Allgame called it one of the more "polite" shoot'em ups for its detailed visuals, challenge and unique enemy designs, finding it to have a "charm" unmatched by other games of the genre. Home versions of Xevious received praise for their faithfulness to the original. Your Sinclair commended the ZX Spectrum version's accurate conversion of the arcade original, while also praising its fast-paced gameplay and "enthralling" experience. Nintendojo greatly praised the Classic NES Series version for its gameplay and multiplayer mode, favorably comparing it to games such as Gradius. They felt that its responsive controls and "chaotic" difficulty made it one of the best titles released under the label. Some home releases were met with a more mixed reception for their overall quality and lack of bonus features. Reviewing the Nintendo Entertainment System release, German publication Power Play found the game to be "too old", suggesting that readers instead try out titles such as Gradius. They also disliked the game's lack of power-ups and for areas being too long. GameSpot applauded the Xbox 360 digital version's emulation quality and usage of online leaderboards, but IGN and GameSpot both disliked the lack of improvements made over previous home releases and bonus content. Retrospectively, Xevious has been seen as the "father" of vertical-scrolling shooters and one of the most influential and important games of the genre. In 1995, Flux magazine rated the game 88th on their Top 100 Video Games writing: "Xevious ushered in a new age of scrolling overhead shooters in 1984 with its detailed graphics, multi-level targets and catchy theme music." In 1996, Next Generation ranked it at #90 in their "Top 100 Games of All Time", praising its art direction, intense gameplay and layer of strategy. Gamest magazine ranked it the second greatest arcade game of all time in 1997 based on reader vote, applauding its pre-rendered visuals, addictive nature and historical significance. Japanese publication Yuge found the Famicom home port to be one of the system's best and most memorable titles for its faithful portrayal of the original. Hardcore Gaming 101 applauded the game for setting up the template for future games of the genre, namely TwinBee, RayForce and Raiden DX. They also praised the game's detailed graphics, difficulty and impressive enemy intelligence for the time. IGN labeled it the 9th greatest Atari 7800 game of all time for its gameplay and overall quality. Commercial performance Xevious was an