the ground.
- An F indicates a fuel leak. When you are running low on fuel, climb as high as possible, in case the airstrip is nearby.
- A B indicates damage to the bomb mechanism. You can still drop bombs sometimes, but you can miss ground targets.
- A G indicates a gun jam. You can still shoot, but can't autofire, and may need to press fire multiple times.
- An M indicates damage to movement. Your plane moves slower.
When an enemy plane flies past, an arrow in the bottom-right corner will indicate whether it is higher or lower. If the background is blue, it is at the same altitude and can be shot down with your gun.
The objective is to destroy all primary targets which are marked in blue. You are free to take out other targets of opportunity.