[00:00]
Welcome to the Cartridge Archive, the show dedicated to chronicling the complete Nintendo 64
library, one cartridge at a time. I’m Jamie. And I’m Adam. Each episode, we’ll pull another game
from the shelf and explore its impact on Nintendo 64 history.
[00:30]
From beloved classics and hidden gems to forgotten curiosities and infamous disasters, no cartridge
is left behind. And along the way, we’ll examine each game’s story, development, legacy, collective
value, and the impact it left on the Nintendo 64’s library as a whole. Then we will put it through
the rigorous and totally patented 64-point inspection to determine whether it has what it takes to
become certified 64. So prestigious.
[01:00]
Welcome to another episode. We’re happy to have everybody here. Thank you for all the listens and
feedback we’ve gotten so far. We are ready this week to cover Jamie’s favorite game of all time.
Don’t do that to me. That’s not necessarily true, but it is one of the games of all time. And so we
are ready to… It is a game. It does exist in time. Yes. It is a game. Yes. It is a game. And
sometimes it doesn’t even feel like that. But it is the extremely infamous Superman 64.
[01:30]
What are your thoughts on this one? So they’re not positive. They weren’t positive back in the day.
And they continue to not be positive now. I’m really looking forward to doing this episode, not
because it’s my favorite game, but because I think we’re going to have some solid chit chat about
this one because it’s just universally reviled. And I don’t necessarily feel guilty about dumping on
this one. I will say right off the bat that this game is actually not called Superman 64.
[02:00]
Yeah. Everyone just puts the 64 on the end of it because it’s famously the Nintendo 64 version of
this game. But yeah, it’s actually not the title of this game. So they can’t even get the damn title
right. That’s how botched this game is. So I don’t think we should waste any time on this one. I
think you should just jump right in and give us the history as to why this game is as infamously bad
as it is. Did you just say there’s no time to waste? Because Superman says that every time you start
the game.
[02:30]
He does about 15 freaking times. All right, let’s get into the history lesson. Released in North
America on May 31st, 1999, followed by Europe on July 16th, Superman, the new Superman adventures
arrived during a resurgence in the character’s popularity. Superman, the animated series, was in the
middle of its successful television run. And Warner Brothers was eager to expand the Man of Steel
into video games.
[03:00]
French publisher and developer Titus Interactive secured the license after surprisingly little
competition, obtaining the rights to develop Superman games for the Nintendo 64, PlayStation, and
Game Boy. While the Nintendo 64 version would eventually become one of the most infamous games of
the generation, the project began with ambitions far greater than its reputation might suggest.
According to Titus co-founder Eric Kan, the original vision was an expansive open-world adventure
set across Metropolis.
[03:30]
Players would freely fly throughout the city, rescue civilians, battle iconic villains, and make
full use of Superman’s vast range of powers years before open-world superhero games became common.
However, shortly after development began, changes within Warner Brothers’ licensing department
reportedly led to increasingly strict approval requirements. Characters, animations, abilities, and
even gameplay mechanics required extensive review, slowing development considerably, and forcing the
team to repeatedly revise its plans.
[04:00]
Kan later estimated that less than 10% of the original design ultimately survived into the finished
product. Those restrictions also helped shape one of Superman’s most recognizable features. Rather
than allowing players to freely explore Metropolis, the story was rewritten so that Lex Luthor and
Brainiac trapped Superman inside of a virtual simulation. This provided an in-universe explanation
for the game’s abstract environments, floating structures, and heavy green fog, while also helping
disguise the Nintendo 64’s technical limitations.
[04:30]
Perhaps the game’s most infamous feature, the repeated ring-flying challenges, were never intended
to be the core experience. They reportedly began life as a simple tutorial mission, before gradually
becoming a much larger part of the game as other content was removed and redesigned. Development
continued for roughly two years under increasingly difficult circumstances. Former members of the
team later described shifting design goals, management challenges, and the constant licensing
approval process as major obstacles throughout production.
[05:00]
Nintendo even provided technical assistance late in development, in an effort to help bring the
project to completion. Despite those efforts, Superman released in 1999 to overwhelmingly negative
reviews, with critics citing awkward controls, repetitive objectives, and numerous technical issues.
Even so, the strength of the Superman license helped the game sell more than half a million copies
worldwide.
