Introduction
Based on DC comics’ popular superhero, the Superman video game on the Nintendo 64 (nicknamed Superman 64) was released in 1999, and what came with it disappointed many gamers far and wide. In fact, it is widely regarded as one of the (or in some cases the) worst games ever created. It just might be the most infamous Nintendo 64 game ever made.
Well, after nearly a decade, out of curiosity I decided that I would get the game and see what all of the hate was about. Well, now I know why it’s so hated. Yes, it is in fact an abysmal game that Nintendo should never have allowed to “grace” (and I use that word loosely) their system. Actually, I find it hilarious that this atrocity is the final version of the game.
Overview
In the game, you play as Superman, who is trying to save his friends (I don’t know their names. I’m not familiar with the comic book) from a virtual world constructed by the evil Lex Luthor. In this virtual world, you will go through approximately 15 levels completing multiple tasks (many of which are under a time limit), such as saving people and solving various puzzles. Superman will also have to use his superpowers, such as flying, Super Speed and X-Ray Vision, with the hope that he can rescue his friends from the virtual world.
Gameplay
Alright, this is just embarrassing. Superman 64 was meant to convey the feeling of being a superhero out to stop a league of evil villains. But instead, it feels like a really, really bad superhero movie. This is thanks to a multitude of problems, such
as stiff controls, glitches that beg for your attention, and overall repetitive and boring gameplay.
At first glance, it seemed to have a bit of promise. It opens with a title screen that displays an impressive comic book-style render of Superman and Lex Luthor in the background, and when I started a new game I was greeted with a pretty good voice sample of Lex Luthor saying “in short time your fate will be sealed, Superman”. How bad could it be?
Oh, it’s bad all right. After an introduction that last a total of 5 seconds, I found myself in the “virtual world” as Superman. After approximately 10 seconds of play, I realized how unbelievably about 20 minutes of figuring out the controls, I was off. The first mission has you flying through an obstacle course of rings (something that you do a lot in this game). You have a time limit of a little over a minute to fly through all of the rings in order. You’re allowed to miss a few rings, but you mostly need to be very consistent.
The amount of ring missions in this game are ridiculous.
Wait a minute. Flying through rings? Since when does Superman fly through rings? And when has flying through rings ever been part of a heroic act to save the world? It never has and it never will. This is one of the problems with the game. Half of the time, you aren’t even doing anything that a superhero would do. You’ll be spending most of your time either flying through rings or solving lame puzzles.
There’s also a very serious issue with the incredibly weak draw distance. You can’t see very far in front of you at all, which leaded to some very annoying pop-up. The saddest part about this is that the developers actually knew that the draw distance was bad, and they tried to work it into the storyline. That’s right, it’s supposedly “Kryptonic Fog” that Lex Luthor unleashed in an effort to destroy Superman. This is not only the lamest excuse I’ve ever heard in the history of video games, but it also shows that the developers didn’t even try to make this a good game.
Anyway, after a few tries, I had gotten through the rings and was ready for the 2nd mission. This mission is where the game really started to fall apart. It says that you need to save civilians from getting run over by two cars (which are smaller than Superman for some reason), but all you’re really doing is lifting two cars and throwing them somewhere. Sounds simple enough, right?
It would be, if it wasn’t for the terrible lifting mechanics. Supposedly you’re able to lift some objects, such as vehicles, by simply flying into them. Unfortunately, this seldom works like it should, and Superman will most likely just fly up against the car for a few seconds before he picks it up. It’s really annoying and it even caused me to fail a few missions.
This mission also brought up a serious issue with the “buildings.” While there are a few large buildings in the area, there’s also some patterns tattooed on the ground that are supposed to simulate buildings while you’re high in the air. But in the second mission, you’re flying (and perhaps even walking) right over these flat tattooed patterns. It looks absolutely hilarious, and to top it off, there’s actual people walking around the flat city! How do they get into their homes? This game has rush job written all over it.
