In the style of the Epyx Games series, players can compete in five different skateboarding events, either individually or sequentially. When the events are challenged sequentially, up to eight players could sign up to participate.

The game featured two half-pipe events - the freestyle ramp and the high jump, two downhill events - the downhill race (in a park setting) and the downhill jam (in a street setting), and the pool joust. The pool joust, downhill jam, and the downhill race (in two player mode only) were all head to head, while the ramp events were single player. Except for the joust, which was a hand-to-hand knockout competition (literally and figuratively), all the event winners were decided by a point system.

Four characters were featured in Skate or Die!: Rodney Recloose, a wild man with a purple mohawk and a Marine Corps tattoo (and a facial resemblance to comedian Rodney Dangerfield) who runs a skateshop in the game, and his son Bionic Lester, an even wilder kid with a green flattop, who the player character was able to take on in the joust and the downhill jam. In the joust, Lester and his two cronies await the skater. Poseur Pete challenges beginners and Aggro Eddie takes on intermediate players, leaving Lester with the advanced pros.

Yung Min Choi reviewed the game for Computer Gaming World, and wrote that "Skate or Die is an enjoyable game for teenage board freaks who cannot get enough radical action on the cement or "over-the-hill" adults who don't want to risk their lives and limbs to experience the simulated thrill of this action sport".^[3]

The C64 version of Skate or Die! was also well liked for its introductory music, a catchy rock-flavored tune with digital samples that took full advantage of the SID chip's capabilities. Composed by Rob Hubbard, it has become a popular tune among modern fans of SID music and remixers of such tunes. For Konami's NES port, Kouji Murata composed an arranged version of the tune for the NES's Ricoh 2A03 sound chip.

The game sold just over 100,000 copies between its release date and the end of the NES era.^{[citation needed]}

The game was reviewed in 1988 in Dragon #132 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 2 out of 5 stars.^[4]