[05:30]
Following the Nintendo 64 release, Titus commissioned Blue Sky Software to develop a completely
redesigned Superman game for the PlayStation, rather than simply boarding the original. The new
version featured redesigned missions, improved mechanics, and removed the infamous ring sequences
entirely. However, before development could be completed, Titus lost the Superman license and the
project was cancelled. Prototype builds would eventually surface years later, offering a glimpse at
what might have been a second chance for the series.
[06:00]
Few Nintendo 64 games have generated as much discussion as Superman. While its reputation has been
largely defined by its shortcomings, its development tells a far more fascinating story of ambitious
ideas, technical limitations, and the challenges of adapting one of popular culture’s most powerful
superheroes into an interactive experience. Today, nearly three decades later, we’re revisiting one
of the console’s most controversial releases to find out whether Superman truly deserves its
infamous legacy,
[06:30]
or if there’s much more to discover beneath the cape. In short time, your fate will be sealed,
Superman. There’s no time to waste. Today, on the Cartridge Archive, Superman, the new Superman
adventures. All right, yep, so, Superman 64, definitely one worth talking about, not necessarily one
worth playing. Let’s jump right into the back-of-the-box quote. Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen have
disappeared. They’ve been kidnapped by the malevolent powers of Lex Luthor and Brainiac,
[07:00]
who have brought them to a virtual reality version of Metropolis. Superman must come to their
rescue. The Man of Steel must work through this virtual dimension and find a way to conquer the evil
masterminds that created it. Explore incredible powers of Superman firsthand as you battle to rescue
Lois from the clutches of Metallo, then attempt to free Jimmy Olsen from the steel grip of Darkseid.
Is it Darkseid or Darkseid? I thought it was Darkseid, but I don’t know.
[07:30]
Maybe rescue him from Darkseid. It’s up to you. Race into outer space to face Brainiac’s evil alien
technology. Above all else, destroy Luthor’s deadly dream of a virtual reality Metropolis. You
control the powers. You are Superman. All of the superpowers. Flight, heat vision, freezing breath,
super strength, and x-ray vision. Pick up and use any object as a weapon. Battle on land,
underwater, and in the sky against Metallo, the parasite, Darkseid slash Darkseid,
[08:00]
and Lex Luthor’s minions as you attempt to save Metropolis from doom. 14 alter… God, this is long.
14 alternating indoor slash outdoor levels. Both of them are fantastic. And up to four players
simultaneously, or two-player multiplayer modes. If you can find friends who want to play it with
you. Exclusive collector’s edition Superman comic book inside and scene. That was long. I looked it
up. It is Darkseid.
[08:30]
It says that the creator, Jack Kirby, who came up with the character, has always said Darkseid, and
it’s usually, if it’s said out loud in animated series, it’s said that. It says fans call it
Darkseid because we’re all fucking idiots. Well, I’m dyslexic, so I recognize that he just fucked
up, and I admire him standing by the original spelling all these years later. But yeah, I would have
called him Darkseid, but maybe it’s for copyright reasons, right?
[09:00]
Did you catch that last line in there? Exclusive collector’s edition Superman comic book in the box?
I did. I’d be interested to see. It’s got to be better than the game, right? I mean, we haven’t
talked about that yet, but I guess we should. So it’s probably time for the 64-point inspection,
right? Yep. Yep. Let’s get this execution on. This is a carefully crafted evaluation designed to
judge every Nintendo 64 game through a series of 10 tests. For each test, we’ll present the
evidence, make our case, and put it to a vote.
[09:30]
If the game passes the test, it earns 10 points. If it fails, it earns none. And if our opinions are
split, then the game will be awarded 5 points. Any game that earns 64 or more points passes the
inspection and receives our coveted certified 64 seal of approval. So with that said, that’s
probably not going to happen. And let’s get started. All right. Test number one, the memory pack
test. I’m sure there was something. Ah, yeah. Now I remember. Is this game still remembered today?
[10:00]
Or has it faded into obscurity? Would the average gamer recognize it in 2026? Sadly. Well, not
sadly, but yes. I mean, it is remembered. It’s not remembered for positive reasons, but it’s
remembered. Yep. It’s definitely remembered today. It’s infamously associated with things like fog
of war, awkward growing pains of 3D control. It’s just not remembered for positive reasons, right?
So, yeah, I think it has to pass this test.
