The player controls Mario or his brother Luigi in two-player mode. The player has to complete all levels of the seven hotels in the game. The first six hotels contain 10 levels, and the last 2 hotels contains 15 levels. The player to shut every door before time runs out to get to the next level. The game does not show how to shut the doors. Elevators, which work differently depending on the hotel, let the player to go between the five floors of the level. The amount of points the player gets in the game will depend on how fast they can beat the level. Every stage has its own title screen, which is how the game can be saved. The screens are also used to enter hotel levels that were already played and the map of the Mushroom Kingdom, which allows the player to access any visited hotel.