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[G-Fex]

If you'd like to say anything constructive about the topic I'd be happy to listen.

Rather than the same old excuses people post in every superman thread? Gladly.

and no i'm not posting this for you despite the fact I quoted you

There are a ton of people in comics that are effectively just as powerful, invulnerable, and so on and so forth. Hulk himself is invulnerable and so is a lot of video game characters are they not?

Frankly there's several scenarios where Superman can fight several villains who can hurt him much less kill him cause of course his villains are that threatening and no it's not just kryptonite either.

It can re-use the great idea of the city having some health and superman's health would only come up when he's fighting a actual villain. Therefore there can be double the threat during situations.

"He's got too many powers!!!"

Yeah so do you in world of warcraft or devil may cry or something else where you've got a lot of powers. Doesn't mean there can't be a bit of down, not cooldowns mind you but just a bar possibly like the one in Returns, maybe a bit more refined.

I don't see this happening cause Superman's a effort no one wants to make.


But Batman will get 600 more games.

 

[RiotRhythm]

I've always liked the idea where Supes gets his powers completely stripped (somehow), and has to work his way back up to god mode status.

 

[WordsintheWater]

The only Superman game I have ever enjoyed is Shadow of Apokolips for PS2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVAUx-KdKnw

 

[Compbros]

Just about every Superhero game is bad, it's not limited to Superman. Batman took decades before he got one that people agree is really good and that should be one of the easiest. Spider-man has more games than just about any hero and he has maybe 3 games that are actually good.


Devs just can't seem to make good and fun Superhero games. Last one I remember really, REALLY liking before Arkham was X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

 

[Vermillion]

They could totally do a Superman game in the same manner as Shadow of the Colossus. It could be great.

 

[BigDes]

First level being an open world Metropolis where Superman is essentially god, invincible, super speed, flying etc taking out random goons maybe have the first boss be Metallo, someone who can hurt Superman but only if he plays dumb

Then have the subsequent levels on War World, Apokolips etc

Superman can keep all his powers, but there they don't make him invincible, only a contender.

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

Because video games have a hard time doing the things that actually makes Superman, well, Superman?

Video games can do his powers, easily. Superspeed has been done, super strength, invulnerability, heat vision, frost breath, super senses. All have some kinds of precedent in video games already. But if you just make a video game with a character that has those powers, it will be boring. If you want Superman, you have to focus on the man.

Consider this for a Superman moment: Superman is hovering in the sky above Metropolis, he's barely moving, and looks alert. Suddenly, he's gone, a red and blue streak speeding towards a back alley somewhere as he catches a bullet he saw being fired by a common thug during a mugging gone bad. He quickly subdues the bad guy. However, while doing so, Superman hears the sound of a small car impacting a tree in the opposite end of the city. He can hear that the driver's heart has stopped. The accident was fatal. Superman COULD have saved that man, but then he wouldn't have been able to stop the murder in progress here. Superman made a choice. Someone lived, someone died. Superman makes that choice several times each day. And as Clark Kent, he sometimes has to choose to save neither.

That's Superman. He can't save everyone, but he knows they're suffering and dying... because he chose to be elsewhere. If you can turn THAT into a game. Making the hard choices, living with deciding who lives and dies, on a daily basis. Then you have made a Superman game.

And that also means that his powers, as fantastic as they are, don't really matter that much. If Superman chooses to do something, he can, except being everywhere at the same time. It would be a fascinating game, but probably not one that sells a lot. But imagine having to choose over and over and over. What do you choose? What is Superman to YOU? A diehard crimefighter? A defender of the weak? A guardian angel? Or a mild-mannered reporter at the Daily Planet?

Because being Clark Kent is also a choice Superman makes. It keeps him grounded. But while he's playing human, he is deliberately ignoring people in need. And he has to. It's his time off from the sensory overload of being able to see and hear every little accident, crime, or other emergency that Superman could solve.

So yeah. An open world Superman game done with an eye for this would be immensely fascinating. But I doubt it'd be that fun. Then again, being Superman? Probably isn't that fun either.

I really like your idea.

 

[TheLostBigBoss]

Superman is too OP for video games.

 

[Zubz]

I mean, every other major superhero has at least a couple of standout games under their belt. But Supes always gets the short end of the stick.

