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 Superman 64 Creator: Titus Software Genre: Action/Adventure Players: 2 ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) Rumble Pack Compatible
Review #1 Performance points: 1.2 The game's premise involves Lex Luthor capturing Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, and Professor Hamilton, and holding them captive in a "Virtual World." Of course, it's up to Superman to save them. Let's get something straight, you won't like this game no matter who you are. The thing that appalled me the most were this game's hideous graphics. "The Man of Steel" looks very jagged due to poor polygon smoothing. The environments are VERY repetitive to say the least, the textures are poorly detailed, and water effects are a joke. I thought that maybe Titus forgot to mention RAM Pack compatibility in their manual. So I removed my Jumper Pak and stuck the RAM pack in. I almost fainted when the graphics were still the same and I was trapped for a whole weekend with this thing. First-gen games like Mario 64 and Pilotwings 64 outclass this game immensely. I tried to compromise. OK, so the graphics are bad. How about gameplay. Gameplay involves completing regular missions and then flying through rings ( Starfox 64 mean anything?) that direct you to a problem. The situations range from blowing twisters away with your bad.... err freeze breath to killing bad guys who are in the path of a dumb skateboarder. The controls are so unresponsive that you'll probably end up thinking that your controller is broken. Collision detection needs major fixing, too. All of Superman's super powers besides flying (X-ray vision, Freeze breath, Heat Vision) need power-ups and eventually run out. And when you pan around with the game's camera, you can see Superman's ugly mug. SM64 was likely rushed out way before it was done. Sound is below average and the music loops over and over. And the few voice-overs that the game has are repeated too frequently and sound nothing like the show's. SNES games had slightly better sound quality. Multiplayer has you in these hovercraft that look a lot like Forsaken's and you can choose from a standard deathmatch mode or a race mode. In race mode, one player flies and makes rings and the other player has to fly through them. Deathmatch mode is a Forsaken rip-off. It's basically the same thing except you only have a mine and a missle power up. You can't go 720 degrees, only 360. This "game" is definitely one of the worst if not THE worst game I ever played. If you ever see this game, fly away from it at light speed. It's a bird, it's plane, no it's a blue, red, and yellow, flying piece of $#*@ Ratings are scaled 1-10. 1 being worst, 10 being best. Graphics-1.2 Controls-1 Sound-2 Replay Value-2.1 Fun Factor-1 Overall- 1.2 The Above Article was written by Kenny Ourso (kourso@bellsouth.net). Review #2 Graphics Unfortunately, Superman is not saved by its eye-popping graphics. The game has this very rushed, careless feel about it that overflows into its visuals. In a smothering field of fog sits Metropolis. Superman can fly up into fog or down into fog. Straight ahead, meanwhile, awaits more fog and behind, good old fog. Amazingly enough, all of this fog does little to tame the title's jittery, sometimes slideshow-like framerates. Honestly, there are occasions where the framerates drop so low that the game becomes nearly unplayable. And it's not as if all of Nintendo 64's power has gone to animation routines. Superman and friends feature an estimated 20 frames of animation between them. Punching is done with two or three frames, while flying eats up four or five. Everything -- and we do mean everything -- looks very robotic and unconvincing. The animated series of which this game is based on will never be known for its top-quality animation, but compared to the game it looks like a multi-million dollar Disney feature film. Clipping also plays a major part in this "virtual Metropolis." Maybe it's because Superman is in a virtual reality world, but everything from trees to buildings and enemies clips, especially when the Man of Steel is up close and personal. Top everything off with the fact that the game runs in constant letterbox mode and we think we have a winner -- er, loser. This is not a visually striking game. The only thing moderately good we can think to note about it is that it's not blurry. Sound The sound samples in Superman are actually very well done. The problem is that there are only a handful of them. In the beginning of the game we hear Lex Luthor say, "In short time your fate will be sealed, Superman." The level begins and Superman says, "Then there is no time to waste." That sounded pretty good, we say to ourselves. Then the next level kicks in and Superman says, "Then there is no time to waste." It's at this point that we begin to wonder what the hell is going on. The next area kicks in and the Man of Steel says -- you guessed it -- "Then there is no time to waste." This also happens whenever a player dies. Flying up to the limits of the sky, on the other hand, gives us a whole new sound sample of Lex Luthor laughing. This is meant to mean that Superman cannot escape the virtual reality world, no doubt. The music in the game is doable, though it does become more and more repetitive as levels progress. It's obvious that sound effects and music were not one of Titus' main priorities for Superman. Now that we think about it, though, we're not sure if the developer put forth any priorities for this title other than to finish it. COMMENTS Having grown up with the Man of Steel, Superman for Nintendo 64 is a huge, whopping disappointment for me. In fact, the game is so all-around poorly executed that it's downright offending to people like myself who have enjoyed the comic books, movies, television shows and more based upon the America icon. Not only is this sub-par effort one of Nintendo 64's worst games, it serves as even more proof that it takes more than a solid license to make a solid game. With horrible control, unforgivable framerates and more bugs than can be counted, Titus should be absolutely ashamed of this awful game, and the company should be doubly ashamed for pissing all over such a beloved license. Do not buy this piece of garbage. --Matt Casamassina The look on Matt's face as he so desperately tried to make Superman a fun game was all it took for me to conclude that there were major problems with his idol's first N64 title. He would toss the controller in frustration and after a moment's contemplation, he'd pick it up and play again as if it couldn't possibly be that bad. After three or four rounds of Superman soul searching, I snatched the controller away from him like you would snatch a bottle of liquor from an alcoholic friend. Having already sworn off of the Superman game, I can only concur that this is one of the most frustrating videogame experiences in the history of the world. --Aaron Boulding The Above Article was written by Wil Hatchel (whatchel@Quintrex.com). |