Sabotage is mainly a vertically-scrolling top-view shooter with the screen scrolling upwards constantly as you play the role of a mercenary hired by your own planet to repel attack waves from aliens over various levels. Each level has you moving around the screen avoiding and blasting the waves of aliens to try to reach the end-of-level guardian before landing on a runway. Once you land then you move around a maze looking for a 5th columnist rebel who has part of a blueprint for a code to lock-on your main weapon to the elusive Mothercraft. As you avoid and blast the aliens there are two power-ups that can be collected, one allows you immunity for a short time, while the other one pushes you up the level a short distance at a great speed. Getting hit by any of the aliens loses you one of six lives (four on the Amstrad) and you have to restart the whole level again (start in the same place you die on the Amstrad). Two players can play with each player taking it turns to play when the other player loses a life.