Superman 64

Superman is a three-dimensional action-adventure platform game in which the player takes on the role of the titular hero, saving the citizens of Metropolis, including Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, and Professor Hamilton, from a virtual reality version of the city created by Lex Luthor. This virtual Metropolis is filled with "Kryptonite fog", an apparent attempt by Luthor to diminish Superman's abilities. However, this is actually distance fog, a technique used to mask the game's draw distance. The indoor levels involve combat, exploring environments to find access codes to locked areas, activating computers, solving puzzles to achieve objectives, and battling villains such as Mala, Metallo, Darkseid, and Brainiac, who is responsible for programming the computers that trap them in Luthor's virtual reality. The outdoor stages consist of traveling to the next indoor mission while flying through rings and rescuing civilians from enemies and hazards. Several missions must be completed within time limits. Superman: The New Superman features three difficulty modes: Easy, Normal, and Superman. In Easy mode, the player does not need to fly through rings during the ride stages. The penultimate ride stage and penultimate regular stage are playable only in Normal and Superman modes, while the final ride stage and regular stage are accessible only in Superman mode. Despite this, it is possible to complete the game without encountering a single ring if the player starts in Easy mode, as there is an option to switch from Easy to Normal mode that skips the penultimate ride stage, and an option to switch from Normal mode to Superman mode that skips the final ride stage. The time available to complete missions also decreases as the difficulty increases. The game features two multiplayer modes—a racing mode and a battle mode—allowing play with up to four people. In battle mode, players must defeat their opponents by throwing various weapons and items at them. In racing mode, players control a spaceship while rings are shot from the backside of one opponent. == Development ==

Conception Eric Caen, one of the founders of the French developer Titus Interactive, secured the rights from WB Licensing to produce a Superman game during the development of The Animated Series. After learning about the upcoming show in the Los Angeles offices of Titus, Caen pursued the license since no other company had shown interest. He recalled in a 2015 interview that Warner Bros. "asked me three times if I was sure of what I was doing." In early 1997, Titus signed a licensing deal with Warner Bros. to develop games based on Superman: The Animated Series for the Nintendo 64, PlayStation, and Game Boy. The development team for each port consisted of two programmers and six to nine artists. As he explained, "it would stretch the Nintendo 64 to its limits, feature Superman's ability to fly and fight, and include all of his superpowers." Production The Nintendo 64 game's development lasted two years. Near the end of development, Nintendo provided technical support to Titus. Only a few days after the deal was finalized, the Warner Bros. licensing team underwent a change. According to Caen's testimony, the new group immediately disliked Titus and the project, attempting to halt its development. Their first demand was to transform Superman into a Sim City-style game, where Superman would act as the mayor of Metropolis rather than being featured in an action game. Warner Bros. became increasingly coercive after Titus rejected this idea, disregarding any decisions made by the French developer. Often, their rationale for rejection was that Superman would never engage in the activities Titus proposed. Elements that survived, such as Superman swimming underwater, were retained only after Titus staff members presented documentation from the original Superman comics. Some publications unofficially referred to the game as Superman 64 since the 1997 E3 event, as evidenced by its coverage in Game Informer. The 1997 presentation did not disclose that the game took place in a virtual world but did reveal its premise: Superman attempting to save Lois and Metropolis from Lex Luthor's dangerous creation, the Lexoskel-5000. Additionally, it showcased models of empty rooms, a concept model of Lex Luthor, An IGN journalist covering the event found little promise in the game, stating, "For a true fan, the game probably looked great because it was at least something to show, but to the casual observer or the jaded critic, the game just looked poor." However, Animation World Network was more optimistic, asserting that the game appeared to feature "stunning 3D environments, various fight levels, and rescue operations". At the time of the 1997 E3 showing, the release date was scheduled for late 1997, However, the game faced further delays following the 1998 E3 showing due to gameplay criticisms. On August 24, Titus released 3D character models and map sheets of the levels. The magazine GamePro, describing the game as an "E3 showstopper", praised its "good-looking graphics". In June 1998, GameFan published the first screenshots of completed parts of Superman, showcasing views of interiors, Metropolis, and the 3D model of Superman. The magazine expressed enthusiasm for the game, with journalist ECM noting that other staff members were "drooling over these first-look shots". He suggested that the game "could be one of the hotter N64 titles of the year", even with heavyweights like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Banjo-Kazooie on the horizon. He highlighted the game's "astounding" visuals—aside from the fog in the Metropolis shots—and stated it was "set to raise the bar on the N64 again" with its "clean textures and smooth animation". ECM also shared gameplay details, mentioning "an assortment of missions numbering in the twenties" and Superman's powers like X-ray and Heat Vision, as well as the inclusion of villains like Brainiac and Bizarro. In July 1998, ''Gamers' Republic reported that Superman would consist of 15 stages where the playable character would be "beating up bad guys and solving puzzles while trying to find the kryptonite diffusers in each level." The publication also revealed a four-player battle mode, which it positively compared to Star Fox''; it praised the level design and the incorporation of Superman's powers. In its August 1998 issue, Nintendo Magazine preview coverage indicated that Titus had not yet implemented the non-tutorial ring stages or the virtual world setting within the game's plot. The premise was described as Lex Luthor trapping all of Metropolis citizens in a "deadly Kryptonite fog". Despite this, the magazine expressed optimism for the final product, noting it was "packed with great ideas" and that the four-player mode looked promising. In the December issue, which had changed its name to Nintendo Official Magazine, a follow-up preview highlighted more of Superman's abilities in the game. These included breaking through bricks, lifting cars and humans, punching, and utilizing heat vision and ice breath. The magazine also announced a North American release date of January 1999, with a spring date set for Europe. A press release in October 1998 revealed that the release date for Superman 64 was scheduled for November 16, 1998. The announcement also detailed a "huge promotional campaign" that would include in-store promotions, displays, advertising across television, online, and print media. Promotional items planned for the campaign included standees, t-shirts, game footage, videotapes, and oversized boxes. Superman was one of five Nintendo 64 games showcased at the 1999 Tokyo Game Show. After the critical failure of the Nintendo 64 version, Titus entrusted BlueSky Software with the task of completely redesigning Superman for the PlayStation. The game received approval from Sony; however, the license from Warner Bros. had expired, and Titus was unable to secure a new one, resulting in the game's cancellation in 2000. According to Caen, after Warner Bros. "forced us to kill the PlayStation version", the company planned to pay Titus a litigation settlement as compensation for its abusive behavior towards the developer. Before the DeviantArt page was deleted, a user on the Internet Archive downloaded the build and made it available on the archive. == Release ==

