Freshmaker
I am Korean.
That would be an improvement.
Really though, Superman's power set makes for a super dull game. Dude's running at better than godmode at all times.
Which leads devs to start thinking about making him fly through rings.
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Why are Superman games so god damn bad
- Thread starter Phediuk
- Start date
That would be an improvement.
Really though, Superman's power set makes for a super dull game. Dude's running at better than godmode at all times.
Which leads devs to start thinking about making him fly through rings.
Superman is tailor made for a Metroid-esque game but in 3d. Think about all the 'abilities' he could get throughout the game. X-ray vision, Heat vision, Ice breath, Flying, Super Hearing, Super Strength, Moving at fast speeds.
The reason why we haven't gotten a decent superman game is because devs haven't tried at all.
Just come up with a gimmick that strips him of his powers. Darkseid came up with a plot to make Superman human and divided Superman powers between his goons like Kalibak, Desaad etc... Defeat them and you get Superman powesr back opening up unaccessible areas etc... etc.. It's not hard.
The reason why we haven't gotten a decent superman game is because devs haven't tried at all.
Just come up with a gimmick that strips him of his powers. Darkseid came up with a plot to make Superman human and divided Superman powers between his goons like Kalibak, Desaad etc... Defeat them and you get Superman powesr back opening up unaccessible areas etc... etc.. It's not hard.
Freshmaker
I am Korean.
It doesn't have to be, but given how Superman games are invariably movie tie ins, they end up being chained to Metropolis, and the first idea then is to make it open world with his super hearing offering you mini missions like stopping robbers.
This is really boring and it's been done too much already. Supes isn't a street level hero and they really need to move him to a place like War World or Akropolis if they want to make a Superman game interesting.
He needs a foil and an environment that could actually challenge his power set, and Superman games just never to there because the movies are too timid to take any kind of risk.
OsirisBlack
Banned
the most simple answer can be found in his comic books. For the most part Superman cannot be defeated. Darkseid has lost to superman in a 1 v 1 fight when it used to take entire groups to beat him and when they decided to kill superman they had to create a completely new character to do it. He is entirely too powerful and oddly that does not translate well into videogames.
Either he will be too powerful and the game will not be challenging or he will be depowered which defeats the purpose of being superman. Even in the books you need p.i.s (plot induced stupidity) to defeat him.
To touch on the sheer absurdity of Superman one only needs to google Torquasm-vo.
Either he will be too powerful and the game will not be challenging or he will be depowered which defeats the purpose of being superman. Even in the books you need p.i.s (plot induced stupidity) to defeat him.
To touch on the sheer absurdity of Superman one only needs to google Torquasm-vo.
Candescence
Member
Superman's supposed overpoweredness is actually somewhat overstated by a lot of people. It really depends on which version of Superman you're actually looking at, because a good number of versions of Supes is actually fairly toned down. There's plenty of foes that can give Superman a hard time - Doomsday (killed Supes, nuff said), Darkseid (his most recent incarnation took the entire Justice League to send him back), General Zod (another Kryptonian), Black Adam (Shazam/Captain Marvel's archrival and magic-user), Lex Luthor (we all know this guy, tends to actually have the resources to acquire Kryptonite if it's actually available), Bizarro (Superman clone), you name it.
Even lesser villains can actually give the Big S some problems in various ways, not just in a standard fight. Superman isn't just about beating the crap out of people, you know. Mister Mxyzptlk's entire schitck, for example, is being a complete troll towards Supes.
Even lesser villains can actually give the Big S some problems in various ways, not just in a standard fight. Superman isn't just about beating the crap out of people, you know. Mister Mxyzptlk's entire schitck, for example, is being a complete troll towards Supes.
Screaming Meat
Unconfirmed Member
...or you make the game wide enough in scope so that the player starts as an inexperienced kid in Smallville that slowly discovers his powers and, over the course of decades of in-game time, grows in both power and experience to become the unstoppable Alien-God capable of facing down an invading, fully-powered Darkseid (who would've been hinted at throughout the game, of course
).Have they ever started a Superman game with him as a youngling discovering his powers?
old manatee
Banned
He's either walking around without a care in the world, or he's fatigued because someone produces a green rock. Nothing more exciting than watching someone get sleepy.
unapersson
Member
I don't think you need to strip superman of his powers, or throw in some other artificial limitation to make a good game. Superman may be a very powerful character, but everyone else isn't. So you shift the emphasis away from Superman and base the game on those he has to save.
