In Eagles, two space ships controlled by robots have to drive back an alien invasion. To do so, they traverse 24 side-scrolling levels and kill everything in their way. There are also small droids to collect which can be delivered to special drop points on the way. For five droids, players receive a devastator which destroys all opposition on the screen except fireballs. Besides regular alien formations there are also various single enemies which take many hits. While some attacks result in instant death, most reduce the life bar. The game screen is always split horizontally and the second craft is either controlled by a second player or the AI. For two players, the game features two settings: co-operative or against. This only affects whether the life bar and high score points are shared or separate. Between the main levels there are bonus levels in which players take control over two hostile ships and fight for points.