NPD Group data reported that Superman was a top-ten seller in North America during the weeks of June 1999. In July of that same year, Titus announced that Superman had become the third best-selling game for the N64. Over 500,000 units were sold. Eric Caen projected in 1998 that sales would reach around a million. Titus also reported that consumer feedback, obtained through a mail-in registration, was "overwhelming[ly] positive", with "more than 70% of Superman's target audience, aged 6 to 11 years, rating the game as an 'A' title". == Critical response ==

Upon release, Superman 64 was claimed to be one of the worst games of all time by critics. Matt Casamassina of IGN suggested that it was "executed so poorly that it actually serves to butcher the reputation of the prominent action hero". Casamassina speculated that the developer had not "put forth any priorities for this title other than to finish it", commenting that the game had a "rushed, careless feel". Commands for various actions were reported to be either unresponsive or inconsistent, particularly regarding flying, landing, and picking up objects. Tim Weaver of N64 Magazine complained that "the only way to stop flying is to crash into a solid object, preferably a wall", and that "you always have to press forward to go forward, even if you're facing into the camera". Other technical problems were reported to be common, including bugs, unfavorable camera angles, poor enemy AI, broken frame rates, clipping of environments and objects, and inadequate collision detection. Some critics found the missions too easy, unengaging, and nonsensical; Hardcore Gaming 101s John Sczepaniak even went so far as to call them "obscenely stupid". He and other critics also panned the ridiculous-looking fights with enemies, with Hardcore Gaming 101 writing, "melee combat is slow, awkward, and imprecise, leading to much flailing of limbs". Some reviewers praised the visuals for their closeness to the animated series, as well as the inclusion of its original voice actors. Responses to the audio were mixed. The music received lukewarm appreciation from some publications, including Jeuxvideo.com who noted its atmospheric quality but criticized its lack of stylistic variation. However, other sources, including GameSpot, criticized the repetitiveness of the soundtrack. GameSpot also remarked, "the sparse voice work even changes at one point, from Man of Steel actors to someone who sounds nothing like the lead of the show". As Hyper proclaimed, "the soundtrack is more than capable of causing spontaneous aneurysms at 50 paces, and the handful of canned smashing moves do a great job of driving home the horror". == Legacy ==

Statements regarding Superman 64 as one of the worst video games of all time have persisted in later years, including one of the worst highly-anticipated video games. The game has appeared on all-time worst lists, overall and in the categories of superhero adaptations and N64 titles, from various publications, including Electronic Gaming Monthly (2013), The Guardian (2015), SVG.com (2020), and topping lists of GameSpy (2004), GameTrailers (2006), and Den of Geek (2024). It has also appeared on worst-of-decade lists from Filter and Nintendo Power. It continues to be recognized as the all-time worst of the Superman video games, which are generally not well received. As of 2017, Superman 64 holds the Guinness World Record for the lowest-rated superhero game, citing its Gamerankings aggregate score of 22.9%. In a report from 2018, The Guardian noted, "Superman 64 has cultivated a fanbase of curious masochists eager to see how bad it really is. Twitch and YouTube host plenty of videos dedicated to the anti-glory of Superman 64, some of them created by people who were barely born when it was released." Superman 64 ranked number 11 in an Uproxx list of the top 100 Nintendo 64 games, based on 250,849 user ratings from various websites. Publication writer Derrick Rossignol expressed confusion over the ranking: "I attribute that to users ironically giving the game many positive ratings over the years. Thankfully, though, those shenanigans don't seem prevalent in the data, and Superman is the only notable head-scratcher that I noticed." == See also ==