Platoon received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its graphics and sound effects, but criticised its gameplay and difficulty.
Some of the reviewers highlighted the game's faithful adaptation of the movie, its realistic atmosphere, and its varied gameplay. For example, Zzap!64 gave the game a score of 94%, calling it "A superb combat simulation, and simply the best film tie-in to date - not to be missed." Similarly, The Games Machine awarded the game 92%, stating that "Really successful film tie-ins have been few and far between, Platoon is one of the few. A sure-fire winner from Ocean."
Computer and Video Games awarded the Commodore 64 version a "C+VG Hit", commenting that Ocean had made a "competent job" with "what appeared to be one of the most difficult films to turn into a game"
Gary Penn for Commodore User said "I thoroughly enjoyed playing Platoon [...] this is without doubt one of the best film tie-ins to appear on the 64, which bodes well for Ocean's next tie-in, RoboCop."