The original Super Famicom version received a positive critical reception upon release, with "Famitsu"s four reviewers scoring it 34 out of 40, and the first "GameFan" Golden Megawards awarding it for Best Import Game and Best Music (Import Game) of 1992. Retrospectively, 1UP's staff stated that, while the game's story was very weak, the gameplay was "another story", heavily praising the job system and the feature to combine abilities from different job classes, and gave it a score of B-. Allgame's retrospective review shared similar sentiments regarding the storyline and job system, adding praise for the addition of hidden events and items for players to search for, giving the game a score of 3.5 out of 5. RPGamer gave it a mixed retrospective review, stating that the game improved on the visual presentation, menu system, and overall field navigation of "Final Fantasy IV", but the "maddeningly high encounter rate", "average sound selection", and "washed out" color palette hurt the game's presentation, giving it a score of 5/10.