"The Magic of Scheherazade" received mixed reviews at release. Opinions of the game's graphics and musical score have been mostly positive. Both William R. Trotter of "Game Players" and Rusel DeMaria of "VideoGames & Computer Entertainment" commended the game's visuals but DeMaria simply characterized the music and sound as "fine." Trotter was specifically impressed with the magic spell effects, characters sprites, and environments, and stated, "If there's a Nintendo game that's prettier to look at, we haven't seen it." "Game Players" awarded the game "Best Graphics" for console titles first previewed in the US in 1989. Contrarily, reviewers from a 1990 "EGM" panel discounted the game's presentation as either average or not up to the standards of the game's contemporaries.