Superman in Games

This article was written by Saygah Kev, if you enjoyed his take on the man of steel in video games, go follow him on Twitter (@Saygah)

RetroBoyJon

Great Caesar’s ghost?!

My first exposure to Superman was the original 1978, Oscar nominated movie, starring the revelatory Christopher Reeve. It blew my mind.
I have been fascinated with Superman ever since and have never understood those who say he is “boring”. Superman is the most powerful and respected of all the DC heroes and accordingly, his stories are the grandest, most epic, the most human and the most philosophically interesting in all of comics.
That said, he also turned into a tree, murdered endangered whales and only the law stopped him from shagging his cousin. I feel that his games often caught this second, less flattering, depiction of the man of steel. But that didn’t stop me, or millions of other fans around the world, from playing Superman games on every format and system imaginable.

It is regrettable then, that it is impossible to talk about the myriad of Superman games without the conversation being drowned out by jokes and hot-takes for Superman on the Nintendo 64. The game’s infamy is legendary to the point of redundancy. We don’t need to talk about.
Instead, I’d like to take you on a journey through my personal recollections of Superman games, from the perspective of a Super-Superman fan.

Red Superman?! [Superman Arcade, Taito]

The first Superman game I played was the 1988 arcade game. I remember my throat burning from all the smoke of the older kids as I followed what I thought must have been an auditory hallucination – the John Williams’ Superman theme. There it was, the two-player upright cab decked out in blue. I had finally found a game that was better than Golden Axe. Turns out I was wrong.

Before I could load my 10ps, I was frozen by the most confusing of sights – a Red Superman?! Player 2 controlled a Red Superman! I had so many questions. I couldn’t wait any longer – I had to know!

The game is a standard affair for the time, scrolling left on foot, through the sky, or flying straight up. Punch, kick and heat vision are Kal El’s standard attacks, perfect for tackling the generic jobbers that make up the enemies in the game. Considering the game features a new villain, there is no excuse for this cast of Kamen Rider-rejects. A serious lack of imagination or lack of access to the, at this point, 40+ years of comics history, are the only way this could have happened.

As well as the standard attacks, Superman also has a ball shaped Sonic Boom that would make Guile jealous. Why this was used instead of another one of his numerous super-powers (Super-hypnotism? Super-weaving, anyone?), most obviously his freezing breath, is beyond me.

Despite being decidedly average, the game features nice clear graphics and the excellent John Williams’ main theme from the movie. These two factors were enough to keep me putting coin after coin into it, and kept me coming back day after day. But it was the simple addition of vertical movement that made me feel as if anything was possible. You could fly whenever you wanted. Just like Superman.
Plus I was sure that if I just got through one more stage, the mystery of the Red Superman would be cracked wide open and I could report the truth. Just like Clark Kent. Yeah. I was an idiot fan boy even at a young age.

Super Rating: 3/5 Kryptomites

Faster than a speeding bullet?! [Superman: The Man of Steel, Tynesoft]

I was excited to play Superman on my C64, the clear plastic tape case smudged by my sweaty fingers as I fought the wind on my way home. I kept looking at the screen shots on the back. I’m still mad about it today – they used pictures from the Atari ST and Amiga versions to fool young me into parting with my hard-earned pocket money.

While the game is okay, with both side scrolling and forward scrolling (Space Harrier style) stages, it takes forever to load. And the game needs to load multiple times per play.
I tried to make the most of it, surrounding myself with a pile of comics and a ploughman’s lunch, I really did. But the the waits killed any momentum the game had. According to Wikipedia, Zaap64 awarded the game 39%. I wish I had known that at the time.

Super Rating: 1/5 Kryptomites

Recharged by the Sun?! [Superman, Sunsoft] [Sunman, Sunsoft]

I recall seeing pictures of Sunsoft’s Superman (also subtitled “The Man of Steel” for it’s Virgin/PAL release) in magazines before it came out in 1992. I was excited. I had been amazed by how the SEGA Megadrive had handled the home version of my favourite game, Golden Axe, and how it had bought Michael Jackson into 16-bit-life in the Moonwalker game. It was two of the greatest things in the universe coming together. SEGA and Superman.