Make the game about the choices he makes, where Superman is doing triage on a city wide scale. Does he save the cat from the tree or intervene in a robbery? Does he have time to save a child from a burning car before flying the the area where a villain and his henchman have set off a bomb with a timer. Have the game world dynamically change base on the choices he makes.
Keep his sanity in check, if things go to awry have him turn angry and darker, as his disturbed mind pushes him to less heroic acts. If it goes to far his evil form splits off and he has to defeat it to restore his sanity.
How does the city react to Superman? Is he loved by the Cat's Protection League but hated by the Police as he left a squad to die in a shoot out while busy saving a drowning woman. Does he wind up dividing the city into factions because of the choices he makes when it comes to who should live or die?
There's plenty of scope to fit a game in there somewhere and no reason why a superman game would have to be boring. It just needs a developer with a bit of imagination and a fresh approach.
Make the game about the choices he makes, where Superman is doing triage on a city wide scale. Does he save the cat from the tree or intervene in a robbery? Does he have time to save a child from a burning car before flying the the area where a villain and his henchman have set off a bomb with a timer. Have the game world dynamically change base on the choices he makes.
Keep his sanity in check, if things go to awry have him turn angry and darker, as his disturbed mind pushes him to less heroic acts. If it goes to far his evil form splits off and he has to defeat it to restore his sanity.
How does the city react to Superman? Is he loved by the Cat's Protection League but hated by the Police as he left a squad to die in a shoot out while busy saving a drowning woman. Does he wind up dividing the city into factions because of the choices he makes when it comes to who should live or die?
There's plenty of scope to fit a game in there somewhere and no reason why a superman game would have to be boring. It just needs a developer with a bit of imagination and a fresh approach.
The Silver
Member
People saying he's too overpowered clearly don't anything about DC, there are tons of enemies on his level or stronger. The number of potential bosses are endless, for the regular mooks you can just use the Doomsday clones or have Braniac whip up some artificial/mind controlled kryptonians and Martians.(hell you can bring in the other Lantern corps too if you want)
Moon_frogger
Member
This isbt constructive. You're being an ass and you haven't even given a pitch for a good superman game.
Also there is a good game with superman in it. It's called dc universe online, you get to fight alongside/against superman and it's actually pretty well done
Nope. He has preset abilities. Give him an energy reserve while you're at it.
Nope. He regularly gets his ass handed to him.
GuitarAnthony
Neo Member
I'll always play the Atari 2600 version for a guilty pleasure. Superman pinball was pretty good. Superman arcade from Taito was meh. Home versions from the C64 all the way through 360/PS3 are all pretty horrid.
TheSlySoul
Member
I think the problem is Superman is a pretty boring character. That is why the Aquaman game was terrible as well. Superman works better as a playable character in DC games.
Screaming Meat
Unconfirmed Member
The more grim and gritty comics have gotten, the more interested I am in Superman.
BiggStankDogg
Member
I think a good portion of this thread illustrates the main problem with a Superman - the perception of Superman as invincible. Fans can cry out and beg to differ, but if you talk to just about anyone on the street, the majority of the time they would say they thought he was invulnerable. That's where you may need a little exposition to remind them or inform them of his ACTUAL abilities and limits. Maybe (and I know this is corny) but having a Legion of Doom or other type of council brainstorming about taking Superman down and bringing up things that make Superman less of a man-god and feasible ways of taking him down.
No he can't: magic, psycic attacks, energy absorption, blah blah blah. There's a multitude of things Superman can not do. There are literally hundreds of different powers, Supes has like 9. In all honesty Batman is a man that can do more than Superman as there's no power Superman has that Batman can't invent an equivalent of in addition to doing so much more. It won't be to the degree of a Supes power but he can still make a freeze gun or heat laser or something.
Fattony12000
Member
Most are, for sure. But Saints Row IV is pretty good.
Screaming Meat
Unconfirmed Member
I'm telling ya, a chunky tutorial set in an mini-open world Smallville with Jor-El as his mentor would put everyone straight: Introduce each of his powers, give Kal a few warnings here and there... sorted.
