[3] Sony made a license agreement with Porsche, who allowed the game designers to work with its employees in order to accurately model the Boxster's appearance and performance.

[5] In August 1998, the game earned a "Platinum" award from the Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland (VUD),[11] indicating sales of at least 100,000 units across Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

[12] Though most critics concluded that Porsche Challenge is a competent title which falls far short of greatness,[6][7][8][13] otherwise reactions to the game varied widely and sometimes contradicted each other.

For example, while Next Generation, Game Revolution, and Dean Hager of Electronic Gaming Monthly praised the car's handling as indistinguishable from driving a real Porsche boxster,[6][7][9] GamePro, Glenn Rubenstein of GameSpot, and Hager's co-reviewer Kraig Kujawa all contended that the realism of the handling makes the racing frustrating and less enjoyable.

[6][8][13] Where Hager found the characters "goofy" and opined that they should have been gotten rid of,[6] and GamePro said that the selection of characters has no impact on the gameplay,[13] Next Generation, one of the few publications to give Porsche Challenge a positive recommendation, asserted that "The presence of six different drivers, each with a unique driving style, takes care of the problem of having just one kind of car.