"Attack on Pearl Harbor" is a combat flight simulation game that is played from a third-person perspective. In the game's single-player campaign, the player assumes control of one of two fictional pilots: United States Army Air Forces pilot Douglas Knox or Imperial Japanese Navy pilot Zenji Yamada. Both pilots have two single-player campaigns each, beginning during the Attack on Pearl Harbor and chronologically featuring the key battles that followed, including the Battle of Wake Island, Battle of Midway, and Battle of the Coral Sea. The game also features operations prior to the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands and the Battle of Okinawa for both pilots. The game's cutscenes are presented in a comic book-like fashion.