However, one of the highlights of the event has long been the early hours of the morning devoted to speedrunners who have mastered some of the worst games ever made. This block – affectionately known as awful games done quickly – proves that some truly bad games are way more entertaining when they’re beaten really fast. The highlight of this year’s awful games done quickly block was undoubtedly headstrong1290’s run of Superman 64.
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If you are one of the many fortunate gamers who has never played Superman 64, you first need to know that it might be the absolute worst game ever made. This maligned take on the man of steel sees Superman participate in a kind of virtual reality game organized by Lex Luthor. As boring as that sounds, it gets worse once you realize that the whole virtual reality angle was conceived as an excuse to cover up for the fact that developer Titus Software was batting way out of their league with the development of this game. They simply didn’t have the programming knowledge needed to make their ambitious plans for the game come to life. Speedrunner headstrong1290 elected to play the game on easy mode, which thankfully removes the need to fly through rings. Apparently, that would have added almost an hour of misery to the run’s total time. That doesn’t mean the playthrough was smooth sailing, though. Indeed, this almost 40-minute run of the game really is arguably the best way to experience one of the lowest points in video game history. We’re particularly amazed by the villains who resemble shadows with guns, level skipping glitches that require players to do little more than walk through locked doors, a subway level filled with hostages you don’t actually need to save, and Superman using his ice breath to stop tornadoes. It’s a stunning spectacle of awful decisions that headstrong1290 navigates with amazing ease.
