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.