 Koichi Ishii attributed this to the overall lack of experience and popularity of the RTS genre in Japan.Upon its release, "Heroes of Mana" received generally poor to middling reviews over a wide range, with numerical scores that range from 35 to 85 out of 100.Reviewers praised Heroes of Mana's graphics and visual style; IGN's Bozon praised the "classic character art" and "hand-painted backdrops", GameSpot's Kevin VanOrd noted the colorful graphics and "overflowing" animations, and Eurogamer's Simon Parkin said that the "fantastic presentation and artwork" "sugar-coated" the game.