The Primal Rage design team implemented an unusual and largely unknown security method into the arcade machine's coding that prevented the full features of the game from becoming active when emulated. Since the original programming team has since moved on to other things, they could not be reached for questioning regarding the game's security lock-outs. Those who have been contacted expressed no interest in unlocking the ROM BIOS for freeware distribution or security corrections. For these reasons, no perfect emulation of the original arcade game exists.

In the absence of these security protections, blood would be "censored" in that it would be colored a yellowish color with a brown shading. Also, fatalities could not be performed, and many special moves were not available. Another emulation problem was the player could no longer chain attacks, which greatly decreased the chance of performing a combo. These issues even affect the Midway Arcade Treasures 2 collection, which would supposedly feature an arcade perfect rendition of the game, but instead provides a censored and incomplete version.