I didn't notice the first time around in the OP until someone suggested Daredevil. Superman at least has a legacy in gaming that he'll never quite escape. When the hell are we getting a Wonder Woman game?

EDIT: I hate it when images are too big...

 

[Compbros]

I mean, every other major superhero has at least a couple of standout games under their belt. But Supes always gets the short end of the stick.

What is any hero of the Justice League's standout game minus Batman? What is any member of the Avenger's standout game? No, "every other major hero" doesn't have a standout game, it's an ocean of mediocrity for Superhero games.

 

[Spring-Loaded]

Superman is too OP for video games.

blah, this defeatism
__________

Are there any games with good "flying human" gameplay?

 

[ReiGun]

All the best superhero games aside from Batman are the ones that throw them all in. Injustice, MvC, DCUO, etc. No one seems interested in just taking one hero and really doing something with them save Rocksteady.

Of course, this is probably just a larger symptom of the parent companies not really caring about games.

 

[Sibersk Esto]

It would have to be open world of course, but a DYNAMIC open world, maybe a tier above the recent Spider-Man movie games.

Take the idea Superman Returns have of having the city's life be yours and tweak it, some missions it's the city's life bar, boss battles you have your own life bar.

Have Clark Kent side missions where you investigate leads that lead to problems you need to solve as Superman

Fortress of Solitude home base where you have unlocked costumes, concept art, and upgrades.

An upgrade system that doesn't unlock powers, but how you use them (machine gun heat vision, create a tornado with Super speed, etc)

Side missions that emphasize using your powers creatively. Plane falling down? be careful to distribute the weight evenly while lifting it.

During your off time, use your super senses to seek out on going crimes/problems. The catch? They are all happening in real time. You choose one, you miss out on another.

Combat uses a combination of your powers, boxing style fighting, lifting objects and enemies, grapple like Nero from DMC4.

I would play the shit out of that.

 

[Schweinehund]

I liked Death and Return of Superman.

Rocksteady will probably tackle it next.

 

[ElTopo]

Sunman for the NES is pretty decent. Maybe even good.

Death and Return of Superman is okay.

I think all of the 3D attempts could be chalked up to bad developers or being a movie tie in game and being rushed. It could work.

Spoiler

I'd rather see a Dr. Manhattan god sim though.

 

[Kariodude]

The problem is that a good Superman game would need him to be Superman with all of his Superman powers. Then you consider what kinds of problems Supes runs into in the movies and comics. It's usually a single, all-powerful being that would be a real match for Superman, but an entire game couldn't revolve around a single enemy. Or his problems are moral dilemmas, things that really make him question who he is, who he is faithful to and what could come of his decisions and to that end the only way a Superman game could be good is if it was by Telltale Games. Give Superman multiple choices, altering the story along the way and then have all of the choreographed fighting scenes be cutscenes with occasional first-person heat vision/ice breath point-and-clicking.

 

[Darksol]

I imagine it's difficult to make a challenging, balanced game when your main character is essentially a god.

 

[Head.spawn]

Ben Affleck game? No thanks.

 

[Sibersk Esto]

Ben Affleck game? No thanks.

What you didn't play any of the Arkham games?

 

[ReiGun]

I imagine it's difficult to make a challenging, balanced game when your main character is essentially a god.

When has this ever been a problem in games? The number of game characters who are essentially god within their games is pretty staggering.

 

[Imbarkus]

Superman Returns had potential. Had it not been a tie in game and actually gotten the dev time and talent it needed, it could have been something.

That's funny I'm playing this right now. Love the open city design and the sense of speed. The melee combat, recharging power meter, less so.

I was doing just fine up until the escort blimp mission. Fuck.

Didn't help the game that it was based on the movie where Kumar beat up Superman, either.

 

[xaszatm]

Probably because they keep Superman in Metropolis. Move him away from where he is the strongest person and you will have a good video game. The whole point of him in Metropolis is to show an internal struggle of a god living among man. Want a game where he can use his super powers without ripping someone like paper? Place him in Apokolips, or Murderworld, or have Braniac place him in one of his jars and have him escape. Hell, the Braniac concept could give you different worlds to explore and plenty of fantastic enemies for Superman to fight.

