Superman (1999 video game)

Superman: The New Adventures, often referred to as Superman 64, is a 1999 adventure video game developed and published by Titus Software for the Nintendo 64 video game console. The game is based on the television series Superman: The Animated Series. Superman was first released in North America on May 31, 1999 and in Europe on July 23, 1999.

In this game, Lex Luthor has created a virtual version of Metropolis, and Superman enters Lex's interdimensional portal, where Luthor explains 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 2000.

Gameplay
Superman is a three-dimensional action-adventure platformer set in a virtual recreation of Metropolis created by Lex Luthor. Virtual Metropolis is filled with what the developers call "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).

In the main single-player mode, the player assumes the role of Superman, who is challenged by Luthor to complete various tasks and puzzles. Superman can walk, fly, combat enemies, and use super-strength to lift and carry large objects. Superman's other superpowers, such as Heat Vision, Freeze Breath, and X-Ray Vision, are only accessible through collection of power-ups in certain levels and have limited reserves. If Superman is attacked by enemies, hazards, or is in close proximity of Kryptonite, his health will decrease. The player will enter game over (indicated with "LEX WINS") and will be required to restart the current mission if Superman loses all his health. The player will also enter game over if a civilian character is attacked or time limits imposed on various missions expire before they are completed.

Superman contains fourteen distinct levels, which consists of seven "Ride Levels" and seven "Maze Levels." In Ride Levels, gameplay is set outdoors in Metropolis, and alternates between flying Superman through a series of colored rings and then completing a timed objective, such as protecting a civilian character or defeating all the enemies. When flying through a ring section, the player is given a time limit to complete the run that ranges from one to ten minutes. The player must restart a ring section if he misses three rings, runs out of time, or fails the timed objective that immediately follows.

In Maze Levels, 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 includes two multiplayer 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.

The game's engine is very flawed; the game's frame rate drops periodically during gameplay and players can frequently fly through walls and go outside level maps in maze levels.

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.

Development and release
Superman: The New Adventures was developed by French developer Titus Software and took two years to make. It was first unveiled at E3 1997 and later shown at E3 1998. Eric Caen, the game's producer and co-founder of Titus Software, stated that the main goal of development was to create the first "superhero-based" video game where players really behave as a superhero.

Caen claimed in a 2011 e-mail interview that development was heavily affected by Superman licensors DC Comics and Warner Bros., who mandated numerous aspects of the game design. These aspects included the limited use of Superman's powers and the game's setting in a virtual world, which was due to the desire to not have Superman fighting "real" people. The game's release was delayed by six months due to a lengthy approval process and less than ten percent of the original design was implemented in the final product. Caen also commented that the original design was "too ambitious compared to what an N64 was able to deliver."

Critical
Superman was heavily panned, holding an overall negative score of 22.90% at GameRankings, and is often cited as one of the worst video games ever. Common complaints were directed towards the game's controls, graphics, and general gameplay. Superman's flying controls were heavily criticized by multiple critics for being unresponsive, sometimes requiring multiple button presses for taking off or landing.

Matt Casamassina of IGN rated Superman 3.4 out of 10, speculating that the developer had not "put forth any priorities for this title other than to finish it" and commenting that the game has a "rushed, careless feel." Casamassina states that this feel "overflows into its visuals," criticizing the inconsistent frame rate, excessive use of distance fog, and frequent clipping seen in the game's environments and objects. He also criticized the game's poor collision detection, abundance of glitches, and poor enemy AI. Casamassina concluded the review with "[Superman] is executed so poorly that it actually serves to butcher the reputation of the prominent action hero."

Joe Fielder of GameSpot regarded the graphics as "subpar, even for a first generation N64 game." Fielder 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. For a number of issues following the release of the game, the British and Australian Nintendo Official Magazine featured a tongue-in-cheek maze game presented by Lex Luthor entitled Lex Luthor's "Solve My Maze" after his words in the game's infamous "hoop" sections. The game also topped Gametrailers "Top 10 worst games of all time" as voted by its viewers.

PlayStation version
After the critical failure of the N64 version, Titus decided to completely redesign Superman for the PlayStation. The game received approval from Sony, but the license from Warner Bros. had expired and Titus was unable to secure a new one, resulting in the games cancellation in 2000. According to the games producer, Eric Caen, about 400,000 pre-orders were placed for the game, and the cancellation cost Titus a considerable amount of money. Playstationmuseum.com awarded the game four out of 5 stars.