Superman (1987)

""Haven't you seen the movie, Superman?" Yeah, I did actually, and it's nothing like this garbage!"

- The Angry Video Game Nerd

Superman is an action-adventure video game based on the DC Comics superhero of the same name, developed and published by Kemco (the same company who also did Spy vs Spy Nintendo ports) in 1987 to 1988 for the NES.

Plot
Superman must save Metropolis from Lex Luthor and a gang of criminals that were exiled from Krypton.

Why It Doesn't Look Like a Job for Superman

 * 1) Poor graphics that make Superman and some other people look like little kids and telephones as big as desks.
 * 2) Superman's powers are limited. You have to collect icons in order to use his abilities.
 * 3) Superman's X-Ray vision makes things visible in this game. The only excuse for this was that Lex Luthor lined every building in Metropolis with lead.
 * 4) Superman is pathetic in this game. In the comics, movies, and shows, Superman displays great feats of strength and invulnerability, such as immunity to guns and other attacks. In the game, bullets harm Superman, it takes two shots from Superman's heat beams to defeat a regular human, and his punches are weak, taking several to beat up one regular enemy.
 * 5) Flying doesn't exactly work as advertised. Sometimes he just flies up, then flies back down at the screen he was on. Given this is Superman we're talking about, it doesn't make any sense.
 * 6) Superman can only fly to certain areas, (see WIS #5) and some areas are only reachable by riding the subway! That's right, Superman has to ride the subway!
 * 7) *He cannot ride the subway until receiving a pass from Jimmy Olsen in the second mission! Strange that Clark would not already be carrying a pass, being a traveling news reporter.
 * 8) *While on the subway, Superman is completely out of scale with the other passengers, as well as the train itself, which are much larger than him. He looks like a toddler compared to them!
 * 9) The Daily Planet is misspelled as "Daily Planets".
 * 10) Talking to people is mostly pointless. The only person worth talking to is some guy who gives a password to continue the game.
 * 11) A lackluster control setup. For example, up is jump, and down goes through doors.
 * 12) Just like Castlevania II, the passwords to help continue the game are way too long.
 * 13) Poor music, with the North American release of the game not even using the Superman theme, instead borrowing the main theme of an RPG game "Indora no Hikari" made by the same developer.
 * 14) The game begins with the Statue of Liberty talking to Superman. Not only is this weird, but it is also very out of place in a Superman game, and is the only time the statue speaks in the game, the matter of which is never acknowledged or referenced throughout the rest of the game.
 * 15) One of the boss characters is referred to as Zod Gang, but she is never actually named in-game.
 * 16) The world map can be quite confusing to navigate through.
 * 17) In the Japanese version, when you begin a new game, it will let you type your name and blood type, the latter does not have any real purpose or effect on the game.

The Only Redeeming Quality

 * 1) While most of the game's music is poor, the Japanese version has a decent rendition of the Superman theme. It's a shame the North American release didn't even get that!

Reception
Superman on the NES was panned by critics and fans alike, Wizard Dojo said it is one of the worst games on the system, though it currently ranks as the second-worst game to star the Man of Steel.

The game has been widely criticized for the graphics, limited powers, poor music (though the Japanese version has Superman theme) and confusing map, but it was considered to be better than the N64 game.

On GameFAQs, the game has a user score of 2.5 / 5.

Videos
Octotiggy's Superman Playthrough Playlist.

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