The game's defining feature was that, while it uses a generally 2D format, characters can move towards or away from the screen (somewhat similar to the "Oversway" system from the later SNK title Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory).

The reviewer said every aspect of the game seemed slapdash, citing as examples the near-illegible fonts, dull music, poorly translated English manual, sparse animation, and a setup which is not conducive to stylish or deep fighting.

[8] GamePro panned the AES version of the game, saying it "combines aspects of Art of Fighting, World Heroes, and Street Fighter without coming close to the complexity or challenge of any of them."

They complained of unresponsive controls and the excessively long string of commands required to execute Crazy moves, and remarked that though the sprites are large, they are nonetheless unimpressive due to the uninteresting animations and unoriginal character designs.

[2] Next Generation reviewed the AES version of the game and summarized, "Although moves are difficult to pull off, ADK's crisp look and powerful action make it well worth the trouble.

"[4] However, Next Generation later reviewed the Neo Geo CD version, and stated that despite SNK marketing the game as a 3D fighter, it is purely 2D, and that the ability to fight in multiple planes, while a decent effort at innovation, ultimately has little impact on the gameplay.

"[4] The Electric Playground praised the game's controls and efforts at innovation, but felt the formulaic characters and shallow gameplay cause it to wear thin after a few play sessions.

They also praised the high quality sound effects and large sprites enabled by the massive Neo Geo cartridges, and the excellent Spanish voice acting.

However, they concluded that the small number of playable characters prevented them from unreservedly recommending the game, though they emphasized that it is otherwise outstanding and expressed a desire to see a Neo Geo CD version.