Once you have inserted a coin into the cabinet of Namco's 1992 two-on-two fighting arcade game Knuckle Heads, and pressed one of the Start Buttons, you will have ten seconds to choose one of the six different fighters, by moving the joystick left and right, then pressing the High Attack Button to confirm your choice; if you are playing the game alone, the game will randomly select which of those five remaining fighters you have to contend with first before transporting you to his (or her, in the cases of Myao and Silva) hometown. Vincent's hometown is Honolulu, Fujioka's is Kyoto, Vaike's is Athens, Myao's is Hong Kong, Darrell's is Lillehammer and Silva's is Sao Paulo (and the national monument of Christ on Corcovado is clearly visible in the background).
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Honolulu, United States
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Kyoto, Japan
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Athens, Greece
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Hong Kong, China
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Lillehammer, Norway
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Sao Paulo, Brazil
For the first five rounds, you will have 99 seconds (1:39) to knock out your opponent by any means possible; both you and your opponent will begin with two "life-hearts" (which are depicted as "playing-card" hearts as opposed to real ones), which means that you will have to knock him (or her) out twice in order to proceed to the next round. If you run out of time, you automatically lose the battle (and a life-heart) - but if you knock out your opponent you will receive 100 points for every second and bit of energy you have remaining. Once you have knocked him (or her) out twice, the screen will cut back to the shot of the game's MC as he notes both fighters' "win" and "lose" totals (the one who has come off worst will look beaten-up), before randomly selecting which of the four remaining fighters you have to contend with next, and transporting you to his (or her) hometown; once you have knocked out all five of the other fighters twice, the sixth to eighth rounds will see the game randomly selecting two of those previously defeated fighters for you to contend with simultaneously, before transporting you to the second fighter's hometown (for example, a battle of Vincent vs. both Myao and Vaike would take place in Athens). You will only have 87 seconds (1:27) to knock both fighters out on these rounds - and once you have cleared them the ninth round will see the game picking an evil, solid-gold clone of your own fighter for you to contend with, before transporting him (or her) to his (or her) own hometown. As with Black Beraboh from Beraboh Man and the Mirror Ricks from Splatterhouse, he (or she) will have exactly the same moves as you; once you've knocked him (or her) out, twice, you will be treated to your chosen fighter's ending sequence (this was the fourth game from Namco to feature multiple endings):
After the credits have finished, the game will go into "high-score" mode; your score will most likely be the highest upon the cabinet to date, so you should enter your initials at the top of the table with pride. Once you have done so, the text "GAME OVER" will appear on the screen, and the game will go back into attract mode - and it is also worth noting that if you are not playing the game alone, the multiplayer battles will take place in the hometown of the first player's chosen fighter, and like Cosmo Gang: The Puzzle do not have an ending. The defeated players will also have ten seconds to insert another coin into the cabinet and press their Start Buttons if they want to continue after each round, and the closest anybody can get to winning in a multiplayer battle is breaking their fighter's "WIN" counter (which, much like those for the two-player mode of the aforementioned Cosmo Gang: The Puzzle, breaks at 99).