Flat buildings. Wow.
The 3D objects in this game have a disturbingly low polygon count.
Anyway, after finishing the second mission, I was greeted with another obstacle course of rings (they milk that mission from beginning to end). After I got through that, I had to lift another car and carry it to the end of a road. This mission is very difficult because of the poor collision detection of you flying into objects, and you only have a few seconds to pick up the car, so if Superman doesn’t pick up the car right away, you’ll fail the mission.
After unfairly failing the mission a few times (and having to repeat the rings section again thanks to poorly placed checkpoints), I had to go through yet another section of flying through the rings. Then my job was to “defeat the Four Shadows”. This is where the game introduces its dull combat system. There is only one attack button (A), and all you do is tap the A button as Superman unleashes 4 different punches (2 of which look ridiculous). This leads to a boring and tedious combat system that has the potential to put you to sleep.
After a fourth section of flying through rings, I had to use “Super Breath” and blow on some small tornadoes. It’s this mission that introduces you to the superpower system, which you use with the C buttons. There’s Super Speed, Super Breath, Heat Vision and X-Ray Vision. The superpowers may have actually brought some variety into the game. But unfortunately, these superpowers are drastically underused because you can only use them at certain times.
After that, there’s a fifth set of rings, and then it’s the end of the first level. You get the chance to save your game, and then you begin the second level, which works a bit differently than the first level. The second level tries to play out more like an adventure game. Unfortunately, the second level is even worse than the first. First of all, the puzzles are limited to finding items and placing them somewhere else. And there are no checkpoints within these levels, so if you die, you go back to the beginning of the level. It’s very annoying and can be a real pain sometimes. Overall the adventure-style levels are terrible.
The rest of the levels alternate between action levels with rings and cars to lift and the adventure levels where you’re doing boring puzzles. Combine this with the repetitiveness, game-breaking glitches (such as falling through the ground), terribly stiff, complicated controls, confusing and unpolished menu screens and the overall abysmal execution of every aspect of the game; you get some of the worst gameplay in the history of video games. Even the ending to this game is terrible!
The fighting animations in this game look ridiculous, as well as having a very low number of frames.
The superpowers could have saved this game, but they're so underused that it's pointless.
Graphics/Sound
The graphics in this game are almost as bad as the gameplay. In the action sections, the environments lack texture and detail almost to the point where it looks like a grid-like test version of the game. On the other hand, the adventure sections look okay. Unfortunately, they’re marred by graphical glitches that sometimes break the game. Also, the polygon-count is extremely low, and Superman himself looks ridiculous. His feet make it look like he’s wearing pajamas with feet in them, and his face looks like a Ditto from Pokėmon (no joke). Overall the graphics are absolutely awful (like the rest of the game).
As for the sound, it just might be the worst aspect of this abomination. The sound effects are terribly rough and they seem to glitch often. As for the background music, let’s just say it would be considered mediocre for a Sega Mega Drive game (no joke.). You’ll want to turn down the volume within 5 minutes (or you’ll be playing a different game altogether). However, the voice samples of Superman and Lex Luthor are actually very well done. Unfortunately, even this is ruined by the fact that there are only 4 or 5 voice samples in the whole game, and they repeat endlessly. The sound is even worse than the graphics and the gameplay. It’s just downright atrocious.
Summary
As I said earlier, Superman 64 is infamous for being one of the most hated video games ever made. Now that I’ve played it, I know why. There are absolutely no redeemable qualities about this game, and I only recommend it to people that need something to laugh at. It’s been called the worst Nintendo 64 game ever made, and I say it’s the worst video game in history.
+ Good Voice Samples
- Poor Graphics
- Very Glitchy
- Stiff, Unresponsive and Confusing Controls
- Sega Mega Drive Quality Background Music
- Poor Animation
- Boring Gameplay
- Repetitive
- Avoid
The adventure levels move at a very slow and tedious pace
[center]
The environments are very sparse and empty.
Linear Mode
