The player assumes the role of Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, or the Cowardly Lion in a series of levels containing hidden areas, mazes, and puzzles to bring Glinda's magic ruby slippers to the Wizard of Oz.

The magazine revealed that Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion were playable characters; a rendition of "Over the Rainbow" would be included in the soundtrack; and that anybody could submit ideas for the game by contacting the SETA's Las Vegas address.

[33] Data Carvey of GamePro admired the colorfulness, Mode 7 effects, multi-layered scrolling backgrounds, and the "distinctive details" and personality of the "somewhat stiff-moving" character sprites.

[29] Reviewers liked the playable female protagonist,[24] with the Los Angeles Times recommending it for girl players to practice problem-solving and hand-eye coordination "in a setting they know and love".

[32] Moon said The Wizard of Oz left the SNES's capabilities unfulfilled,[8] and Hickman assumed it would fail to attract its young demographic due to its scarcity of short-term rewards, its high difficulty, and its lack of appealing details.

[29] Other criticisms included the gameplay, for its lack of variety[32][30] and being reminiscent of THQ's video game adaptation of Home Alone (1990);[21] and the "annoying"[30] and "muddy" music making the famous songs difficult to identify.

[5] Thomas Dennett of The Gamer wrote, "We don't remember Dorothy leaping across tree tops collecting fruit, kicking woodland creatures in the head, and carrying around a magic wand.

"[41] Weiss dismissed the "poor level design that invites ridicule for being both too easy and too frustrating", and its audio that consists of "sparse" sound effects and "butchered" rendition of songs from the film.

[44] Weiss called the visuals "decent";[27] and Screen Rant's Stuart JA saw potential in some of the gameplay concepts, such as where it "arms Dorothy with a laser-blasting magic wand, Prince of Persia-style jumping prowess and the power to brutally kick her enemies to death".

[40] In a July 2011 feature for Retro Gamer, Richard Burton labeled it "A playable and enjoyable arcade adventure" with "sickly sweet graphics" that were "pleasant and attractive enough"; however, he also said that the game would be forgotten if not for the Oz license.