əbsˈɛʃən wʌz mˈɛt wɪð ɐklˈeɪm fɹʌm kɹˈɪɾɪks wɛn ɪt wʌz fˈɜːst ɹᵻlˈiːst ɔnðɪ ætˈɑːɹɹi stˈiː, ɡˈɑːɹnɚɹɪŋ pɹˈeɪz fɔːɹ pˈʊʃɪŋ lˈɪmɪts ʌvðə stˈiː hˈɑːɹdwɛɹ, ɪts ˈɔːdɪˌoʊvɪʒˌuːəl pɹˌɛzəntˈeɪʃən, kəntɹˈoʊlz ænd ɡˈeɪmpleɪ bˌʌt kɹˈɪɾɪsˌaɪzd fɔːɹ vˈɛɹiəs dɪzˈaɪn ˈæspɛkts ænd sˈoʊld vˈɛɹi fjˈuː kˈɑːpɪz.
Obsession was met with acclaim from critics when it was first released on the Atari STe, garnering praise for pushing limits of the STe hardware, its audiovisual presentation, controls and gameplay but criticized for various design aspects and sold very few copies.