A co-worker gave my a bunch of old PS2 games. A lot of them are crappy movie games; one of them was Super Man Returns. After flying around for 5 minutes shooting asteroids out of the sky, I was sent to a combat arena. The flying was pretty fun after getting the hang of it the combat no.
MaximusPayne
Member
Give it to these guys or beg them to take it.
The game mechanics would have to be flawed by design.
Combat would be boring because Superman is so powerful that he could beat most enemies with a single punch. Batman and Spider-Man aren't super strong, so fighting with them is entertaining since there is legitimate struggle and they use interesting techniques.
Likewise, exploration would be boring because Superman can fly unrestricted and extremely quickly. Everything would be very point A to point B. In the Spider-Man games you have to traverse relative to the buildings, and in the Arkham games your air time is limited.
Combat would be boring because Superman is so powerful that he could beat most enemies with a single punch. Batman and Spider-Man aren't super strong, so fighting with them is entertaining since there is legitimate struggle and they use interesting techniques.
Likewise, exploration would be boring because Superman can fly unrestricted and extremely quickly. Everything would be very point A to point B. In the Spider-Man games you have to traverse relative to the buildings, and in the Arkham games your air time is limited.
I always figured you could turn a Superman game into a pseudo Wario Land 2 clone where the invincibility was factored into the puzzle design. Doing that but also an open metroidvania where he slowly gets his powers back could be cool
DualX
Member
It should have been this, but apparently it was never meant to be. =/
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XfLrc6o1s0I
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XfLrc6o1s0I
I forgot about the Wario Land games where you're invincible but still have to play smartly.
For nearly 100 years writers, directors and animators have found compelling challenges for Superman despite his powerset and they aren't all Kryptonite.
SmokedMeat
Gamer™
It was never said about Batman. Hell, the NES Batman was badass, and Batman games in general smoke Superman games.
Moon_frogger
Member
Give an example of a comic story or cartoon script or even an episode of smallville that translates to a fun game and I'm on board.
Freedom = $1.05
Banned
Hah, what a coincidence. I just watched that episode from JLU last night!
Yeah, a supes game can work out really well if they gave the game to a dev with some time and a budget. Supes has been nerfed enough over the years where he isn't the god that he was back in the silver age and he has enough decent villains to flesh out a good game.
He has plenty of weaknesses: red sunlight, kryptonite, magic, a moral code that he sticks to and can be used against him, lois lane (hah). Again, he's also not silver-age strong anymore so he can be beat by a powerful enemy.
Sibersk Esto
Banned
Moon_frogger
Member
What's the premise and how would you translate it into a game . This image tells me nothing.
Off the top of my head
Ok, I read the Wikipedia entry and superman spends most of it either effortlessly demolishing robot foes, running for his life, talking to braniac or in one instance he pushes a dude into outer space. Not sure how that translates to a game that doesn't involve a bunch of qte button presses. Walking dead the game has more compelling action sequences, and that's barely a game.
Auto-Reply
Member
What good would it do the game if he can be beaten by other super-villains? He still can do all the things you somehow have to think around when designing levels for this guy? Just because someone could fuck him up doesn't make it any easier being creative in the gameplay side of things.
He just doesn't work in an environment like Arkham City. He doesn't work in buildings, doors mean nothing and destructible walls are silly in this context as there are no walls that should be indestructible for him.
He just doesn't work in an environment like Arkham City. He doesn't work in buildings, doors mean nothing and destructible walls are silly in this context as there are no walls that should be indestructible for him.
Xamtheking
Member
Just have a very dynamic magic cloud system to work with Supes' powers, because Superman is powered by our Sun, have his full arsenal active only a little bit at a time
Yeah, Batman has had a pretty consistent history of good games. I think all 3 of the NES games are good actually.
Xamtheking
Member
The Batman game about math on the Leapfrog was good, damnit
Screaming Meat
Unconfirmed Member
Superman isn't that powerful;
- he's weak to kryptonite,
-lose his power under the red sun
-can be killed by aliens from outside earth
-isn't immune to magic
Making Superman weak isn't hard if the developer actually try, the problem is that they don't bother since they have mostly been license games.
keltickennedy
Member
Yes. But this is why (call me crazy) I think a Superman game could make a good "god game" /RTS. The map size would be the entire world, and you would control Superman flying around trying to save civilizations. Fighting badguys or alien invaders all with a point and a click.
