Giving the album 8 on 10, Alex Needham from "NME" criticized the compilation's lack of new tracks, and said "while far from immaculate, this is still quite a collection". About "GHV2", "New Straits Times" Christie Leo commented that "this second volume of greatest hits isn't as immediately accessible as the first. But that's not what this collection is all about. This 14-track set actually provides a more daring glimpse into the inner machinations of the music marketing juggernaut, Madonna". AllMusic writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave a mixed review calling it "slightly disappointing", justifying that it was because during the 1990s, Madonna was an album artist. He finished his review saying that "the end result is less than the sum of its parts, even if this is a good way to get all of Madge's 90s hits at once." Sal Cinquemani from "Slant Magazine" commented that ""GHV2" certainly encapsulates the second decade of the performer's boundary-bridging career", but criticized the lack of new material, and its "choppy edits, random sequences and missing links", saying: "the collection doesn't seem to do justice to a career that has always been ahead of the game and focused on the future". Charlotte Robinson from "PopMatters" criticized its sequencing, stating, "Chronological sequencing would have made it easier to follow the course of Madonna's musical evolution. But would these changes have made "GHV2" a significantly better album? Probably not. As it stands, it's the best summary of Madonna's second decade as a performer we're going to get."