The protagonist, Robin of Loxley, is robbed of his castle by the Sheriff of Nottingham and has to get it back with the help of Maid Marian, Little John, Will Scarlet and Friar Tuck.

The player controls Robin as he robs from the rich to give to the poor, adventures through Sherwood Forest, defeats the sheriff's henchmen, gathers special objects and saves peasants.

Robin is able to collect 7 magic or special items (represented by the icons: habit, ring, feather, toadstool, bolt, horn, crystal ball) by interacting with other characters or the environment.

[1] A major design aspect of Robin Hood is making the game 'flexible' towards differing playstyles, and Grand states in regards to this that he "didn't want it to be the kind of adventure where you've got one single fixed sequence and if you cock up one bit of it you've blown the lot.

[1] Robin Hood has a total of 64 different locations, and Grand expresses that while "Isometric [graphics are] a bit dated", "it's a good way of getting 3D on the cheap.

[2] The One gave the Amiga version of Robin Hood an overall score of 80%, calling it "atmospheric" and stating that the changing of seasons in-game gives "a sense of urgency", further noting how NPCs "lead independent lives" outside of the player's involvement.

The One criticizes the amount of time it takes to get to different locations, saying that "it can be annoying waiting for Robin to cross from one side of the map to the other, particularly because he can only walk in four directions".