[1][2][3][4][5][6] In 1989, Virgin Mastertronic acquired the licence to publish a video game based on the Judge Dredd character.

Pick had finished work on the Commodore 64 (C64) version of Shinobi, and he "had the vague idea that we'd just make a similar game, but styled to the Dredd universe.

The development team proceeded with the idea and created mockups, but was unable to make them work in the game because of technical reasons.

[5][18][13][4][3][20] Commodore Format called the gameplay "atrocious" and stated that it suffered from "gross unplayability," writing that the crime rate "accelerates too rapidly.

"[1] CU Amiga considered the gameplay dull and wrote that the crime rate indicator "seems to have a mind of its own and doesn't follow any particular pattern.

[5] ACE was also critical of the gameplay, but wrote that the game, "Does a reasonable job of capturing some of the graphic humour" of the comic series.

[3] Garth Sumpter of Sinclair User wrote that the game "may not set any new standards for graphics, sound or gameplay, but it's full of authentic Dreddian detail which should appeal to fans.

"[11] Swan stated that the game was "full of glaring inaccuracies", such as the lack of weapons on the Lawmaster bike "which will leave any Dredd fans disappointed.

[2][6][4] Andy Hutchinson of ST Format wrote that the game visually "fails because it doesn't make enough of the cartoon style," describing Judge Dredd's animation as "very average" and stating that he "sometimes looks as if he's moonwalking".