Players control Donald Duck on his journey to rescue his uncle, Scrooge McDuck, from a mysterious curse that has made him inflate like a balloon.

The gameplay consists of the player going through five 2D linear side-scrolling levels, each broken into two parts, where the goal is to reach A treasure at the end, while contending with obstacles, platforming challenges, enemies and bosses.

No one had found or knew the whereabouts of the island until Scrooge McDuck came across an old map hidden in a book stating the location of it.

[6] Scrooge set off on a treasure hunt to the island where he found the amulet in a shrine around the neck of a goddess statue and brought it home with him.

When Donald arrives he is informed about the problem from his nephews[8] and Scrooge who asks that he return the amulet to the island in order to undo the curse.

[10] Donald arrives on the island via boat and realizes, through an entry in Scrooge's adventure diary, that he must collect four treasures and cast them into a sacred lake in order for the shrine to reveal itself.

[14][15] In February 21, 2001, Majesco announced plans to re-release Deep Duck Trouble alongside a re-launch of the Game Gear system, with both releasing later that same year.