Pretty basic puzzle fare here. The ball lines up in the chute, you line it up, press the button and launch it. If you did it right, it lands where you wanted it to, either eliminating a group of matching balls or sitting there until more come along. One nice feature which I use and abuse on a regular basis is the fact that you can start swinging that chute around and launching the minute it pops up on the screen, even though the game is still introducing the level.
There are 3 Modes of play in Ballistic. These are Panic, Time Trial and Check Mate. Panic is by far my favorite. Its just a 'play as long as you last' type of thing. Time Trial is, well, timed. You are given a certain amount of time and you see if you can outlast it. Check Mate was the least fun to me. You are given a certain number of shots and you have to eliminate the group of balls waiting there. They don't advance, they just sit there. The first few levels are rather easy and I personally just found it less of a challenge, and quite frankly, boring. But The other 2 modes more than make up for this. Ballistic is, by far, the best GBC game I have ever played. If you are a puzzle fan, grab this one up.