Even heroes have the right to bleed

Christopher Reeve was no doubt 'The Man of Steel' in the movies. In Tynesoft's multi-system Superman game, paper mache would be more appropriate. We begin by steering Supes into the path of hordes of Darkseid's oncoming airborne aliens in third-person flight mode. And that's all most people will get to experience of the genre-mashing homage to the greatest superhero to don underpants over his leotard. A crying shame since it's meticulously illustrated and so evocative of the comic books you can't help developing a bit of a soft spot for the downtrodden puppy.

If you take the trouble to look up the various interpretations of the game on YouTube it will be well worth your time. There are multiple 2D, scrolling beat 'em up platform levels, several obstacle-dodging/blasting interludes played in outer space from top-down perspective, and best of all, the immersive comic book pages periodically inserted between the action to progress Superman's predicament and pie-in-the-sky resolution.

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Ordinary Superman

Of all the mass appeal entertainment franchises to be converted to video game format, Superman is perhaps the one to have fared the worst. One of the earliest titles - Superman: The Game published by First Star Software in 1985 - is a classic example. Inspired by vague tropes surrounding the Kryptonian superhero, rather than a specific movie, we're required to rescue civilians of Metropolis from imminent peril, defeat supervillain Darkseid and fathom out what we're supposed to be doing to succeed in the mini-games bridging the main event. Intriguingly our goals are reversed should we instead choose to play as Darkseid. An option that wasn't a common feature of video games this early into their evolution.

Superman: The game was made available for a plethora of popular computer systems including the Acorn Electron, Amstrad CPC, Atari 8-bit, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, Commodore 16, and ZX Spectrum. Given that they share identical design and play mechanics, I cover them all in my retrospective review, including an insight into their reception from the critics of the era.

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