[10:30]
You can look at any screen. I said this about Buck Bumble. You can look at any screenshot of this
game. If your first guess isn’t Superman, then it’s probably Turok because of all the fog. But it’s
iconic. It stands out. Like, you look at it and you’re just like, that’s the crappiest version of
Superman I could possibly imagine in video game format. I bet you that’s Superman 64. And I know
about Superman 64 because everyone knows about that game because everybody remembers it. So, I think
we both agree on this one, right? This has to be a pass. Yeah, that’s true. And I never played it. I
knew it to be terrible, you know, just it’s always been very infamous for not being a very, you
know, competent game.
[11:00]
It’s not very good. So, even so, like you said, I would see it and go, that’s Superman. That’s
Superman 64 or Superman, the new adventures of Superman, I guess is what it’s actually called. And I
knew that’s what it was, but I never played it. So, yeah, I think, you know, for better or worse,
the title of the test is the memory pack. Is it remembered? And it is, you know, even though it’s
not for great reasons. So, I did get to play this back when it originally launched. My friend Eric
picked it up.
[11:30]
And I remember at the time just going like, dude, this game is trash. This is a bad game. And he was
offended. He won’t admit this now. But he was upset that I didn’t like his game and I was dunking on
his game. And he would try and say like, no, it’s good. It’s good. And I remember like a week later,
he just never got talked about again. It’s just like, yeah, that was a miss. So, I felt bad kind of
yucking on his yum because, you know, these games were expensive. And he just got this new one. He
invited me over to play it. And I just dumped all over it. Even back then, I was able to point out
that this game was bad.
[12:00]
Did I know that it was going to be 30 years later, famously one of the worst games ever? No, I
didn’t. I didn’t quite clock it at that. But yeah, this game’s bad. It’s still bad. It always has
been bad. And we remember it for it. So, pass. Yeah, that’s what’s crazy. You have to go. And it is
terrible. Pass. That doesn’t sound like a positive thing. But that’s what the category is. So,
strangely, one for one. Eric, your favorite game ever. Pass. Get him. Test number two. The Rumble
Pack test. This is the Rumble Pack.
[12:30]
The coolest cinematic gaming experience there is. Does this game really take advantage of what made
the Nintendo 64 unique? Four-player multiplayer, analog controls, accessories, and other signature
Nintendo 64 features. So, again, I think we’re starting off with another pass on this one. This game
had four-player multiplayer. It used the Rumble Pack. It used the Memory Pack. And it actually did
really utilize 3D analog controls when it came to flying. Now, it controlled like you were flying a
fridge, but it really did do these things.
[13:00]
It had multiplayer. If you can find three people that were willing to admit that they knew you
enough to want to play this terrible game with you, it had three-player support. And it does work
with the Memory Pack to save memories that you probably don’t want to keep. So, I got to say pass on
this one. I’m coming out swinging for Superman, and this surprises me. But I made this test this way
for a reason, and now I’m paying the price for it. Yeah, a little bit of a crazy one because it does
feature some of those really big flagship features.
[13:30]
One thing that’s a little strange about it is that in the multiplayer modes, when you play four
players, you’re not Superman anymore. You fly around in like jets. Like you go around and do some
sort of objectives or whatever it is. But you are not Superman because, I don’t know, I guess maybe
because it can only be one Superman? Or I don’t know how that works. It’s virtual. There could be
more than one. Might be a licensing thing, yeah. It might just be polygons. So, they’re like, you
know what? We can make jets with less polygons. Yeah, so it is a little bit different style of play
in the multiplayer. But like you said, it checks a lot of the boxes.
[14:00]
And because it does, that’s a pass. Test number three, the expansion pack test. That is one powerful
piece of machinery. Does this game deserve an expansion, sequel, remake, or modern successor? Was
there enough here to justify a future beyond the original cartridge? For the most part, I’m going to
have to say no. I’m going to have to say this is likely a fail, which is weird because maybe it’s a
challenge of the Superman thing. He’s so powerful that it’s hard to make a convincing, this is why
he’s having trouble.
[14:30]
This is why these enemies are beating him up and he’s having trouble against them. But Superman has
historically not had the best luck with games. You can make a banger of a Batman game all day, I
guess because he’s mortal. But the majority of Superman games have not been good. There have been,
not necessarily sequels, but there have been other games and most of them have not been very good
either. So, it’s a weird one to say. But I think that for the most part, it’s gotten updated games,
but did it deserve them is a little bit of a challenge.
