The album received a score of four and a half stars from AllMusic, with Eugene Chadbourne saying, "With an album behind him, Weird Al Yankovic makes much of the improvements expected of new artists when they get a second crack at a release a year later." Christopher Thelen from The Daily Vault wrote that "All in all, this disc held out the promise that Yankovic was destined for greatness ..." In addition, ""Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D" was also named one of the Year's Top 10 Albums in 1984 by "People" magazine. Den of Geek even named "In 3-D" as one of the "10 Reasons Why 1984 Was a Great Year for Geek Movies"—despite it not being a movie. On November 1, 2011, "Spin" magazine named "In 3-D" as the seventeenth greatest comedy album of all time.