These received mixed responses in North America, with critics disliking its simplicity, lack of replay value, and poor controls.

[1] Clarice traverses through twelve side-scrolling stages that take place within famous locations around the world, including New York, London, and Japan.

[6] Clarice is constantly being pursued by police cars that follow her around the stage, and must also avoid flag-waving cats that block her from moving past them.

[5] On occasion, a red-colored balloon may appear in the stage, and collecting three of these warps the player to a new area and grants them bonus points.

[8][9] City Connection was ported to several consoles, including the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), ZX Spectrum, and MSX.

[17] Hamster Corporation released a digital version of the game under their Arcade Archives series for the PlayStation 4 in 2014,[18] and for the Nintendo Switch in 2018.

[6] Agreeing with them was Nintendo Life's Steve Bowling (now part of Good Vibes Gaming with Ashton Paulsen (Rob Paulsen's Son), and Derrick Bitner), who claimed the Wii U version was a shallow conversion of an arcade game he considered "already lost to the ages", specifically for its ill-conceived controls.

Computer Entertainer US believed its cute visual style would appeal to younger players and its challenge to older ones, and said what little the game had to offer was enjoyable.

[20] Reviewing for Eurogamer, Dan Whitehead compared its gameplay to Q*Bert and its horizontal-scrolling to Defender, and made for an addictive game that justified its price tag.

[14] Thomas and Duyn agreed that City Connection's gameplay was simplistic and enjoyable, though constrained by its controls and high difficulty.

[26] The game places Clarice in the role of a spy working for a secret organization to capture criminal leaders from around the world.

Rather than painting sections of road, Clarice must now collect briefcases placed in specific areas in each stage while avoiding police cars and other types of enemies.