[15:00]
I think I would go with fail despite it having them because most of the sequels have not been very
good. I think the only times they’ve been mostly good is like fighting games. It’s like he’s in
Mortal Kombat versus DC Universe, which is slightly better. He’s in Injustice. More of a cameo
character than his own full-on appearance. Yeah, he’s in a Lego game that has a ton of DC
characters, and it’s better. He’s in Injustice, and it’s better. But if it’s a Superman game, I
don’t know how many more of those they need to make because those have not been very good.
[15:30]
So, I think, though it’s a little bit outside of the spirit of the does it have a sequel? I’d say
no. So, I’m just going to jump in here to make you feel bad. Fun fact, Scott on our team, the Lobo
Destroyo team actually worked on one of the Superman games that was shipped. So, that actually makes
Lobo Destroyo six degrees of Kevin Bacon’s sisters with Superman 64. So, I’m still voting fail. I
agree with you, but I just wanted to jump in. I was going to say, don’t tell Scott. Don’t make Scott
mad at me.
[16:00]
I didn’t know that. He’s a friendly guy, but yeah, you’ve pissed him off for sure as soon as he
hears this. All right, tell him to skip this one. I think most people skip Superman 64 just in
general, but knowing that we’re probably going to dump on this episode, they’re probably going to
tune in just to watch the train wreck. Yeah, true. I think it’ll still, even though it’s not good, I
think people will still listen and go, I got to make sure these guys also don’t like it. But, you
know, it was mentioned before that the game did have its struggles, but Titus did actually
commission a PlayStation port of the game,
[16:30]
and it had some changes, the first of which was removing all of the ring challenges, which are
famously terrible. Those were originally just supposed to be part of a training session, and it
became a main staple of the game. They pulled them out because they got, you know, a lot of
criticism for it. But true to most licensed properties, they actually lost the license before that
game was actually released, so the game was completely scrapped and never saw the light of day. So
technically it did deserve a sequel because it was getting a port, but it didn’t happen fast enough
and they lost the license, so it didn’t come out.
[17:00]
And, yeah, there have been other Superman media since then, and most of it better than this. But
Superman is a tricky IP to kind of bring into a video game scenario, so it’s definitely an uphill
battle. And my own bias for my team members working on certain titles aside, yeah, I don’t think
that this game deserved a sequel, remake, or expansion. So I would agree with you, and this is a
fail. All right, that’s two fails on that one. Test number four, the barrel roll test.
[17:30]
Do a barrel roll! Impressive, Star Fox. How impressive was this game for its time? Did it push the
boundaries of technology, gameplay, graphics, scale, or innovation? Uh, no. No, it pushed your
patience. It’s almost impressive how unimpressive this game is. The cut scenes are terrible. The
characters barely even move. They’re just like static models that stand there in these voids.
There’s actually, in the menu, you can pull up the story or the controls,
[18:00]
and it’s just a chunk of text that plays this weird da-da sound, and then it just says, like, some
moves in paragraph form. There’s no icons or image or anything like that. And you press next, it
goes da-da, and then gives you the next chunk of moves. Da-da! It does it a bunch of times. It’s the
exact same thing when you get to the story, too. It’s like, Lex Luthor did her thing. Da-da! And
he’s doing a thing, and you’re Superman. Da-da! And you’re just, like, hitting this button to get
through this. It’s just the most strained, forced thing. It’s like they loaded a text document.
Sounds like Law and Order. It’s got the da-da. It’s got, it’s like, it’s, I’ve got to move to the
next scene.
[18:30]
Da-da! Yeah. No, it’s just, it’s just, it’s bad. The plot is three sentences of nothingness, and the
descriptions of the moves don’t actually tell you how to really do them. They boast that you’ve got
all these Superman powers, but they don’t tell you how to use them or what they do. It’s just a
clunky, fail, fail, fail, fail, fail, fail. Well, I was going to say something slightly positive. It
did push the boundaries of gameplay and graphics. It just pushed them in the wrong direction, so it
did a poor job of things graphically.
[19:00]
It is, you know, of course, I’ve played it through, like, an HDMI upscaler on a modern TV, but it
looks very bad. The, you know, lines are all jagged. It’s almost unrecognizable as Superman. It
just, it doesn’t work very well. Gameplay controls are incredibly sluggish, which I guess will come
up again in a moment. Graphics aren’t great. It’s just not, I will say, one, slightly positive, the
scale is okay. When you take off and you’re flying, the ring, although they are incredibly
frustrating, the ring flying puzzles, they go on for much longer than they should,
[19:30]
because the world is pretty big. So, I guess it’s kind of a backwards credit. Impressive to a fault.
