''Superman'' (known in Europe as ''Superman: The Man of Steel'') is a

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

released by

Sunsoft , stylized as SUNSOFT, is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. Sunsoft is the video games division of Japanese electronics manufacturer Sun Corporation. Its U.S. subsidiary operated under the name Sun Corporation of America, though, a ...

for the

Mega Drive/Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...

in 1992. It is based on the

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

character of the same name. It is a traditional single-player side-scrolling arcade game where the player controls Superman through various levels in an effort to defeat the evil supervillain named

Brainiac Brainiac is a colloquial adjective used to describe exceptionally intelligent people. It may also refer to: Culture Fictional entities * Brainiac (character), a fictional supervillain in DC Comics, and an enemy of Superman * Brainiac (story arc), ...

. Other super villains, as bosses, include The Prankster,

Metallo Metallo () is a name used by multiple supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of Superman. Metallo is usually depicted as a cyborg with a kryptonite power source in his heart, which he ...

and

Mister Mxyzptlk Mister Mxyzptlk (, ), sometimes called Mxy, is a character who appears in DC Comics' '' Superman'' comic books. He is usually presented as a trickster in the classical mythological sense. Mxyzptlk possesses reality-warping powers with which he en ...

. This game was planned to be released on the

Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Eur ...

, but was cancelled before it was completed. Versions of the game for the

Master System The is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was originally a remodeled export version of the Sega Mark III, the third iteration of the SG-1000 series of consoles, which was released in Japan in 1985 and ...

and

Game Gear The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console released by Sega on October 6, 1990, in Japan, in April 1991 throughout North America and Europe, and during 1992 in Australia. The Game Gear primarily competed with Nintendo's Game Boy, ...

were developed by Craftgold and published by Virgin Interactive in Europe as ''Superman: The Man of Steel'', which was also the title received by the European Mega Drive version published by Virgin.

Gameplay and plot

Each level of the game begins with a front page of the Daily Planet announcing that some supervillain is wreaking havoc on the city, and with

Clark Kent Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publish ...

changing into his

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

costume in order to start the level. The game limits the powers of Superman to jumping, punching and kicking (he cannot fly except in cutscenes). He can only use his superpowers by collecting certain icons scattered throughout the level that are required to accomplish a certain task, e.g., a superpunch icon to break down a wall in order to further advance in the level. At the end of each level, Superman battles a super villain from the comics, and the intermission between each level is a congratulatory message from the Daily Planet newspaper. The final level involves Superman flying up into Brainiac's space station for a repeat battle with the previous super villain bosses and then a final battle with Brainiac.

Reception

The game received from generally mixed to negative review. While the game was noted for its decent

16-bit 16-bit microcomputers are microcomputers that use 16-bit microprocessors. A 16-bit register can store 216 different values. The range of integer values that can be stored in 16 bits depends on the integer representation used. With the two mos ...

graphics and sound, critics panned the game for its limited usage of Superman's powers and for having a limited storyline. As the player could only have one super power icon at a time, a glitch in the pre-production editions of the game (fixed before its release but still a problem in the edition that was reviewed by many video game critics) forced the player to reset the game if they collected the wrong icon.

Reviews

*''SuperGame'' *''

Ação Games ''Ação Games'' was a Brazilian magazine specialized in video games that circulated from 1991 to 2002. History Released as a special edition of the sports magazine ''A Semana em Ação'', which replaced '' Placar'' at Editora Abril in August ...

'' *''Sega-16.com'' *''Classic-games.net'' *''

Digitiser ''Digitiser'' was a video games magazine that was broadcast on Teletext in the UK between 1993 and 2003. It originally billed itself a"The World's Only Daily Game Magazine" The page was launched on 1 January 1993 on page 370 of the Teletext serv ...

''http://www.superpage58.com/digitiser-vault-teletext-screenshot-image-archive-1993-04-08.htm

Notes

References

External links