"GameSpot"s Lauren Fielder gave the title a significantly lower review than most publishers and echoed the belief that it "missed the boat" of lower-quality first-generation N64 games. She criticized the flying and walking controls and deemed the multiplayer modes "seemingly quite literally thrown in." She closed by saying "In spite of all the obvious flaws, "Buck Bumble" is not a terrible game. It's just not a good game, and the rewards do not make up for the dull, tugging experience it quickly becomes."