The world is so big that it gives you incredibly awful stuff to do for longer than you want to. If
it was a smaller world, you wouldn’t have to contend with that. But I will say, one thing is, if you
put it in easy mode, it no longer becomes a ring challenge. It’s just a fly from point to point,
which is a little easier. I did try it on all three difficulties, and it is, in general, just a
pretty tough play all around.
[20:00]
So, it’s got to be a fail. Test number five, the Joystick Gymnastics Test. Yeah! How well does this
game play today? Are the controls and cameras still enjoyable, or are they working against the
player? So, you already touched on this. This game plays like a model plane with a broken remote,
like in a hurricane while you’re drunk. It’s bad. It feels like flying a fridge than it does a
superhero.
[20:30]
And they did, you know, in a less cynical note, they had the deck stacked against them here. They
were trying to create satisfying controls for a character who can instantly fly in any direction at
any speed while remaining approachable with a single analog stick back in 1999. That’s difficult.
They failed miserably, but it was a difficult task that they tried to do. I don’t think it was due
to incompetence. There are some things that are not polished about this game, but I don’t think it’s
a reflection of the people that made it.
[21:00]
I will say, though, for all the complaints that you can have about the flying, I think the on-foot
combat sections are even worse. And there are many games that are nowhere near as ambitious as their
flying on the ground, and they have just completely dropped it on this one. It’s really ham-fisted.
It’s broken to the point where you find yourself stuck in a doorway or running into it in the wrong
direction constantly. Every archway or elevator, I was running into the walls. It’s just tepid, slow
combat.
[21:30]
And honestly, you just have to walk up to Superman to stand in front of something and then punch it,
and then it explodes or dies. And then he falls over, and then he has to get back up, and you have
to wait for him to get back. It’s just clunky, messy. It’s not engaging gameplay whatsoever.
Honestly, the flying rings is the better part of it, and that’s what this game gets ridiculed for.
Yeah, it’s pretty bad. Yeah, how well does it play today? Poorly. I don’t really have a lot to
elaborate. You hit a lot of the things I was going to say.
[22:00]
Are the controls and cameras still enjoyable? Not really. I think it’s just… Never were, never
will be. It’s a fail. You hit on a lot of stuff that makes a ton of sense, and I don’t really have a
lot to add to that. It just isn’t very good. That’s a fail. All right, moving on. Test number six,
the bum to the bass test. How good is the game’s audio? Does it have memorable music, iconic sound
effects, or the kind of soundtrack that sticks with you long after you put down the controller?
Iconic sound effect.
[22:30]
It does have the voice clip of Lex Luthor saying… In short time, your fate will be sealed,
Superman. Followed immediately by… Then there’s no time to waste. That’s it. Those are memorable
because they’re the only two things that really happened. I barely remember anything about the
music. It’s very short. It’s not very exciting. It loops over and over, and it’s pretty annoying.
That’s about it. There’s really not a lot of great things going on here, so I’d say it’s a fail.
Agreed. I mean, if the most notable thing is a voice line that’s used ironically, that’s not a good
thing.
[23:00]
You know, it’s sort of like the N64 version of the, all your bass belong to us, right? Like, it’s
funny for the wrong reasons. And that’s actually Clancy Brown’s voice. No way. The guy who did Lex
Luthor in the animated series. So if you’ve got him in your game, and you’re dropping the ball that
badly, that’s… I agree. Big time fail. Is it really? Yeah. That’s awesome. You know, he’s also Mr.
Krabs. Oh, he’s everything. Clancy Brown is a prolific voice actor. He’s the man.
[23:30]
He’s awesome. I saw some random TV show a couple months ago. I was like, that’s him. He is
everywhere. He was in Detroit Become Human. He was, I think, a major character in that, too. He’s in
all kinds of stuff, including a number of video games, but I had no idea. Yeah, a lot of Star Wars
stuff, too. Yeah, he’s actually been, you know, in a couple of characters, face characters in live
action Star Wars, and he’s done a bunch of voices as well, because his voice is iconic. He can do
some really great stuff. That is super awesome. But, yeah. Maybe I need to get him to sign my copy
of the Superman 64.
