The film received lukewarm reviews from critics. Multiple newspaper critics labeled it a feature-length commercial for Universal Studios Hollywood and Nintendo. Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" called the film "a cynical exploitation film with a lot of commercial plugs" and "insanely overwritten and ineptly filmed". He later called it one of the worst films of 1989. "Washington Post" staff writer Rita Kempley wrote that the movie was "tacky and moribund", plagiarizing heavily from the 1988 film "Rain Man". On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 32% score based on 22 reviews, with an average rating of 4.39/10. On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 23 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".