On the edge of space, a UFO-shaped alien named Lu-Lu arrives at Earth and admires its beauty, before being hit by a meteor and crashing down to the planet below. Elsewhere, Mickey and Minnie are having a lovely evening stroll before either mouse spots the recently-crashed Lu-Lu and goes to check up on her. Either Minnie or Mickey stands on her, believing her to be a mushroom, before Lu-Lu suddenly wakes up and takes the captive mouse away from their love interest, prompting the hero/heroine to go after their lover and rescue her/him.
The gameplay is drastically different from its point-and-click predecessor, instead opting for a stealth-based action-adventure platformer. The player has the option to play as either Mickey or Minnie, but there is virtually no gameplay difference between the mice aside from having different animations and story differences. Since the one captured unknowingly knocked several UFOs out of Lu-Lu herself, the UFOs themselves serve as the main enemies, with each shape and design corresponding to their behavior (such as a black jet-shaped UFO that moves super fast or a bumblebee-colored UFO that shoots projectiles).
Just like Magical Mirror, the playable mouse can activate tricks during certain scenarios that plays out a unique animation upon doing so. These range from running over the wall to make the UFO crash into to a dance sequence with an inanimate statue. The goal is to help save the captive Minnie/Mickey from Lu-Lu's peril, but there may be more to this besides unintentionally kidnapping her/him...
Hide & Sneak contains examples of:
- Abandoned Warehouse: The first area of the game is set in a plethora of warehouses, where Mickey/Minnie begins their quest to rescue their loved one. Notable elements include oil barrels, steel crates and a row of cranes which are needed to get across to the other side.
- Accidental Kidnapping: It turns out that Lu-Lu didn't intend to take away Minnie/Mickey and she was only trying to get back home. The captive mouse happily obliges by guiding her to a nearby ruin and helping her out. By the time the player character makes it to them, they were ultimately unharmed, safe and sound.
- Always Night: The game begins at evening time, but after the intro ends, the game takes place at nighttime throughout the remainder of the story.
- Boss in Mook Clothing: Near the end of the Warehouse stage, a white UFO ends up chasing you around the arena, prompting you to deal damage to it by either activating the trick (provided that you have enough star power) or having it charge around before taking it down normally.
- Cowardly Lion: Throughout Minnie's story, she is mostly nervous and timid when off to rescue her boyfriend from Lu-Lu. At often times, her clumsiness and faithfulness in Mickey himself are what allows her to progress through her journey.
- Damsel in Distress: If the player is Mickey, Minnie becomes the one being taken away by Lu-Lu.
- Distressed Dude: If the player is Minnie, Mickey wounds up the one being taken away.
- End-Game Results Screen: After the credits finish rolling, it shows the total amount of playing time, star containers and trick cutscenes the player has unlocked prior to completing the game.
- Flying Saucer: Lu-Lu (and by extension the UFOs Minnie/Mickey knocked out of her) is shaped like a flying saucer, including a giant UFO near the ending of the game that'll help Lu-Lu get back to her home planet.
- Heart Container:
- Averted. Hearts are hidden across the world, and finding one will earn you an extra life instead of an additional hit point. You can also obtain hearts if an enemy UFO drops one.
- The blue stars play this straight, however. As they are used to fill up your trick meter and the player can hold up to ten stars throughout the course of the game.
- Instakill Mook: Surprisingly, there is only one such enemy in the very beginning of the game. The bomb UFO will instantly one-shot you if it actually sees you, setting off a bomb radius that you cannot escape from and costing you a life.
- Mooks, but no Bosses: Aside from the UFO encountered at the end of the Warehouse, only the UFO enemies dropped out of Lu-Lu herself serve as the main antagonists of the game.
- Museum of the Strange and Unusual: The second level is set at a huge museum, which includes a giant dinosaur skeleton that comes to life in Minnie's scenario when activating its trick. It means no harm to her, though.
- Patrolling Mook: Most of the UFOs patrol the area the player is in, and some may even fall asleep. Being a Stealth-Based Game, the player has to avoid contact with the UFOs or else they will attack.
- Plot Coupon: The blue crystalline mushroom obtained at the end of the Museum is what the player character needs to access the final level and activate the pillars for the final minigame.
- Purely Aesthetic Gender: Downplayed for the most part. There is virtually no gameplay difference between playing as either Mickey or Minnie, but they each have different animations, trick cutscenes and plot points, such as the other playable mouse being the one captured instead of the chosen character.
- Ruins for Ruins' Sake: The third and final level is set in an ancient ruin with a mysterious connection to Lu-Lu's species. It is never explained why, other than the mushroom-shaped crystal which is used to activate the pillars to help summon a UFO in order to get Lu-Lu back home.
- "Simon Says" Mini-Game: Near the end of the game, the player character is required to jump on the colored pillars based on Lu-Lu's prompts across three rounds in a row. If succeeded, a giant UFO arrives to take her back to her home planet.
- Sleepy Enemy: Some UFO enemies can be seen often times dozing off. Pressing B to catch their attention, sneaking too close to them or running over to them will cause them to wake up without hesitation.