The reviews were published before I got to play the game and the middling reaction didn’t slow my enthusiasm.
Sunsoft’s Superman plays like every other mediocre platform game of the era. You guide Superman through waves of generic robots to the repetitive beat of uninspired music. A crime when you consider the Rogue’s Gallery of Superman and the cultural impact of John Williams’ theme. Kids in Peruvian jungles who have never seen our civilisation know two things – Coca-Cola and John Williams.

Where this game fails the hardest, is the use of Superman’s trademark powers. He does not fly. He cannot even leap buildings in a single bound. In fact a lot of the enemies fly and hover around the hight of the apex of Supe’s jump, making avoiding them impossible. To use his powers, such as heat vision or super-strength, Superman has to collect icons representing those powers. So he can only use them one at a time – he’s not Ultra Boy?!

Unlike a games such as Contra or Castlevania, where enemies drop a number of power ups and you’re free to choose which ones you continue with, often Superman requires a certain power to progress. So they are not so much power ups as they are the only way to progress.

My final complaint is that the Superman in this game is too fragile. He is supposed to be indestructible. While I am willing to accept that the green lasers are Kryptonite lasers, those small white pellets the robot enemies shoot deplete Kal El’s energy too quickly for the game to make you feel like you’re controlling Superman.
(No, they can’t be White Kryptonite bullets. White Kryptonite was established, in Adventure Comics in 1960, to only harm plant life. While it can kill plants from most worlds known to Superman, he was unafraid of and unaffected by it. I warned you I was a fan boy.)

All of that said, I have still played an ungodly amount of games of Superman on the Mega Drive. It was the quickest fix for a Krypton-junkie such as myself, for many years. And it was another drug I’m sure PSA Superman would have warned me away from, if he had known.

Super Rating: 2/5 Kryptomites

As an aside, one of my most prized games from my collection is an awesome Superman Chinese bootleg. While the game is identical to the original, the box sleeve has been made to look as if the game ties into the 1987 movie; The Quest for Peace. I’d really like to know more about this crazy cart. As far as I am aware, the movie did not get an official Chinese release, but bootlegs of both the movie and the Mega Drive would be widely available by the mid 90s.

My other most prized game is another Superman bootleg game, the amazing Sunman from Sunsoft on the NES. Due to be released in 1992 as Superman, there was a disagreement between DC and Sunsoft that saw Sunsoft loose the rights to the license. Supes’ likeness was changed into “Sunman”, presumably named after the company itself, but it was never released. The almost complete game later made it’s way onto the internet and then into the hands of collectors via what I can only assume is Kryptonian science.
Despite being a little rough, due to being unfinished, this is a great NES game. It is very similar to both Sunsoft’s Batman games, as well as the ’88 arcade game. The graphics and sound are appealing and Superman controls well. There is a good variety of stages and Superman can fly any time you like, with no collectables or power meters required. The best Superman game so far!

Super Rating: 4/5 Kryptomites

Over my dead body?! [The Death and Return of Superman, Sunsoft]

It seems to be quite common in modern comics fandom, to really misjudge and dismiss The Death and Return of Superman. Max Landis’ interpretation, with over 3.4 million views on Youtube, appears to be taken as gospel by many modern readers. However, those of us who bought the issue with the black armband (yes, I wore mine in public), seem to recall events differently.

The story ran from 1992 – 93 and, unbelievably for the time, told the story of the death, the world without, and resurrection of Superman. It was an emotional and formative experience for many young comics fans such as myself.
But there is a detail that modern comics historians confuse (this ties into the game, stick with me!), that those who lived it recall differently. See, we all knew Superman was coming back. There was never a question of this story “cheapening” or “ruining” death in comics. From the moment he died, we all knew Kal El was coming back. The mystery and the hook was which one of the 4 Supermen was the real Superman!

With this question burning in my mind and in my heart, I poured over the screen shots of the upcoming DaR game, desperate to know more. Could we really get to control each of the Supermen? Was it really going to be an arcade experience? And I prayed to Rao that the SEGA version was going to be better than the SNES version. That’d show my Nintendo loving friends!

I had to wait until 1995 to get my hands on the Mega Drive version. By then, the comic storyline had wrapped up and we all knew how it ended (spoiler alert; amazingly). But I was still hyped up for the game because it was Superman in one of my favourite genres, the side-scrolling beat ’em up.

