In 1989, "Dragon" gave the DOS version of the game 5 out of 5 stars, concluding that ""Silpheed" is highly addictive, extremely colorful, and requires hours of enjoyable practice to master." "Computer Gaming World" gave the same version a positive review, praising the original music for the game. The British gaming magazine "ACE" gave the game a score of 905 out of 1000. "Compute!" called "Silpheed" "classic arcade fun with a little more depth than you'll find in many action-oriented games", but criticized the simple sound effects.