Following a short target practice tutorial, consisting of shooting at fast-moving asteroids, the player heads out to the Black Dragon to defeat the space pirates.

After the star ranger succeeds in freeing the captives aboard, including Commander Skye, the next task is to find and assemble the Star-Splitter Cannon, which, aside from its main component, requires three crystals to work: the Aqua Blue, the Crimson Red and the Emerald Green.

On the four planets, the star ranger encounters heavy opposition, but once the elements are collected, the final task is to destroy the Black Dragon with the Star-Splitter Cannon, then eliminating its captain.

Space Pirates is similar to all other full motion video releases by American Laser Games in that the player rarely makes decisions other than selecting a planet and shooting villains.

The action is propelled automatically, and only stops when one fails to kill a foe - who, in such cases, does not spare the player - or hits an innocent civilian or colonist.