Superman 64 Beta

Posted by Torrentstorm
August 27th, 2011

I may make the game sound too good but this game is very far away from it's release. If Titus would have kept working on this game the way it was then I'm sure the game could have been a loved one.

Screenshots and video(s) are at the bottom of this page.

How do I start this? Superman 64 is well known for being one of the worst games of all time however, what was initially planned could have given it well ratings and actually be classified as a good or even great Nintendo 64 game.

Proton Jon, somebody who is currently let's playing Superman 64 had an interview with Titus' founder; Eric Caen, regarding Eric, Titus and of course, Superman 64. In this interview, several questions regarding Superman's development stages are asked, such as why Superman isn't given all of his powers to start with, what content was cut and the rings. Eric Caen himself vaguely states that the reason Superman 64 is so bad is because of the licensor.

Quote:

Quote content originally posted by: Eric Caen

Eric: The main issue was working with the licensor. They caused us so much trouble. Also our design originally was too ambitious compared to what an N64 was able to deliver…

After playing through an early version of Superman 64, I can understand his answers. I'm a fan of Superman 64 but I do know how horrible it is. I feel really bad for the people that had to make game guides for this game. Superman 64, what started out as a bad ass game where you can beat up rhinos and fight Bizarro became a game like this? That is just ridiculous.

When it comes to the controls, I think the developers had a bit too much in mind, every button on the N64 controller can be used, I think their worst option was using the D-pad as a camera control. I remember how stupid superman looked when fighting, this version can be a bit better actually. In this version, you get to chose which one of the seven combat attacks he has. Each C-Button has one combat attack, you can even combine C-up + C-right and C-down + C-left for more powerful moves. Even in air there's another combat attack, C-up + C-right in air will equal a combination of punching and kicking.

What it really seems like is that Titus were forced to completely remake the game one month before release. There are no rings, none of the stupid metropolis missions exist in the early version. And since the metropolis missions seemed very quickly made, it would make sense that they had to add them in the final stages of development.

A common problem with Superman 64 is how common glitches can be. In this version, glitches do still exist but it's actually less glitchy than the retail. Also, remember when flying and you'd always get stuck? That rarely happens in this version.

The game has a multiplayer function, but it doesn't work. Once you have the multiplayer game start, the screen goes white. Which is a shame because it would have been interesting to see the differences from the final and early versions of the game, all the available maps seem to be the same "Town, Ship, Subway".

As for the story, the game doesn't really have a story, the back of the box does though.

"Lex Luthor and Brainiac have joined forces and paralysed Metropolis with a deadly Kryptonite fog. Metallo is on the rampage and Lois Lane has been kidnapped. And if that weren't enough, LexCorp has just announced the release of the LexoSkell-5000, a technology advanced battle suit that rivals even the powers of Superman. How will Superman save the day? It's up to you, because you are Superman."

Guess Titus weren't lying about the kryptonite fog. Which may be why this game has a bunch of kryptonite generators everywhere.

Superman's powers? Right off the bat, on Superman's first mission in the game, you are given his heat vision. Now of course, you have to collect the power ups to refill your powers, some levels have them all over the place and some levels don't. They are limited in some levels for specific reasons e.g. they may want you to use your powers to finish the level but they want you to find it before going right to the end of the level.

One thing that actually shocked me was how they could remove the mission objectives screen. In the early version, at the start of a mission, text on the screen will let you know what your objectives are, once you've completed an objective, the objective screen get's shown again with a check next to your completed objective. Along with that, you can pause the game at any time to view all your objectives, something Superman 64 really needed.

My final view of the game; This game is really awesome. I really enjoyed playing through this game. I was stuck on a level for four hours before figuring out that you can't even beat it, yet I enjoyed it all. This game is really impressive, Titus did some great work on it. Shame on the licensors, they pretty much ruined all chances Titus had to make a game that could have won game of the year awards. This is one of the few games I truly enjoyed. If I were to rate this, I'd give it 10/10. I would have loved to play the final version of Superman 64 without the trouble the licensors caused.

Listed features are (From the back of the box):

The first real time, fully interactive, fully destructible 3-D environments.

All of the superpowers -- Flight, Heat Vision, Freezing Breath, Super Strength, and more.

Pick up and throw cars, boulders and debris. You can use anything at your disposal.

Battle on land, underwater and the sky with Metallo, The parasite, Darksied and Luthor's minions as you attempts to save the city from doom.

16 levels up to 4 players something about graphics, etc.

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