Late one night in his workshop, Geppetto the puppet-maker has created Pinocchio, a little wooden puppet that he wishes to become a real boy. The Blue Fairy brings Pinocchio to life, but in order for Pinocchio to become a real boy, he must first earn three badges, the Badge of Truth, the Badge of Bravery, and the Badge of Unselfishness. Along the way, Pinocchio must beware of Honest John, Gideon, and the Coachman, ultimately leading to having to rescue Geppetto from Monstro the Whale.
The game is an action platformer with nine (seven in the Game Boy version) different levels based on scenes from the movie. You play as Pinocchio and Jiminy in their quest to turn Pinocchio from a puppet to a real boy.
This game provides examples of:
- Adaptational Badass: Pinocchio actually fights and defeats the Coachman and his minions.
- Adaptational Karma:
- The Coachman gets his comeuppance when Pinocchio and an unnamed donkey kick him off a tall cliff. In the SNES version, he emits a cry of pain when he's hit.
- The Coachman's sinister goons can be reduced to nothingness if Pinocchio kicks them.
- Advancing Boss of Doom: Monstro serves as this in Levels 7 and 9. In the former level, Pinocchio has to stay ahead of him long enough to get more bonuses, and in the latter, Pinocchio and Geppetto are on a raft, needing to stay away from Monstro by jumping over or ducking under rock formations. The former level is absent from the Game Boy version, but the latter is present in all three versions of the game.
- Amusement Park: Pleasure Island, which serves as the fourth level.
- And Now for Someone Completely Different: Jiminy spends the entire second level swatting off the giant moths and bugs infesting the lamppost in order for him to have a good seat in watching Pinocchio on stage.
- Balloonacy: The first part of Level 4 involves Pinocchio holding onto balloons to fly to the upper-left corner of the screen. In the SNES and Genesis versions, different colored balloons can hold Pinocchio for different amounts of time, and he can fly higher on blue balloons if he collects the yellow page. In Easy mode, Pinocchio can stay on the first balloon he grabs so it will carry him to safety.
- Cats Are Mean: Gideon serves as an enemy in Level 1. He also briefly appears swimming underwater in the Monstro level.
- Cunning Like a Fox: Honest John serves as an enemy in Level 1. When Pinocchio completes level 1, John comes across him and convinces him to follow him to Easy Street.
- Death by Adaptation: In the movie, The Coachman receives no comeuppance for turning boys into donkeys. In the fifth level of this game, you get to fight him, and the battle ends with him getting knocked off the cliff by one of the boys he turned into a donkey.
- Death Mountain: Level 5 takes place on a rocky mountain. Pinocchio has to climb to the top whilst avoiding seagulls and the Coachman's sinister goons. When Pinocchio reaches the top, he has to fight the Coachman.
- Disney Villain Death: The Coachman meets his demise when a boy he turned into a donkey kicks him and Pinocchio takes advance of it by kicking him again, causing him to fall off a cliff.
- The Dog Bites Back: Early in Level 5, The Coachman is seen whipping a boy he turned into a donkey. At the end of the level, the boy-donkey kicks him in the knee, allowing Pinocchio to knock him off the cliff.
- Enfant Terrible: Some of the enemies that Pinocchio faces in the game are children that have no qualms in throwing balls or bricks to the wooden boy.
- First Town: The first level takes place in the town of Italy, where Pinocchio must make it to school whilst avoiding geese, mischievous boys, Honest John, and Gideon.
- Gravity Screw: Level 6 has Pinocchio walk on the ceiling if he does not have enough clams to use as ballast. If he collects the white page, he can stay on the sea bed longer.
- Logo Joke: In the Genesis version, when you start up the game, the Sega logo dashes in from the right side of the screen. It then dashes away to the left side with a "whoosh" sound effect.
- Minecart Madness: The second part of Level 4 involves Pinocchio jumping onto and off of roller coaster cars on Pleasure Island.
- Monster Whale: Monstro the Whale, who serves as the game's Final Boss.
- Moth Menace: The yellow moths in Level 2 can be a bother to Jiminy and can try to knock him off.
- Parasol of Pain: In Level 2, Jiminy can use his parasol to attack enemies.
- Parasol Parachute: Just like in the movie, Jiminy can use his parasol to slowly descend.
- Produce Pelting: In Level 3, if Pinocchio fails to copy the other puppets' dance moves, the audience throws tomatoes at him, which drain his health.
- Roundhouse Kick: Pinocchio can perform this move once he collects the red page.
- Rule of Three: In order to become a real boy, Pinocchio has to earn three badges; the Badge of Truth, the Badge of Bravery, and the Badge of Unselfishness.
- Secondary Adaptation: Based on the 1940 Disney film, which itself was very loosely based on Carlo Collodi's The Adventures of Pinocchio.
- "Simon Says" Mini-Game: In Level 3, Pinocchio must copy the dance moves of the other puppets by pressing the right button combinations. If he succeeds, the crowd rewards him with money and power-ups, but if he fails, the audience will throw tomatoes at him, which drain his health. This level is entirely omitted from the Game Boy port.
- Stay on the Path:
- At the end of Level 1, you come to two paths; School, and Easy Street. If you choose School, the Blue Fairy will reward Pinocchio with the Badge of Truth, but if you choose Easy Street, the Blue Fairy will take the pages Pinocchio collected away, and you'll have to start the whole level over again.
- At the very end of the game, Geppetto washes up on the shore after he and Pinocchio evade Monstro. If you go back to help Geppetto, you'll earn the Badge of Unselfishness and win the game, but if you leave without Geppetto, you'll lose a life.
- Under the Sea: Level 6 takes place on the bottom of the sea, where Pinocchio searches for Monstro. Collecting clams keeps Pinocchio weighted to the sea floor, but they only last for a short time, so be sure to collect as many as you can. Use sea anemones and manta rays to get across dangerous areas.
- Unexpected Gameplay Change: From playing as Jiminy instead against a bunch of moths, to running upside down in the bottom of the sea and from a level-wide "Simon Says" Mini-Game where Pinocchio has to put up a good show by imitating the other puppets moves to an Advancing Boss of Doom with a school of fishes as the only way to drag yourself away from the inevitable, the game has as many unexpected twists and turns as the story itself.
- Video Game Cruelty Punishment: At the very end of the game, if you decide to abandon Geppetto on the shore instead of saving him you are punished by losing one life and forced to restart the last level.
- Whip of Dominance: Just like in the movie, the Coachman carries a whip that he uses to terrorize and punish the donkey boys. Lashing with his whip is also his only attack as an enemy, and fortunately for Pinocchio, is quite easy to dodge.
- Wolfpack Boss: Level 2 takes place on a street lamp, where Jiminy has to fight off a swarm of other less-civilised (and fortunately less-armed) insects so they will leave him alone while he watches Stromboli's puppet show.
- Womb Level: Level 8 takes place inside Monstro. To clear this level, Pinocchio must collect enough wood by breaking crates so he can start a fire and make Monstro sneeze. Then he needs to find Geppetto so they can both escape.
