AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine rated the album three out of five stars. He found that Long Time No See "tries desperately to fit into the trends of the '90s, adding street-level, bass-heavy rhythms and hip-hop beats to his productions [...] Chico weathers the changes quite well, but he can't make the mediocre tracks (and there are too many of them) convincing, and that prevents Long Time No See from being completely successful. Even so, it's a solid, respectable comeback that suggests DeBarge may be able to regain some of the ground he lost in the early '90s."[3]