[24:00]
Have him say, well, what’s the line? In short time, your fate will be sealed, Superman. Yes, I want
that written on the back of my game in a indelible ink. At the very least, if he signs the game,
it’s going to go up in value. Yeah, well, it can’t go down. Test number seven, the Smash invite
test. Will this battler live up to expectations? Does this game have characters, worlds, music, or
ideas worthy of a place in Super Smash Brothers? So, Superman 64 has zero chance at being in the
conversation for anything to do with the roster of Super Smash Brothers.
[24:30]
Superman himself has been punching through popular culture for a very long time, just like Smash
Brothers tries to do for, what, like 90 years now or something like that. So, he absolutely is
iconic enough to make it into Smash Brothers. But, this test is about whether or not this game has
anything that deserves to be getting the invitation. And, this game absolutely does not. Let’s not
confuse the game with the character here. And, Superman is one of the most recognizable fictional
characters ever created.
[25:00]
He doesn’t need Smash. He’s above Smash. And, this game does not get in there. There’s just, there’s
no way. You’d have to spin this one in a big way to convince me otherwise. But, I’m going to fail.
That’s entirely fair. That’s a good way of looking at it. The character himself, he’s been in
fighting games. He’s been in a number of different properties. That makes a ton of sense. But, if
you do frame it as this version of Superman, this version of Superman is not great. And, so, it
makes perfect sense to me.
[25:30]
And, like you said, does Superman deserve to be in here? Sure. Does this version of Superman deserve
to be in anything? Not really. So, it’s got to be a fail. Moving on. Test number eight. The 101%
test. Oh, they are running up the score. Is this game worth fully completing? Are there extra
challenges, collectibles, and secrets worth the effort? No. That’s it. It’s, uh… Yeah. I did fully
complete it.
[26:00]
Now, full disclosure, I did cheat. I got a code that allows you to regenerate your health because it
really piles it on. It’s already pretty tough how brutal the enemies are. And, since it’s difficult
to control, you don’t do a whole lot with it toward the end. I did find, which I thought was kind of
cool, that you can go up to two levels from the end on easy. And then, to go to that next level, you
have to go up to the normal or whatever the difficulty level is. And then, to get to the last level
and the true ending, you do have to bump up to what they call Superman mode, which is the hard mode.
[26:30]
And I have to tell you that the payoff is incredibly unsatisfying. It is pretty awful. When you get
to the end, you finish it. And it comes out of the virtual reality world. And it says, well done.
You managed to get your friends out of this nightmare. But in the real world, Lex is still there.
So, you do all this. And at the end, it says, you didn’t do shit anyway, Superman. Why did you even
try?
[27:00]
Lex Luthor’s still out there. You’re a loser. And you’re like, I did all this? And it’s just… Is
it just in text? Yeah. Is it just, like, text that appears on the screen that says this? It zooms
out. It shows… It’s crazy. It shows the orb, whatever virtual reality thing that he’s in. It shows
Jimmy and Lois. And it shows Superman in Clark Kent mode, because they can’t know he’s Superman. So,
it’s just the three of them standing around looking normal. And then it pans off to the right. And
it’s just Lex Luthor standing there. And it says, well, he’s still out there. And you’re like,
you’re not even…
[27:30]
He’s in the same room as you. You didn’t do anything. I think maybe… And he’s still just standing
there. Maybe he laughs. I think maybe there’s an evil laugh. And then it goes… It rolls credits.
And then the credits roll endlessly. They just run through the credits from beginning to end. And
then they start over until you hit a button and exit. It is extremely unsatisfying. There’s no time
to waste. Wow. Yeah. Okay. Well, I’m glad I didn’t bother toughing it out. I will give the game
credit. It makes level skipping and health regeneration inputs for a little cheat code extremely
easy to do.
[28:00]
I don’t think I’ve ever had an easier to do cheat code. But I’ve also never really had a need to use
it as much as this game. Yeah, this game is tough. So, yeah. Knowing that the ending is as on brand
with the rest of the game is kind of endearing to a degree, I suppose. But I did not play this game.
I just played it on normal. And I did not make it all the way through. So, you just saved me a ton
of time. Thank you very much. So, yeah. Fail. One of the last levels was kind of interesting because
it seems like there’s so much to do.
[28:30]
And I think maybe they do that intentionally to make it last longer and be more difficult. But
you’re trapped in a train station. And all you have to do to finish the level is fly. And I just
flew past everything. Fly as far as you can completely to one end of the train station and it caves
in. You fly all the way to the other end and it caves in. And then you go back to the central area
and there’s a robot. Punch the robot a couple times. The ceiling gets busted open. You fly out the
ceiling. So, like, it seems like this level is huge. And if you just fly through everything and then
punch this robot a couple times.
