Superman (1999 video game)

For other Superman video games, see List of Superman video games.

Superman North American cover art
Developer(s)	Titus Software
Producer(s)	Eric Caen, J.C. Methiaz
Artist(s)	Arnaud Beaume, Maurice Changy, Regis Capotosto, Guillaume Chevet, Nicolas Coquillas, Eric Delemer, Ludivine Doleux, Francis Gibout, Gilles Graux, Jens Hultgren, Fred Lavignasse, Tim McGrath, Stephane Macre, Brett Harris, Fabien Person, Michael Savariradjalou
Platform(s)	Nintendo 64
Release date(s)	Nintendo 64 NA May 29, 1999 EU July 23, 1999 Playstation Canceled
Genre(s)	Action-adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player, multi-player
Rating(s)	ESRB: E (Everyone)
Media/distribution	64-megabit cartridge

Superman: The New Adventures, often incorrectly referred to as Superman 64, is an adventure video game that was first shown at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in 1997 (E3 1997), released by Titus Software on May 31, 1999 on the Nintendo 64. The game is based on the critically acclaimed Superman: The Animated Series.

In this game, Lex Luthor has created a virtual version of Metropolis, and Superman enters Lex's interdimensional portal, where Luthor negotiates to Superman that he must fly through his maze of rings scattered across virtual Metropolis in order to save his friends. It is infamous for the negative reception it received from critics and is considered one of the worst games of all time. Despite its critical reception, NPD Group data shows that Superman was a top seller in North America during the month of June 1999.

Following the overwhelming negative reception the N64 version received, Titus completely redesigned Superman for the PlayStation. However, due to the expiration of its Warner Bros license, Titus was unable to release the PlayStation version, resulting in its cancellation in 1999.

Plot

Lex Luthor has created a virtual version of Metropolis. During a battle with Lex in his LexCorp office, Superman manages to witness the trapping of his friends Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and Professor Emil Hamilton within the virtual realm. Superman enters Lex's interdimensional portal, where Luthor tells Superman that he must fly through his maze of rings scattered across virtual Metropolis in order to save his friends. Other villains Superman battles in the game include Parasite, Darkseid, Brainiac, Mala, and Metallo.

Gameplay

Superman is an action-adventure platformer. In the single-player mode, players must complete various tasks and puzzles throughout the 14 stages in the game. The game also features two multi-player modes (a racing mode and a battle mode) that can be played with up to four people.

Single-Player

Superman 64 is considered to be one of the worst games of all time.

In the single-player mode, the player assumes the role of Superman who is challenged to complete various tasks and puzzles throughout the 14 stages in the game. Most of the levels in the game are restricted to two types of gameplay; in some levels, referred to as Ride Levels in the game's instruction manual, Superman is instructed to fly through a series of hoops by Lex Luthor; in between, he is also tasked to perform certain feats such as battling Luthor's minions the Dark Shadows and rescuing civilians from natural or artificial disasters, firstly stopping two cars from trapping civilians.

In other levels, referred to as Maze Levels in the game's instruction manual, Superman has uncovered one of his friends from within one of Luthor's outposts, and must escape with them and defeat a boss. These levels are generally more rooted in action-adventure, and make use of puzzle-solving. The game's "virtual Metropolis" in which these stages take place is filled with what the developers called "Kryptonite fog" in an apparent effort by Lex Luthor to diminish Superman's abilities (which is actually distance fog and is used as a technique to mask the game's poor draw distance).

Multi-player

The game includes two multi-player modes (a racing mode and a battle mode) that can be played with up to four people. In the battle mode, players must defeat their opponents by throwing various weapons and items at them. In the racing mode, players control a spaceship and rings shoot from the backside of one opponent.

Cast

• Tim Daly - Superman
• Clancy Brown - Lex Luthor
• Dana Delany - Lois Lane
• David Kaufman - Jimmy Olsen
• Victor Brandt - Professor Emil Hamilton
• Corey Burton - Brainiac
• Malcolm McDowell - Metallo
• Brion James - Parasite
• Leslie Easterbrook - Mala
• Michael Ironside - Darkseid

Development

Superman in early development, showing the character Bizarro who never appeared in this game.

Superman was originally unveiled to the public at the E3 in 1997. According to an interview before the game was released, Eric Caen, co-founder of Titus Software, stated they were attempting to create the first "super hero" based video game where players really behave as a super hero. After the failure of the N64 version, Titus decided to completely redesign Superman for the PlayStation. When the game was finished it received approval from Sony, but the license from Warner Bros. had expired and Titus was unable to secure a new one. The game was never released. Given an exclusive look at the game, playstationmuseum.com stated that they had expected the worst, but they were pleasantly surprised by the "high quality graphics and animation" and awarded the game a rating of 90%.

In 2011, an e-mail interview with Eric Caen by Canadian Let's Player Proton Jon revealed that the plot of the N64 game was mandated by Warner Bros., due to a desire to not have Superman "kick 'real' people".

Reception and legacy

Critical

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	23%
Review scores
Publication	Score
Game Informer	1.25/10
Game Revolution	F
GameSpot	1.3/10
IGN	3.4/10
Nintendo Power	4.7/10

Superman has received overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics, currently holding an overall negative score of 23% at GameRankings. Game reviewers focused their individual scores primarily on over-responsive controls in addition to monotonous gameplay. The flight controls are extremely unresponsive, sometimes requiring multiple button presses for a response. Critics found little redeeming value in the game. Matt Casamassina of IGN rated Superman a 3.4/10, stating "[Superman] is executed so poorly that it actually serves to butcher the reputation of the prominent action hero." GameSpot gave the game a score of 1.3 out of 10, making it the fourth lowest rated game by GameSpot, declaring that "This is easily the worst game I've ever played... it serves no purpose other than to firmly establish the bottom of the barrel".

Sales

Despite its critical reception, NPD Group data shows that Superman was a top seller in North America during the month of June 1999. In July of that same year Titus announced that Superman had obtained the title of third best selling game for the N64

Awards and rankings

The game was rated as number seven in the list of "20 Worst Games of All Time" in a list created by Seanbaby in Electronic Gaming Monthly. It was also named second in the G4 series Filter's "Top 10 Worst Games of the '90s". Nintendo Power magazine rated it as the worst game on a Nintendo system. On MTV's Gamer's 2.0, it was rated the No. 1 worst game of 1999. The game also topped GameSpy's list of the ten worst comic book based video games, as compiled by journalist David Chapman. On GameTrailers, it was ranked No. 1 on their 'worst game of all time' list in 2006, just ahead of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial for the Atari 2600. The game was featured in the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2009 book for lowest rated superhero game.

External links

• Superman at GameFAQs
• Game Rankings report on Superman 64
• Superman at MobyGames