Time Gal was inspired by the success of earlier laserdisc video games that used pre-recorded animation, including Dragon's Lair (1983) and the previous Taito/Toei collaboration Ninja Hayate (1984), while Reika's character design bears similarities to the anime characters Lum (from Urusei Yatsura) and Yuri (from Dirty Pair).

Depending on the location of the cue, the player will input one of four directions (up, down, left and right) or an attack (shoot the target with a laser gun).

Inputting the correct command will either avoid or neutralize the threats and progress the game, while incorrect choices result in the character's death.

[10][11] Renovation Products acquired the rights to publish Time Gal on the Sega CD, with Wolf Team handling development.

[4] The Sega CD version uses a smaller color palette than the original, includes a video gallery that requires passwords to view each level's animation sequences, and features new opening and ending themes by Shinji Tamura and Motoi Sakuraba, respectively.

[16][17][18] Time Gal was ported to the PlayStation in 1996 as a compilation with Ninja Hayate, another laserdisc arcade game developed by Taito.

[5] However, GameSetWatch's Todd Ciolek believed it was released too late in the life of LaserDisc games, and that players "were getting tired" of the genre's gameplay.

[4] GamePro's reviewer referred to the arcade game as a "lost, laserdisc treasure", and was enthusiastic about its Sega CD release.

GameFan magazine, in praising Wolf Team's port of the game, complimented the Sega CD version's graphics and short load times.

[1] GamePro said the animation is "great, with bright, vivid colors, and fast-paced, exciting movement" and praised the "funny gameplay" and "nonstop action".

[30] Chris Bieniek of VideoGames & Computer Entertainment criticized the story as "nonsensical" and said that while the unlockable video gallery is a nice feature, it effectively eliminates any replay value, which compounds the easiness of the game to give it very low longevity.

[28] IGN's Levi Buchanan listed interactive movie games like Time Gal as one of the reasons behind the Sega CD's commercial failure, citing them as a waste of the system's capabilities.

He further added that Reika was an appealing lead character that Taito could have easily turned into a mascot and featured in other games and media.

[4] The character was later included in Alfa System's shooting game Castle of Shikigami III—Taito published the arcade version in Japan.

[40] In July 2023, a sequel titled Time Gal Re:Birth was revealed to be included as a bonus downloadable content pack for the Taito LD Game Collection.