In Sun Star the player takes control of a special space ship constructed to collect energy from 16 solar grids in space. In each level, the player flies around the grids from a first-person perspective (along with a top-down radar at the bottom of the screen) with the goal to collect ten energy crystals. They are gained by shooting one of four disruptors divided over the level which causes them to teleport somewhere else and leave the desired energy behind. However, the energy crystal has to be collected fast before it disappears.

The space ship has a limited amount of energy which is reduced by shooting or crashing into obstacles. The only way to refill them is to fly through a hyper warp, but this has the disadvantage of destroying one of the collected crystals. This can only be done a limited amount of times per level.