The Game & Watches have always been some of my favorite games. Most of them contain decent gameplay, and the cases, in general are cool to look at. Some of them play better than others, and this is one of, if not the best, playing G&W's.
From the FAQ: Zelda, G&WM (1989, Nintendo) #ZL-65; Bc; lcd; 1P ; ER
The game is composed to two screens.
The bottom screen is the main screen where most of the level action takes place. Here, Link is on a platform with Stalfos enemies under him, one stabbing up at him, a ghost to the left throwing knives at him and a Goblin to the right, stabbing him. The object is to hit the goblin X (depending on which level) number of times, while avoiding being stabbed by the Goblin, the Stalfos' or the ghost. Once you hit the Goblin the necessary number of times, two stairways appear, and Link can advance to the next screen.
Level 1 starts off with 1 Stalfos, 1 Ghost and the Goblin.
To hit the Goblin, you have to move Link all the way to the right of the ledge when the Goblin's sword isn't out, and stab him. To avoid the knives thrown at you by the Ghost, use the "back attack" button when the knife is close to Link.
Once you get all the way to the top of the level, Link will climb to the top screen to face the boss. The boss level consists of a HUGE (in LCD terms, anyhow) Dragon in the upper right hand corner of the screen shooting fireballs at Link. Link must avoid the patterned fireballs and hit the Dragon X number of times to defeat it. Once the Dragon is defeated, Link gets one part of the triforce and starts over on the next level.
In addition to the boss, the top screen has counters for triforce, the map and graphics for the items Link is currently carrying.
The items in the game separate this game from any other G&W I've played! You have the ability to pick up items depending on which way you go through the maze.
Items include a Tomahawk (more powerful weapon), Map (shows you how best to go through the maze), Water of Life (restarts the game when Link dies) or a Heart (automatically heals Link).
All told, this is one of the best G&W's there is. The gameplay is a little repetitive, but overall, there is a lot of variety to the game, which can't be said for most other G&W's!
Hints
Level 1 - After beating the first scene, go right. The scene's a bit harder, but you'll get the Tomahawk.
Level 2 - After beating the first scene, go left to get the Water of Life.
Level 2, scene 3 - Go right to scene four to get the Tomahawk.
I've only been able to get to Level 3, and it's HARD!