Since Alien³ (1992) (the film on which the game was based) was subject to various creative inputs (due to a lack of consent over the final script), many things that were scrapped from the movie remained in the video game. Examples include the abattoir level (which is present in the Alien³ (1992) Assembly Cut), the presence of cocooned prisoners, and the fact that Ripley survives in the end.
The video game versions (except the Nintendo Entertainment System) were praised at the time of their release for not sticking with the lack of guns and single Alien as in the film, which were the film's most criticized aspects. In other words, while the game's look is clearly based on the film's, the gameplay actually has more in common with the film Aliens (1986), throwing wave after wave of enemies at the player who has superior firepower, whereas in Alien³ (1992) there was only one xenomorph and no weapons.
The line, "Game over, man!", which is heard at the Game Over screen, spoken by Private William Hudson (played by Bill Paxton) in Aliens (1986).
The game was released on eight platforms, but due to the involvement of many different developers, no two versions are completely the same. The biggest differences in gameplay and design are found between the SNES version, the GameBoy version, and all the rest (Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, Sega Master System, Amiga, Commodore 64, GameGear and NES).