Rambo is an overhead action shoot-'em-up in the vein of Commando and Ikari Warriors. The first player controls Rambo, who is armed with an M-60 machine gun with unlimited ammunition (which can only fire two shots on-screen) and a limited supply of explosive arrows used to take out tougher obstacles such as tanks and gates. A second player can play at the same time and control Rambo's partner Zane (a character created for the game), who wears a yellow headband. The objective of the game is to fight through the enemy's defenses, reach the gate at the end of each stage and then defeat as many enemy reinforcements as possible until the gate starts flashing in different colors. The player starts off the game with three lives and gains a new one every time he completes stage. A second player can