Based on the Where's Waldo? series of search-and-find picture books, The Great Waldo Search has you assisting Waldo's friend, the wizard White Beard, by looking for five magic scrolls that are lost in the Realms of Enchantment. Gameplay involves guiding a magnifying glass across the screen in order to zero in on the people and objects you must find. You'll search five areas: the Land of the Gargantuas, the Kingdom of the Carpet Flyers, the Water Monks vs. Fire Druids, the Enchanted Underground and the Land of the Waldos.
In addition to locating a scroll in each level, you must find Waldo himself. Other things to look for include bonus point markers, which boost your score, and clocks, which increase the time you have to complete the search. There are also special clocks that freeze the action of the standard game and give you a bonus item to look for.
When you find Waldo's dog Woof, you will be sent to a bonus round. Here you must guide the little pup as he flies on a magic carpet over a cityscape. Grab all the bonus points you can by fetching bones out of the air.
The Great Waldo Search features two difficulty levels: Normal and Expert. In the Normal mode of play, the objects are more fully exposed and therefore easier to spot. A special Parent Feature is available in which the second control pad can be utilized to turn off the time limit and/or force the movement of the game to the screens in the level containing Waldo, the scroll and Woof.