Unlike the film, Ripley has a large arsenal of weapons that can be used against the game's enemies, consisting of Aliens and Facehuggers.

[15] GamePro praised the SNES version for its music, sound effects and graphics, and concluded that the game was "highly original–enough to please even jaded veterans of the Alien 3 wars on other systems.

"[4] Jonathan Davies of Super Play praised the graphics of the SNES version and called it "damn good fun", while noting that it "makes effective use of the license without trying to be too true to it".

[5] Scott Alan Marriott of AllGame praised the sound and smooth animation of the SNES version and wrote, "Despite everything being gray and metallic-looking, the graphics are extremely impressive.

"[24] Nintendo Power praised the SNES version's action, sound, graphics and its diverse variety of missions, but criticized blueprints for only being accessible from computer terminals.

[11] Nintendo Power praised the "very effective" cinema scenes in the Game Boy version, but criticized the controls for being slow to respond.

[3] Skyler Miller of AllGame noted that the NES version "isn't a mindless shooting fest," and wrote that the "atmosphere is appropriately creepy, with a gloomy color palette, foreboding soundtrack, and some semi-gory scenes.

"[23] GamePro reviewed the Genesis version, praising the music and writing that it "balances straight-up arcade-style action with enough tension to effectively capture the nail-biting mood of the movie.

"[8] Sega Force praised the Genesis version for its controls, its graphics, its large number of levels and noted that the "Suspenseful music gives the game a suitably scary feel."

[18] Sega Force also praised the music, sound effects and graphics of the Game Gear version, but noted the repetitive gameplay.

"[32] Mean Machines Sega reviewed the Game Gear version and praised its character animations and music, but criticized its sound effects and similar-looking backgrounds.

[26] Kyle Knight of AllGame reviewed the Game Gear version and criticized its music and "some quirky and occasionally frustrating AI actions".

However, Knight wrote that the game "successfully combines exploration and action," and that the "background details and alien sprites are nicely done, but unfortunately the main character isn't.