Based on the popular Doraemon franchise, Nobita no Dorabian Night follows the adventures of the titular robotic cat, as he tries to rescue his friends from different time periods. How did this happen? Naturally, because of Nobita, Doraemon's best friend and geek extraordinaire. Something went wrong when Nobita was showing his friends a time machine, so they ended up stranded in hostile worlds, and now it's Doraemon's job to save them!

The game is a traditional platformer; Doraemon's main activities are jumping his way through the levels and eliminating enemies who try to stop him. Doraemon starts with an ordinary gun, but later is able to find other weapons, including a homing bowling ball launcher and a stun gun. He can also collect various power-ups, such as limited invincibility, high speed, an item that freezes all the enemies on the level for a short time, etc. It is possible to switch weapons and power-ups at any time.