Already the game is disappointing because it is only single player and you cannot select which of the Supermen you wish to play as, freely. To me, that should have been on the design docket, day one.
The pace is slow as you slog forward through enemies that seem to take forever to defeat, while dealing enough damage themselves, to make Superman feel weaker than Skate from Streets of Rage. This is another game that is not empowering. While I can applaud the attempt to stick to the comic storyline, it just does not work at all. None of scenes pop visually and the sound is a mess. The SNES version is slightly better, but still a fatal dose of K-radiation.

I feel that this is the Superman game that really deserves the scorn of DC and games fans. This was a bigger disappointment and left a darker stain than Superman 64 ever could. Yet, due to scarcity, the cartridges of the SEGA version can command ludicrous sums on the second-hand market. Do yourself a favour and make sure you try this one out before you buy it. I wish I had.

Super Rating: 1/5 Kryptomite (and 1 Broken Heart)

You must defeat Kal El to stand a chance?! [Justice League Task Force, Sunsoft]

That same year, 1995, the Mega Drive was also graced with the one-on-one tournament fighting game, Justice League Task Force. While not strictly a Superman game, it had Supes on the roster and is from my favourite genre, so deserves a mention.

I was surprised that this game existed at all. Most games, I understand how they get green-lit, but I remember thinking; “Which madman decided to risk their cash creating my dream game?” It was, and remains, a perfect pairing for me. Like Lois and Clark. It is a shame then this is another decidedly average title.

It’s no Street Fighter, but by late ’95 I felt like I had already conquered that beast so would have accepted something different. Apart from the roster and great voice samples, this is identical to every other low-rent fighting game that tried to ape Capcom’s success. That hasn’t stopped me from putting an impossible number of evenings into defeating Darkseid and my robot clones.

Super Rating: 3/5 Kryptomites

More powerful than a locomotive?! [Superman: Man of Steel, Atari]

An early Xbox title in 2002, this game caught my eye for the fantastic visual treat of being able to play as if you were in an episode of the animated TV show. Complete freedom to fly around a retro-futurism inspired Metropolis! I was tempted to purchase an Xbox to play this game alone, despite living well below the poverty line at the time. I was cleaning hospital theatres overnight to keep myself in comics (and rent).

Fortunately, I did not buy that Kryptonite-green gaming machine. While not the worst Superman game on this list, it was another disappointment. I did not actually play this one until I purchased it second hand in 2008.

The main issue this game has are the controls. It is not very often that you get a game that is actually almost unplayable, but this is one of them. Any sense of freedom and power the game might actually impart is stolen away by a perfect storm of poor controller layout and unresponsiveness. If an option to rebind the controls existed, then you might be able to suffer through, but no.

If you actually dare to struggle on, as Superman would never give up, you’re presented with a perfect example of what most of these games wrong about the Man of Steel. Controlling Superman should make you feel powerful. More powerful than a locomotive! A few missions in and you are tasked with catching up to a speeding train to save it.

There is a certain feeling of having completely missed the point, as you soar through the skies as fast as the game will allow, the doomed train slowly pulling away from you….

Super Rating: 1/5 Kryptomites

I play for higher stakes?! [Superman Shadow of Apokolips, Atari]

As if to balance the Xbox Super-disaster, Atari also published a Superman game that same year, for the PS2. I had chosen a PS2 over an Xbox, in order to keep playing my PSX games, so was glad to be able to experience a next-gen Superman title.

Similar to the Xbox game, this one also takes it’s cues from the animated series but instead of large open areas, opts for a traditional level structure. Superman can fly freely around these levels and they feature plenty of open skies to explore so the feeling of freedom and possibilities is retained. The stages feature a variety of objectives, including fighting enemies and rescuing people. So far, so good!
Superman has his classic powers at his disposal and feels robust enough to be “super”, while battling the conceit of weapons from Apokolips which can (canonically) hurt him. Add an appealing graphical style and acceptable sound and you’ve got a good game. Starring Superman. Huzah!

Another point in this game’s favour is that it features a number of cheats. If you don’t think Superman is powerful enough, you can make him even more powerful and still enjoy the game as Kal because the cheats do not allow you to skip past any of the “save the people” objectives.

