Savage contains three different parts, each with its own style. You can play all three, but to get more than one life on levels 2 or 3, you must first input the code earned on completing the previous level.
You play Savage, a muscular warrior who was imprisoned in a castle. When he broke free, he found out that his imprisonment had been a trick with the sole purpose of imprisoning his love, the maiden. You have to progress through the 3 parts of the game to rescue her.
The first is a simple horizontal-scrolling shooter, in which you use the trajectory of your shots to kill enemies and collect the treasures and improved weapons they drop when killed. The second is a 1st person perspective 3D shooter resembling Space Harrier, with skulls to shoot and monoliths to avoid. In the third you play Savage's Eagle form, flying through platform-style levels avoiding timing-based hazards and shooting anyone who gets in your way. In this section bubbles can be shot to release power-ups.