The game received a positive critical reception upon release. "Micro Adventurer" mainly praised Ultimate's capabilities of developing high quality games, saying that "Atic Atac" was "bound to fix their name firmly into the minds of adventurers", further recommending the game "without reservation". "Crash" enjoyed the game's colourful graphics, heralding the detail and objects of the game to be "marvellous". However, they criticised the difficult joystick control and vague instructions, adding that the entire game is a "learning experience". "Computer and Video Games" stated that the game was "the best yet from Ultimate", and later in 1984 described it as "the favourite arcade adventure amongst computer gamesters". "Personal Computer Games" wrote that it was "another blockbuster game", while "Sinclair User" praised both the depth of plot and the advanced graphics, citing them both as "superb".