"Neutopia" received much coverage from various video gaming websites after its release on the Virtual Console, and each drew comparisons to "Zelda". Adam Romano from Defunct Games noted that "Neutopia" was released two years before "" and said that "Neutopia" "kept pace with or were actually ahead of the Nintendo curve". He said that gameplay and backgrounds remain varied and that "the fire rod weapon is especially fun to wield", but he noted that the things that keep the game from being better than "Zelda" were repetitive and frustrating dungeon exploring, boring boss battles, long passwords (for those who do not own a TurboGrafx-CD), and several "head-scratching moments" which include references to Judaism and Islam as well as quotes from "Star Wars". Marcel van Duyn from Nintendo Life noted many similarities to "Zelda", including the existence of 8 dungeons and medallions, the need to blow up walls or burn bushes to uncover secrets, the dungeon designs, and the need to push blocks to uncover staircases. However, he noted that what sets it apart from "Zelda" are the fire rod, the ability to warp with wings, and a lower difficulty level. He concluded that the game, while copying "Zelda", might be better as it added additional features that set it apart. Destructoid's Tony Ponce compared the game's copying of "Zelda" to "China Warrior"s copying of "Kung-Fu Master", and he pointed out what are also considered "Zelda" clones such as "Crusader of Centy" and "Alundra" for the Sega Genesis and PlayStation, respectively.