From a retrospective review in 1998, Steve Ryfle, author of "Japan's Favorite Mon-star: The Unauthorized Biography of "The Big G"" praised the film as it stood "indisputably as the greatest of all the Godzilla sequels, with a fast-paced story and likable characters, the most impressive Godzilla design ever, two of the Big G's most spectacular battles, and an abundance of special-effects "money shots" that evoke the thrills of the 1954 original."