Cosmic Sheriff was one of the first computer games to enable the Gun-Stick optical gun system, manufactured by the Spanish company MHT Ingenieros, a revolutionary hardware developed specifically for 8-bit computers. With this peripheral the user could shoot directly at the screen to eliminate his enemies.

Game consists of three zones of several levels each one.

Zone 1: The warehouses. Throughout three levels there are two bombs.

Zone 2: Control system and computers. There are four bombs to defuse along five levels.

Zone 3: Surface. Nine levels where there are six bombs to defuse.

In the year 2023, cobalt has become an element of great strategic importance for human beings, as it is used in the construction of hyperatomic reactors. The last major deposit in the galaxy is on IO, Jupiter's third moon, where a large-scale extraction plant has been installed.

The station has been sabotaged by a group of rebels who have planted bombs that will explode if their demands are not met. There is no time for demands. From the TERRA-1 orbital station comes PETE JONES, aka COSMIC SHERIFF, the best laser sniper in the galaxy. His mission: defuse the bombs and take out the saboteurs.