[29:00]
So, you can finish the whole level in, like, two or three minutes. And it’s, like, one of the last
levels of the game. And then you get the extremely underwhelming Lex Luthor still out there. You
didn’t do anything anyway. Which is just such an odd ending. So, for sure, hard fail. Test number
nine. Wario’s Wallet. Oh, my God! Is this game worth the price of admission today? If you’re
spending modern collector money, are you getting your money’s worth?
[29:30]
So, according to price charting, the loose price on this one is $1,218 US. And complete in the box
with the manual, you’re looking at $96,12. For a clean eBay cart, that means you’re roughly looking
at about $16, give or take. It is not available on any retro services or virtual consoles. So, this
is the only way to play this gem of a title. So, it’s never been re-released. This is the only way
to play it. It’s cheap for a Nintendo 64 game as far as, you know, modern day prices.
[30:00]
And it is comically bad. So, get it if you want an ironically, infamously terrible game in your
collection. And I think that you can associate it with a Nintendo 64 in a negative light and then
find that funny. But if you want something to actually play, it’s legitimately not worth more than
five minutes of your time. And I can’t say in any fairness that I’d actually recommend buying it at
almost any price.
[30:30]
So, I’m going to say fail on this one. Yeah, from a collector’s standpoint, if it’s something you
have to have, at least it isn’t terribly expensive to pick up. But it is not a very good game. And
so, if it’s something where you want something you can spend some time with and enjoy, this probably
isn’t it. Even though it is relatively low. It is kind of crazy, the swing between loose and in-box.
That, you know, we’ve seen some of them where it’s three or four times the price. It’s almost ten
times the price to get it complete in-box. Well, it’s that collector’s edition comic book that comes
in the instruction manual, obviously.
[31:00]
That thing’s a banger. Oh, okay. Yeah, that could be. And I think maybe so many people got
frustrated and just threw the game away that there aren’t that many boxes out there still. Could be
a portion of it. But, yeah, it’s just, you know, for completion’s sake, if you want it, seek it out.
It’s not real expensive. But if you really want, if you’re not just trying to get a complete set,
this is not it. This is not what you want. I’d say it’s got to be a fail, even at a low price point.
Agreed.
[31:30]
All right, final round. Test number ten. The Nostalgia Goggles Test. Does this game genuinely hold
up today? Or is its reputation being carried by nostalgia? I am curious how you spin this one.
What’s your thought here? It does hold up today to what it has been known to be.
[32:00]
Unfortunately, what it is known to be is pretty poor. So, there is, it’s not nostalgia. It’s, I
don’t even know what you would, resentment? I don’t even know what you would call it. But people
look back on the game, but they do not look back on it fondly. It is the opposite of nostalgia. It’s
looking back at it and going, it’s probably not very good. And if you play it, you realize that you
are correct. So, I think it has to be a fail. It just didn’t do anything real groundbreaking except
for be. And I wanted to come in here and be like, no, it’s better than you think.
[32:30]
But it really just isn’t very good. So, it’s got to be a fail. I agree. It’s not nostalgia. It’s
nostalgia. It’s just. Nah, yeah. This game delivers on how poorly it delivered. And that’s what it’s
known for and what it will always be known for. And that’s a pile of rubbish. So, yep. Agreed. Fail.
It delivers on very little. Yeah. So, that is. Are you ready for the final score?
[33:00]
Yeah. How did Supes do? Surprisingly. Again, not completely awful. It has been a moment since we’ve
given it a pass on anything. But if you remember, first couple of categories were a pass. So, it did
ultimately get a 20. You almost had it. All right. I believe that up to this point, that makes it
our lowest scoring game thus far. And I think it is going to take quite a bit to beat that. And so,
it probably is going to be one of the lowest for a while.
[33:30]
We may be able to revisit this once we get a few more under our belt. Maybe we do a recap. And if
you are trying to keep track with us, there is a chart on the website. There’s a 64-point inspection
records page. I can’t remember what it’s called. But there’s a link to it at the top of the page.
And so, you can go back and revisit these. And if you happen to be listening to this sometime in the
future, go see if anything’s gotten lower than 20. I can’t confirm for sure. But I think it’s going
to be a tough score to undercut.
