Developer: Kotobuki System Co. Publisher: Kemco Release: 12/88 Genre: Action
I have been a comic book fan my entire life. With that in mind any video game based on a comic book would get my attention. Unfortunately my interest was usually met with disappointment. While certain superheroes like Batman would fare better than others in these video game streets I do not think anyone has it worse than Superman. The Man of Steel has more hits than misses unfortunately. While everyone points to Superman 64 as one of the worst games of all time his NES outing is almost as bad. Words cannot describe my friend’s sadness when he received this game for his Birthday; you would have thought someone died in that house. Needless to say stay away from this game.
There is no overarching plot to Superman. Each chapter plays out as its own individual story with Clark investigating an incident by Perry. While it is not based on any of the movies at the time or comic books the game does have some deep cuts in terms of characters that only diehard Superman fans will get. That is about the only good thing I can say about the game as the rest of the package is a complete mess.
You begin every chapter as Clark Kent but a quick trip to a phone booth turns you into Superman. Sadly he is not really any more effective than Clark. As Superman you are more resilient but not invincible. Once your health drops to about 20% you turn back in to slow Clark and chances are you will die. It is laughable that as Superman you start out so weak which completely kills the fantasy. Upon completing each chapter your maximum health, attack, and defense increase making this less of an issue. The longer sections of the game do test this as the game’s collision and hit detection issues lead to an array of cheap hits.
The real reason you want to be Superman is to access his powers and unfortunately the game handles them terribly. You have all of the staples: flight, x-ray vision, heat vision, two kinds of super breath, super hearing and super spin. Each ability has a meter (except hearing) which limits their usage. And even then their intended to be used only in specific instances but the game does not tell you that. You should be able to heat vision everyone to death yet for most enemies it does nothing. This is incredibly lame and reduces Superman to a basic brawler and the game has issues with that.
The controls and overall feel are terrible. Both Superman and Clark have annoying floaty jumps. A simple leap to dodge a bullet sends you almost screen high. To limit yourself you have to punch midair which is wonky. Speaking of punching the hit detection is way off. When you throw a punch you are not connecting with the enemy but the space in front of them. Having to leave a foot of space to properly kill enemies is as dumb as it sounds.
Superman is a free roaming adventure with all of Metropolis open from the start. While Lois and jimmy Olsen will give you clues at the start of each chapter to progress the game you are free to explore at your leisure. While there are a large number of buildings you can enter most only have a few enemies to kill to possibly replenish your health or one of your powers. Some however drop upgrades to utilize your abilities longer. These are not mandatory of course but they do make the game less frustrating. Unfortunately there are other issues that plague the game.
I can respect the game’s attempt at replicating the feel of an investigative reporter out trying to get a story. But in practice it is annoying and a mess. You receive directions to go to certain areas to progress the game. Getting there is frustrating. Until your super flight meter is long enough you will have to walk everywhere or take the subway (hilarious). This leads to long boring treks across the country only to be told to go back further than you came. Even when you arrive at your destination it is often confusing if you are in the right spot. Speaking with civilians is useless as they have nothing interesting to say. The game is obtuse with its hints, possibly due to a rush job localization. Superman was impenetrable when I was young and remains so now.
Beyond the game’s design issues it just feels so anticlimactic. When you finally get to use Superman’s powers there is a deflated feeling of “that’s it?” Flight is the worst offender. You do not get to fly freely, you choose a destination and watch a brief cutscene and that’s it. There are cameos from Superman’s rogue’s gallery like Zod, Ursa, and Lex Luthor but you would be hard pressed to recognize them. The entire package feels like another title with the Superman license slapped on top.
In Closing
Superman is a bad game. This remains one of my biggest NES disappointments alongside X-Men. Superman has been relegated to obscurity and rightfully so. No one needs to play this. I did it so you don’t have to.
