It runs on the company's NA-2 hardware, and has eight unusual competitions to test the strength and might of four mutant athletes called "Numans" (Sharon L'Alles, Harry Boffin, Masaemon Nakamura, and Bongo Tembo).

[2] Italian publication Computer+Videogiochi agreed, further praising the game for sticking out among similar titles for its outlandish design, entertaining gameplay, and amount of in-game events.

[3] Reviewing the Japanese Wii Virtual Console version, Nintendo Life praised Numan Athletics for its competitive nature and uniqueness, and found it to be a surprising "treasure" for the service.

[4] Retro Gamer gave a similar response, comparing it favorably to Sega's DecAthlete and Konami's Hyper Sports for its unique and outlandish concept, alongside its entertaining, button-mashing gameplay.

[5] They concluded their review saying: "The premise doesn’t change a whole lot in gameplay terms – at the end of the day, you’re still going to spend most of your time hammering away at buttons – but it’s as tight and enjoyable as the best in the genre, holding up well alongside the likes of Hyper Sports and DecAthlete".