Gregg Williams stated, "I couldn't believe [Activision] had wasted their resources on putting it out",[15] while Charles Ardai called it "probably the best game of the year".

Describing gameplay as "swift and deceptively simple", the magazine warned "plan on spending a LOT of time with this one".

While criticizing the user interface and graphics, the magazine concluded that the players will find it hard to quit.

reviewed the game favorably, reporting that "our Shanghai mania is of such proportions that I am beginning to fear for our health".

[25] Ports were released for Macintosh, Apple IIGS, FM Towns, MSX, PC-98, Sharp X68000, Windows, Sega Genesis, and Super NES.

The Genesis version was re-released on the Wii Virtual Console in the PAL regions on November 27, 2009, and in North America on January 11, 2010, which was later delisted at the end of 2013.