In Urban Champion, players participate in one-on-one street fights, competing with opponents to push each other off the sidewalk and past the edge of the screen.

[6][10] In addition, a patrol car may pass by at any point in the fight, which causes the fighters to return to their starting positions.

[6] In Game A, each time the player knocks their opponent into a manhole, a symbol appears in the bottom corner of the screen denoting their victory.

[7] An updated version for the Nintendo 3DS that utilized autostereoscopic 3D was developed by Arika as part of the 3D Classics series, and was released on July 13, 2011 in Japan and the rest of the world on August 18.

In the special edition Pak Source included in the January/February 1990 volume of Nintendo Power, which rated all the NES games released in North America from October 1985 to March 1990, Urban Champion received (out of 5) scores of 2.5, 2.5, 1.5, and 1.5 for the four categories evaluated.

[20] 1UP.com's Patrick Klepek criticized Nintendo for releasing only this and Baseball in one week, calling both poor games.

[23] IGN's Lucas M. Thomas called it too shallow for an NES game, adding that there was no reason to purchase it.

[24] IGN AU's Cam Shea called it "god awful", and "worse than actually falling down a manhole".

[25] Screw Attack advised that Wii owners not waste their money on it, calling it simple and slow.