Dan The Man is an action-adventure side scroller in the arcade beat-em-up and brawler fighting subcategory. In Old Town World, a king uses his guards to take control of villages. Some villagers and ninjas fight back. A fighter named Dan decides to intervene with help from the player.
Each level or stage requires the player to complete specific tasks. For example, they must make Dan run and jump through coins floating along the path, in the air, and across platforms. Common platforms include walls, bridges, floating objects and tree limbs. Dan can even jump onto and cross fluffy clouds, rooftops and anything else that has a somewhat flat surface.
From stage to stage, the player directs Dan to fight and kill soldiers and break objects, which also makes coins appear. Additionally, they must collect weapons and feed Dan cherries, turkey legs and other food that renews his energy. They can buy food and weapons with their coins at village "shoppes" along the way as well.
Dan The Man requires the player to direct Dan to pick up a variety of weapons on his journey, including ninja stars, machine guns and rocket launchers. Dan's punches, throws, kicks and other strikes are usually more than enough to take down soldiers. These tools work best with long-range strikes and when dealing with robots and other bosses.
