audience, that of 6 to 11-year-olds, rated the game as an 'A' title." All of this contradicted Superman 64s contemporaneous critical reputation, filled with claims of being one of the worst games of all time. Matt Casamassina of IGN suggested it was "executed so poorly that it actually serves to butcher the reputation of the prominent action hero". Casamassina speculated 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." Critics, such as those from Electronic Gaming Monthly noted the ruined potential of a game based on the Superman animated series, such as a "great story, interesting characters, plenty of villains", and fighting criminals in 3D landscapes. The multiplayer modes were a little more well-received than the single-player story-based mode, although issues of slowdown and difficulty controlling the space pod were noted. The controls were panned for being confusing and difficult. Commands for various actions were reported to either be unresponsive or not working consistently, such as flying, landing, and picking up objects. Tim Weaver of N64 Magazine complained that "the only way to stop flying is to crash into a solid object, preferably a wall", and "you always have to press forward to go forward, even if you're facing into the camera". Conversely, Nintendo Magazine System, the official Nintendo magazine of Australia, counter-argued complaints about the flying controls, reasoning it was simple if the player read the instruction manual. Other technical problems were reported to be commonplace, such as bugs, unfavorable camera angles, bad enemy AI, broken frame rates, clipping of environments and objects, and poor collision detection. AllGames Scott Alan Marriott derogatorily labeled the gameplay as a set of "foggy, empty outdoor levels and indoor levels that seem out of place". Some critics found the missions too easy, un-engaging and nonsensical, Hardcore Gaming 101s John Sczepaniak going as so far to call them "obscenely stupid". He and other critics also panned what was viewed as ridiculous-looking fights with enemies, Sczepaniak writing, "melee combat is slow, awkward and imprecise, leading to much flailing of limbs". The ring missions were labeled the perfect mixture of "monotonous and difficult" by Shaun Conlin of The Electric Playground due to their limited margins of error and time limits. Only a few reviewers suggested Superman 64s gameplay may have been good conceptually, Official Nintendo Magazine stating, "this