The player controls Baxter the dog in the red airplane. Forthington starts off by serving the shuttlecock at Baxter. The player must keep hitting it back in constant beats of two. Also, Forthington might signal the rhythm to change to a slow beat of four. Then later on return to the normal two beat after counting.
- Normal rhythm: Hyah, hyah, hyah, hyah... (Nya, nya, nya, nya...) A standard rhythm.
- Altered: Bu-bum bum bum! (Lob shot) A slowed down beat of fours.
- Back to normal: Two, Three, FOUR! (Two, Three, Go!) The rhythm reverts to normal again. Only said after a lob shot is done.
In addition to the altering of the rhythm, the game will attempt to visually mislead the player by having the two planes distance from each other, causing the shuttlecock to be hit harder and travel faster. However, the beat remains the same.