[34:00]
The Superman bar. This can be a record holder or the current record holder. And see if you can beat
that bar. So, it’s pretty low. So, it’s going to be hard to beat. But yeah. If this game got an
absolute zero, I would not have been surprised. But I think there’s more to it than just dunking on
it. There are some things here that have some merit. And, you know, that’s kind of the nature of
this test is to try and look at things not just out of a standard review score.
[34:30]
Kind of look at it a little bit more holistically. So, this game is remembered. And it did push the
Nintendo 64 as far as what it was trying to accomplish. So, got to give it props for that. And then
completely shit on it for everything else that it is. Yeah. It does have a legacy. It may not be a
positive legacy. But, you know, if it were purely a review of how good is the game, it’s not going
to do well. But when you do throw in things like, did it try to do something innovative?
[35:00]
It did. So, it’s not a complete and total loss. It’s just not much of a success either. So, now
let’s arrogantly move on to the Lobo learning section. In this section, we take a look at today’s
game through the eyes of an indie developer, an aspiring indie developer, myself, and see what
lessons we can learn from it decades later. What ideas are worth borrowing? What mistakes should be
avoided? What made this game work? And what might those principles apply to as far as modern day
game development? Lobo Learnings is brought to you by Lobo Destroyer, which is our own Nintendo 64
inspired 3D platforming adventure currently in development.
[35:30]
If you like the podcast and you’re interested in Nintendo 64 games, maybe give the game a look. It’s
over at LoboDestroyo.com. It’s L-O-B-O-D-E-S-T-R-O-Y-O dot com slash hard to spell. And you can find
all of those links and information, as Adam mentioned, in our show notes at the end of the episode
as well. So, yeah, please do give it a look and try to be nice to it, unlike I’m being to this game
right now. So, as far as the takeaway for this game, I don’t want to harp on any of the actual
elements of the game itself.
[36:00]
I actually want to look at it from an IP perspective. So, yeah, IP usage or intellectual property is
definitely a double-edged sword. In my day job, I deal with Warner Brothers, actually, and a couple
of other IP holders. I’ve touched on Superman very briefly, but not in any substantial way like
making a video game about him. But, you know, dealing with different licenses is one of the big
parts of my day job. And some IP holders are known for being very tricky.
[36:30]
And working with different companies, you’ll find that some are more difficult than others. Warner
Brothers have their moments, not necessarily with Superman, but maybe other popular IP that they
hold. I won’t say any more than that because I don’t want to get even more arrogant on this podcast.
So, Titus losing the IP after having a struggled launch and not being able to port it, that’s a
shame. You know, that’s a miss for them. The game wasn’t all that well-received and it’s still not
received well now. I just, all I can say is that I empathize when it comes to dealing with
intellectual property.
[37:00]
And I think this game suffered as a result. It’s pretty interesting when you look over time at how
many licensed games historically have not been well-received. Sometimes when you see that movie that
you loved as a kid, it’s hard to get the video game to live up to it or that TV show or that movie
or that book. So, it really has been just in the last several years that we’ve really started to see
these licensed games like Avengers and a lot of the Marvel games and Spider-Man.
[37:30]
You know, some of these Spider-Man games of the more recent era are incredible. But there were a lot
of lesser well-received games over the years. So, it really, it is not an enviable position to see a
company like Titus having to make games about Superman and RoboCop and have them be well-received.
Because it has been a very uphill battle, especially with a character as big and as well-known as
Superman. That’s a losing game. My Lobo lesson is if you’re going to make a game, do not this.
[38:00]
And it’s going to be better because this game is not very good. But again, joking aside, it
definitely was a big challenge. And the fact that they were able to ship anything is probably an
accomplishment, even if it’s not one that they’re necessarily well-known for. Fail. Oh, sorry. I had
to say it one more time. I thought there was another category. The Cartridge Archive was created by
Jamie Guy and is produced and hosted by Jamie Guy and Adam Jones. Our music is by the Mysterious
Breakmaster Cylinder.
[38:30]
Visit thecartridgearchive.com for more information. Or join our Discord. You can find links to both
of those at taptoad.me slash tcapod. That’s tap the number to add.me slash tcapod. You’ll find that
and all our other links in the show notes. More episodes of The Cartridge Archive are available
wherever you get your podcasts. And as always, there’s no time to waste. Oh, shoot. I forgot to do a
clue for the next episode.
[39:00]
Adam, can you play a sound effect from the new game? Just like throw any old sound in there that
represents what it is and see if people can guess it.