The player, controlling a tank, must destroy twenty enemy tanks in each round, which enter the playfield from the top of the screen. The enemy tanks attempt to destroy the player's base (represented on the map as an eagle) as well as the player tank itself. A round is cleared when the player destroys all twenty enemy tanks, but the game ends if the player's base is destroyed or they run out of lives.

Cash Box believed that "the real excitement" of Tank Battalion lied within its ability to modify the level design by destroying the brick walls.^[3]

Retrospectively in 2015, a writer for Beep! enjoyed the Sord M5 version for its improvements over the arcade original, such as the smoother movement of the player's tank, but disliked the squashed-looking graphics and narrow playing space. While the writer believed the MSX version was superior, they still recommended the M5 version for Namco fans and collectors.^[4]

A theme based on the game for Pac-Man 99 was released as free post-launch DLC, featuring visuals and sounds from the game.^{[citation needed]}

Hamster Corporation released the game as part of their Arcade Archives series for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in March 2024.^[5]