© Copyright KelticKennedy
Candescence
Member
No, Aquaman's game was terrible because it had terrible gameplay. There's more than a few incarnations of Aquaman that are pretty damn awesome. The sheer number of applications for commanding sea life alone is immense. You laugh now, but remember where the likes of Godzilla, Cthulhu and Leviathan live.
Sibersk Esto
Banned
It's more of a suggestion for a setting. I don't see why a Superman game needs to focus on one particular story, instead of drawing on the good aspects of many like the Markham games.
Mengy
wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
It's certainly possible to make a fun and challenging Superman game, but you need to make a few important design decisions from the get go to pull it off:
1. Tone Superman down - The Animated Series cartoon show got this spot on. Superman was nigh invincible but he wasn't unstoppable. Rockets threw him around, huge machine guns could stop him and even push him back. Sure you weren't going to kill or even scratch him with it but he felt the pain from it. He can be the Man of Steel but still be a man at the same time.
2. Put him in a destructible world - Superman is powerful but often times he has to hold back or risk killing innocents. Put that into the game! Have Superman fully capable of dropping a building on top of a bad guy but have negative consequences for doing so. Include reputation mechanics where the public can turn against Superman if he behaves like he did in the movie Man of Steel where he helped level half of Metropolis. This would make the player capable of doing anything but trying to be very cautious and strategic about it. Turn Superman's powers into a tool that must be used with care. Make the game challenges as much about controlling his powers carefully as much as completing missions or tasks too.
1. Tone Superman down - The Animated Series cartoon show got this spot on. Superman was nigh invincible but he wasn't unstoppable. Rockets threw him around, huge machine guns could stop him and even push him back. Sure you weren't going to kill or even scratch him with it but he felt the pain from it. He can be the Man of Steel but still be a man at the same time.
2. Put him in a destructible world - Superman is powerful but often times he has to hold back or risk killing innocents. Put that into the game! Have Superman fully capable of dropping a building on top of a bad guy but have negative consequences for doing so. Include reputation mechanics where the public can turn against Superman if he behaves like he did in the movie Man of Steel where he helped level half of Metropolis. This would make the player capable of doing anything but trying to be very cautious and strategic about it. Turn Superman's powers into a tool that must be used with care. Make the game challenges as much about controlling his powers carefully as much as completing missions or tasks too.
Superman is a terrible character anyways, he gets the games and movies he "deserves" as far as I'm concerned. I.e. Shitty ones. ALL of them.
With that said a talented studio could probably make a good game about any character, not that they should waste their time on Superdork.
With that said a talented studio could probably make a good game about any character, not that they should waste their time on Superdork.
shaowebb
Member
This in a nutshell. If he's on the ground fighting it seems odd he's not flying. You could go all Saints Row 4/Prototype with it, but then you run into the issue that he's so strong that he destroys more of the city in a fight than necessary to show it off. To compensate you try giving him hordes of enemies but if they challenge him then it feels untrue to the character because he's nigh invulnerable and can tow the Earth with how strong he is.
Character is so OP that he doesn't translate into much gameplay that isn't inherently busted by one of his many other tools. He's a character that removes challenge from any conflict you write. It'd take a planetary invasion under a sun slowly going red to give him enough limiting factors to develop for and even then it'd be rough.
He'd be cool for a Dynasty Warriors Gundam style of thing I guess, but it'd have to be Brainiac robots or aliens because otherwise you'd never have enough enemies for him to mow down to carry his overwhelming strength.
Personally...I'd throw him onto Apocalypse and go Metal Gear Rising with him mixed with a little bit of dog fighting. Whole planet is an army of powers, weapons, and genetic experiments. He could fight giant shit and all the rest and it would easily culminate story-wise into a Darkseid fight. You could use the Boom tubes to let him go back and forth to Earth for various shit if you wanted the whole Metropolis missions just for the setting. Maybe xray vision while flying around to find and stop random crimes or to collect intel on earth from Darkseid sleeper agents or some shit.