A digital port was released in 2007 in Japan and 2015 in North America on the PlayStation Network as a part of the PSone Classics line of games.

The game takes place in a future Earth that has been wiped out by a cataclysm and forced humanity underground, a theme which would continue until Armored Core 4.

Cores are highly modular, allowing players a great deal of customization over them, such as swapping out different leg units to gain speed advantages.

[2] Like many shooters, the primary weapon types available for use are guns, rocket launchers, lasers, missiles, and swords which can be customized at will based on player purchases.

The harsh conditions that result force the few remaining survivors to live underground for fifty years, during which time corporations come to power.

Game Revolution's Nebojsa Radakovic wrote, "A ballpark figure for possible combinations is in the very high millions," and added, "The variety of weapons is also a definite plus.

[19] GamePro attested that "robot mechanics will have a great time shopping through the detailed onscreen catalogs and fine-tuning their killing machines.

"[24] The local multiplayer was positively received, with Radakovic calling it "a sure-fire recipe for intense death matches for the fate of the universe.

"[6] AllGame's Shawn Sackenheim agreed with this, describing, "Crisp texture maps with little pixelation and distortion carry visuals to a new level.

[4] Radakovic wrote that the developers "don’t get an award for plot originality" and mentioned that he felt the campaign was too short, saying, "50 missions may sound like a lot, but they can go by pretty quickly if you know what you’re doing.

[25] The making of Armored Core solidified FromSoftware's development skills, and in July 1999, they released the multiplayer action game Frame Gride for the Sega Dreamcast.

[26] The company's focus would shift from RPGs to mech games due in part to the success of the Armored Core series.

In 2005, FromSoftware started to produce a series of licensed games based on various mecha-based anime properties under the banner Another Century's Episode.