Released for MS-DOS,[6] the Sega Saturn,[7] and the PlayStation,[8] the game puts players in control of a tank, and tasks them with destroying enemy forces.

The gun turret can be rotated independently of the tank's movement, allowing the player to proceed in one direction while firing in another.

[7][30][31] GamePro said the missions eventually become somewhat monotonous, but the game is "uninhibited destructive fun that's worth at least a shot as a weekend rental.

"[29] James Price of Saturn Power criticized that much less strategy is required to survive missions than in similar games such as Soviet Strike,[30] while Lee Nutter argued in Sega Saturn Magazine that Mass Destruction is intended as a game of achieving high scores rather than simple completion of the campaign.

[31] Jeff Gerstmann commented in GameSpot, "The mission-based gameplay brings a method to the madness, but one still gets the happy feeling of cruising around aimlessly in a tank and blowing up as many things as possible, friend or foe.