Snoopy and the Red Baron is an Atari 2600 shoot ’em up game featuring the Peanuts character Snoopy and his aerial adversary, the Red Baron. It is a single-player game in which players guide Snoopy on his doghouse through four difficulty levels. The objective is to shoot down the Red Baron using the stick to maneuver Snoopy and the button to fire. Players begin with four doghouses or lives. It takes eight hits to defeat the Red Baron and eight hits from the Red Baron to lose a doghouse.
An alternative goal is to collect “treats” dropped by the Red Baron while avoiding skulls and crossbones. Touching the skulls and crossbones or being shot down resets the player’s treat collection progress. Collecting all treats and defeating all Red Barons rewards bonus points. A Gold Baron is earned after downing fifty Red Barons.
In the game, the Red Baron often flies above the clouds, but Snoopy cannot follow suit. An exclamation mark appears when one million points are scored.