Some rooms routinely display the percentage of alien infection and time remaining until self-destruct when the level ends (but a nearby button can temporarily deactivate the count-down).

If a Critter is not killed, it eventually matures into a Rollerbaby, which roll around to attack the player character.

[4] In the arcade and Lynx versions, an extra enemy called the Festor can appear in doorways, which can hypnotize and trap players, as well as throw eggs.

Some only award bonus points at the end of the level, while others are immediately useful to the players, by restoring health.

Alternatively, the player can kill a number of Xenos, then self-destruct the space station, gaining bonus points for each enemy defeated.

Finally, the player can successfully defeat all the alien invaders, and recover the space station safely, to earn a larger point and health bonus.

Humans and aliens alike make up the playable characters—for instance, Dr. Kwack has a duck's head.

In a capsule review of the Lynx version for STart, Clayton Walnum commented, "The graphics in some rooms are more detailed than in others, and in general, aren't as impressive as those in ElectroCop, a similar game.

[11] Robert A. Jung review was published to IGN, in it he wrote that Xenophobe was "arguably more fun than its arcade inspiration."