Help me understand Black Onyx... please?

[skyrunner14]

OK, I just got Goonies and Black Onyx for Famicom. I'm enjoying the Goonies immensely, but Black Onyx is kind of hard for me to wrap my ming around. For example, how do you use items? I know how to get to the menu, and I can scroll through it, but I can't use items? What are they supposed to do? And also, I can't seem to do damage during the battle scenes. Please, I really want to enjoy the game, but unless these issues are resolved, I'm gonna have one heck of a time. So... help?