ATF: Advanced Tactical Fighter is an action-oriented flight game. The game is set during a war of two unnamed war parties over an unnamed island. The player mans an Lockheed ATF fighter bomber to win the battle.

The goal of every round is to destroy a number of strategic targets. The positions are shown on the jet's on board computer and the player can tackle them in any order. The game is action-oriented in nature, but the player still needs to take care of a few parameters, like a constant speed to avoid crashing or limited fuel and ammo. When resources or health are low (and the jet is near a friendly base), the player can start an automatic landing sequence to refill and repair. On the way to the targets it is either possible to take on enemy jets in direct combat or to fly low to avoid detection. The camera is fixed behind the jet's back.