Pit-Fighter is the second fighting game to use digitized sprites, after Home Data's Reikai Dōshi: Chinese Exorcist.

The crowd can interfere by attacking, dropping usable weapons, or pushing a stray player back into the fight.

Several of the characters share the names of the actors who played them:[4] Others: In 1991, versions of the game were released for the Super NES, Mega Drive/Genesis, Master System, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, and ZX Spectrum.

[23] In February 1993, the Spectrum version was released as part of the Super Fighter compilation with Final Fight and WWF WrestleMania.

[24] The Super NES version lacks the interactive audience, weapons, and three characters: Southside Jim, Heavy Metal, and Mad Miles.

[31] In Japan, Game Machine listed Pit-Fighter in its January 1, 1991 issue as the seventh most successful table arcade unit of the month.

They criticized the limited frames of animation and compared it unfavorably to The Combatribes and Final Fight.

[24][23] Electronic Gaming Monthly and GamePro had previews of a planned sequel named Pit Fighter II by Tengen, which the former magazine claimed was more than 75% finished and would be released for Sega Genesis in the fourth quarter of 1993.

[38][39] Kato, Buzz, and Ty were returning along with three new selectable fighters: Connor (Karate Champion), Tanya (Roller Queen), and Chief (Ex-bodyguard).