Among critics the wipe transitions generally seem to have escaped specific mention, being a convention of the science fiction serials that inspired Star Wars. I can't speak for audiences, though other similar works produced in the aftermath of Star Wars's succeess and aimed at a general audience do seem reluctant to use wipe transitions.

Lucas himself has spoken of the influence of Kurosawa (who used wipe transitions in his films) on his own filmmaking, but looking at contemporary film critics, the focus seems to have been on Star Wars as a nostalgia piece for old film serials, and acceptance of wipe transitions as part of this is implicit.

This 1977 Rolling Stone article gives some context of the contemporary view of Star Wars as a nostalgia piece:

Star Wars is straight out of Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon by way of Tolkien, Prince Valiant, The Wizard of Oz, Boy’s Life and about every great western movie ever made.

Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers were serialised in the 1930s, and after the success of Star Wars in 1977, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century was commissioned as a TV series by NBC in 1979 and the De Laurentiis production of Flash Gordon was released in cinemas in 1980.

Here's the first part of the Buster Crabbe Flash Gordon from 1936. There are several lightning bolt shaped ones as the cast are introduced from around 00:30, and you can see examples of wipe transitions between scenes at 2:30 or 11:20.

Wipe transitions are seen again in 1939's Buck Rogers (also starring Crabbe as the titular character) during the opening credits at 0:35, or another novelty one (explosion shaped this time) at 8:00, or a right-to-left wipe at 10:30.

In the final Crabbe Flash Gordon serial, 1940's Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe, you can again see lightning wipe credits, a diamond wipe at 3:10, another novelty wipe at 4:10, a barn door wipe at 7:43, or just a left-to-right at 9:45.

While these particular film serials were made before George Lucas was born in 1944, just like 1977's Star Wars looms large in the childhoods of many born after its release, those serials were still being shown during George Lucas and Steven Spielberg's childhoods in the 40s and 50s as described in this 1981 New York Times article:

'With both 'Star Wars' and 'Raiders,' I started out by asking myself 'Gee, when I was a kid what did I really like?' '' Mr. Lucas recently explained. He liked the derring-do of the serials, and the unbeatable courage of their characters, not to mention the 30's settings.

Roger Ebert (born 1942), a New Hollywood booster, described how Star Wars evoked the Saturday matinees he had seen during his childhood, the same as Lucas, when defending the Star Wars films from John Simon's criticisms in 1983 on ABC'S Nightline. Simon criticises the films' characterisations and overreliance on special effects, but does not criticise the scene transitions.

In his 1977 review for New York Magazine Simon draws unfavourable comparisons with the Flash Gordon comic strip rather than the film serials, but feels 'the cinematography is striking' in Star Wars.

While it is hard to find specific mention of specific criticism or praise of the wipe transitions themselves, in her critical 1977 piece in New Yorker, Pauline Kael alludes to the negative aspects of 30s sci-fi serials:

Maybe the only real inspiration involved in “Star Wars” was to set its sci-fi galaxy in the pop-culture past, and to turn old-movie ineptness into conscious Pop Art. And maybe there’s a touch of genius in keeping it so consistently what it is, even if this is the genius of the plodding.

Vincent Canby writing for the New York Times in 1977 comments similarly, though more positively:

One of Mr. Lucas's particular achievements is the manner in which he is able to recall the tackiness of the old comic strips and serials he loves without making a movie that is, itself, tacky.

Derek Malcolm writing in 1977 for The Guardian characterises Star Wars similarly (though again without specific reference to wipe transitions):

It’s an incredibly knowing movie. But the filching is so affectionate that you can’t resent it.

They recognise the self-consciousness of the filmmaking techniques as the 40-year-old serials were still fresh in the cultural memory - for example, here is a 1976 BBC Two listing for a repeat of the 1936 Flash Gordon.

The 1980 De Laurentiis Flash Gordon evokes the serials and comic strips, particularly in its opening credits with their lightning bolts and images from the comics, but comparing this scene with the 1936 clip linked earlier that it mirrors shows the editing in general is characterised by standard cuts. Or perhaps this 1980 scene which shows a psychic link with some tongue-in-cheek laughs, but again uses standard cuts.

The 1979 Buck Rogers in the 25th Century TV movie pilot has opening credits comparable to a Bond film (see Moonraker, released the same year), but for the regular series used an opening more reminiscent of 1930s Buck Rogers. However, within the show itself kept to standard cuts - you can see some to establishing shots of the of the city a 8:28 or 9:45 in the linked clip.

Rocky Star was an early 90s Australian 1990s TV show that used the audio from a 1950s sci-fi serial and used novelty wipe transitions (see 1:35 for an example), but was very much 'retro camp'. The praise for Star Wars generally focused on how it transcended its genre trappings. Charles Champlin in the Los Angeles Times in 1977:

“Star Wars” is Buck Rogers with a doctoral degree but not a trace of neuroticism or cynicism.

So the wipe transitions were a retro genre flourish, but not unexpected enough to draw specific mention.