Dirty Larry: Renegade Cop is a side-scrolling beat ’em up game where players take control of Larry, who tasks upon himself on fighting the criminals that roams the streets of Steelburg through seven stages in order to find and arrest Mr. Big, the head of the organized crime in the city and the game’s final boss, as the main objective.
Players move through each level beating up enemies and picking weapons left on streets, as Larry carries a limited amount of ammunition at the beginning of the game and the current weapon in use will be left unusable unless more ammo is found.
Players can also pick up health items left by enemies when beaten. Each stage hosts a boss that must be fought before progressing any further, requiring different strategies to defeat them and after doing so, Larry uses a metro line to travel other locations, acting as a transition point between stages.