There are two negative points I will make about Shadow of Apokolips. Firstly, there are no unlockable extras of note. No costumes or Zod or Supergirl or anything. That’s a shame when some PS2 games have some outstanding extras, such as Indiana Jones and Han Solo featuring as secret characters in Mercenaries. Secondly, as was law back in 2002, this game features stealth bits. As Clark Kent. A cool idea but really has no effect other than slowing the pace of the game unnecessarily.

A great Superman game and a good PS2 title, well worth the small amount it goes for these days.

Super Rating: 3/5 Kryptomites (4/5 with the cheats on)

WRONG?! [Superman Returns, EA]

Delayed to coincide with the DVD release of the movie, as it was not finished when the movie landed in cinemas, this is a fascinating mess. I’m still disappointed that the PC version was cancelled because modders would have fixed it and there is so much potential in Superman Returns.

I loved the Superman Returns film. It was everything a Superman film should be. By holding true to the previous Reeve movies, there was no dull retread of his origin, picking up as if it hadn’t been most of my life without a new Superman film. To say I was excited for the tie in game … would be a lie.

I recall reading about the game and being interested but, by 2006, movie tie in games had earned the reputation of being awful. So a movie tie in that couldn’t even get itself out in time for the movie? I did not expect much. Reviews upon release in November confirmed my suspicions so I waited and picked up Superman Returns for my PS2 pre-owned, in January. Presumably so kid got it for Christmas and cried.
By this point, the Xbox 360 was out and the PS2 version of this, and other, game(s) were seen as the inferior ports, much like the Mega Drive and Master System, some fifteen years prior. So I adjusted my expectations even further downward.

With a huge 80 square-mile map of Metropolis to roam and characters from Superman’s rich comic history as well as the cast of the movie, there had to be something there, though, right?
While it is unfinished, this game is an amazing experience. It even has the John Williams theme once again!

Superman has all of his classic powers, including invulnerability; instead Metropolis has the life bar. Great twist that actually makes you feel and think like Superman during game play. Careless laser-eyes is not an option! As well as fighting a variety of robots, monsters and classic villains, Supes also has to contend with tornadoes, meteors and the like.

There aren’t a great number of unlockables, but you can play as Bizarro, destroying Metropolis against the clock or just messing around with freeze vision and heat breath. It am terrible!
The only challenge this game presents, is fighting with itself, getting the thing to work. Being unfinished, there are bugs and glitches everywhere that will prevent you from continuing, forcing you back to your last save point. The most interesting of these bugs relates to ambulances.

Metropolis is supposed to be a living city that reacts in real time to the Super Heroics, or lack thereof, happening moment to moment. Violence spawns police cars and fires spawn fire trucks to help Superman save the day. Injuries don’t spawn the necessary ambulances in the PS2 version This means that, when you are required to deliver injured civilians to an ambulance to advance the stage, there often isn’t one.

The most efficient and least stressful way of finishing Superman Returns on the PS2 is for Supes to carry an ambulance with him at all times. This is as amazing and as ridiculous as it sounds. If you’ve put poor Grandma in the back and the mission stage is over, don’t forget to use the Ambulance to batter a giant robot with. There are no penalties for doing so. I love this game.

Super Rating: 3/5 Kryptomites

Kneel before Zod?!

There have been many other games featuring Superman, of wildly varying quality, in the years since. I continually go back to Justice League Heroes, for the amazing comic-book story and satisfying combat. I’ve spent hundreds of hours under the tutelage of Superman in the rapidly aging-into-irrelevance DC Universe Online. And I’ve fought for the glory of the Superman Empire in the slightly disappointing Injustice.

But I feel like my personal odyssey through Superman games ends with Superman Returns on the PS2. It was the last Superman game I experienced at the time and for what I think of as the last great console.

I couldn’t tell you what modern gamers are into or what they think of the Champion of Truth, Justice and the American Way. I’m old and out of touch, replaying the same games from my youth to recapture some of that lost magic.
But I do know that Superman would be saddened at how some gamers treat each other today.

And if recent portrayals of Superman in movies have told us anything, it’s that when Superman gets sad, he goes apeshit and kills everyone. Please don’t make Superman sad.
All it takes to be a gamer is to declare oneself a gamer. Let’s treat each other with respect and make being a gamer a badge of honour. A badge we can wear proudly on our chests, a badge we made mean something by leading through example. I leave you with the words of Jor El;

“You will give the people an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you, they will stumble, they will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun”