Predating Nintendo's Donkey Kong, and lacking a jump mechanic, Space Panic was the first game involving climbing ladders between walkable platforms.

It was an obscure release in North America, but a clone, Apple Panic, became a top-seller for home computers.

Lode Runner (1983) later put its own spin on climbing and digging, a lineage which eventually took on the name puzzle-platform games.

[7] In a retrospective review of the ColecoVision version for Digital Press Online, Kevin Oleniacz concluded, "Coleco had resurrected several short-lived arcade games and transformed them into home favorites, but they should have let Space Panic rest in peace.

[7] It also inspired Lode Runner (1983),[11] which has a similar look and also uses the basic premise of digging holes to trap enemies.

Universal revisited the genre with Mr. Do's Castle (1983), which expanded upon the play styles explored in Space Panic.