Super Spacefortress Macross is a vertically-scrolling shoot'em up based on the 1984 theatrical film in the Macross franchise, commonly known in English as Macross: Do You Remember Love?. Players control the VF-1 Valkyrie fighters of ace pilots Max Jenius and (in two-player games only) Hikaru Ichijyo in combat against the Zentradi. The game consists of seven levels, mostly based on action scenes from the film, including confrontations over Macross City, in the rings of Saturn, the surface of the devastated Earth, and the final battle against Boddole Zer. Gameplay is similar to Raiden: the Valkyrie can transform into one of three different modes by collecting the appropriate power-up: in Fighter mode, the ship fires a spread shot, Gerwalk mode has a narrow but powerful laser that passes through enemies, and Battroid mode features homing missiles. The intensity of the attacks can be upgraded in three stages through another power-up. There are also smart bombs to pick up that clear most enemies off the screen with one shot. Each level ends with a boss battle. Besides shooting down the hordes of enemies, picking up medals and rare Minmay dolls also increases the score. In two-player mode, both players take on the enemy simultaneously. Between levels, cutscenes recreate scenes from the film to illustrate the storyline.

In 1999, an alien ship crashes on South Atalia Island and makes the human race aware of other life in space. Ten years later, the ship is reconstructed and christened as the SDF-1 Macross. However, on the day of its maiden voyage, an alien race called the Zentraedi make their appearance on Earth, beginning the UN Spacy/Zentraedi war that would change the history of both races forever.