Incentive Software published ports of Moon Cresta for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, Dragon 32 and ZX Spectrum home computers.

"[9] In 1998, Allgame said that while Moon Cresta had several unique ideas, particularly the ship docking mechanic "slick" controls, and its fast-paced action, it was ultimately hampered by its high difficulty level.

Left, right and fire was all it took to take a young impressionable teenager from a world where potting the black was the challenge of the day".

[10] In a 2016 retrospective review, Hardcore Gaming 101 labeled Moon Cresta as being an influential and well-regarded shooter from the era.

[13] Retro Gamer felt the same way about the arcade original, saying that Moon Cresta had several differences that made it stand out from Galaxian and Galaga, and that it was an entertaining and important game in its own right.

[6] Retro Gamer concluded their review by writing: "By predating Galaga's multiple ship mechanic and introducing a range of diverse enemies, Moon Cresta is rightfully regarded as a key stage in the development of arcade shooters".

Gremlin Industries released Super Moon Cresta, a modification kit that allows the enemies to fire back at the level and changes some of the text.

[6] Nichibutsu itself created Moon Quasar, a spin-off that gives the second ship more firepower and a brief "refueling" segment, where the player must dock their vessel into a mothership towards the center of the screen.

[17] The first spin-off game in the series, UFO Robo Dangar, was released in 1986 that was similar to Terra Cresta, where the player controls a giant mecha instead of a starship.