 

[ElRenoRaven]

Superman has got to be one of the most boring superheros ever.

This is why they all suck too. Here you have a Superhero who is boring as hell who seemingly pretty much has one weakness. Course for some reason most of his home planet ended up here it seems cause there is never a damn shortage of the shit. Combine that with being pretty much invincible otherwise and yea it's pretty hard to make a game that works with that shit.

 

[family_guy]

Superman Returns seemed to be on the right track. Just expand the scope, invest real money in it, and don't make it a crappy movie tie-in.

 

[flaxknuckles]

The only reason there hasn't been a good Superman game is because no good developer has been given the license and a sufficient budget. Anyone who states a a different reason knows nothing and should be tazered until they shit all over themselves.

 

[ElTopo]

The problem is that a good Superman game would need him to be Superman with all of his Superman powers. Then you consider what kinds of problems Supes runs into in the movies and comics. It's usually a single, all-powerful being that would be a real match for Superman, but an entire game couldn't revolve around a single enemy.

Two solutions for this:

1: God-sim game similar to Superman Returns but only good. You have no health bar but the city/earth has a health bar.

2: have Superman fight on another planet and/or the yellow sun is blocked out on earth. If the main villain was Darkseid then it would make sense.

 

[G-Fex]

What you didn't play any of the Arkham games?

HA

 

[vypek]

Make the enemies of the game use magic. He wont be god-like/OP anymore.

Even without it, there have been other games where super strong, godly characters can be defeated.

Supes really just needs a good dev team

 

[jerry1594]

Give him a gun and make a third person shooter.

 

[KalBalboa]

Look at all superhero/licensed games up until a few years ago.

Most are awful.

Superman is an ambitious character to make games for. Shadow of Apokolips was probably my favorite attempt. Anyone claiming he's too powerful should probably look into the character a bit more and see how few incarnations are actually "god tier."

A proper Superman game would be a blast.

 

[Head.spawn]

What you didn't play any of the Arkham games?

You just made me sad.

Fingers crossed that he doesn't shit it up like he did with the the blind fellow.

 

[Caffeine]

I thought Death and Return of Superman was pretty good.

best superman game imo

 

[Timu]

One of the better games compared to most of them!!!

 

[jabberwocker]

To go along with the majority of the movies? Hasn't been a good superman movie for 35 years.

 

[truly101]

Shadow of Apokolips is pretty decent, but like Batman Vengeance a couple of years before, your enjoyment is reliant on how much you liked the TAS

 

[revolverjgw]

If I were going to do one, I'd base it off Golden Age Superman. His range as a superhero could be limited to protecting 1930s Metropolis.

.

I'd love to have a Superman game with art direction like the old Fleischer cartoons

 

[KalBalboa]

Two solutions for this:

1: God-sim game similar to Superman Returns but only good. You have no health bar but the city/earth has a health bar.

2: have Superman fight on another planet and/or the yellow sun is blocked out on earth. If the main villain was Darkseid then it would make sense.

3. Make him as powerful as he is in Smallville, Superman: The Animated Series, Man of Steel, the Fleischer cartoons, Birthright, etc. Give him stamina like any other hero and have him take on equally powerful or more threatening foes (not to mention disasters).

 

[Compbros]

This is why they all suck too. Here you have a Superhero who is boring as hell who seemingly pretty much has one weakness. Course for some reason most of his home planet ended up here it seems cause there is never a damn shortage of the shit. Combine that with being pretty much invincible otherwise and yea it's pretty hard to make a game that works with that shit.

Superman's weaknesses: All forms of Kryptonite (there are several), Red Sun radiation, magic, any attack strong enough to affect him. He is not invincible, he is super durable. If he was indestructible then Doomsday wouldn't have been able to "kill" him just by beating the crap out of him. There's also cutting him off from the Sun which means his powers have a limit, the more he exerts himself the weaker he gets.


BTW, I never understood why people like Wolverine whom is, essentially, immortal and indestructible but hate Superman.

 

[Vermillion]

Lois: How do you spell "trancendent?"

Choose:

1. Spell the word.

2. "Why don't you pick up a fucking dictionary? God, how'd you even get this job?"

3. "I'm Superman."

The third option is always "I'm Superman."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0QVvbhMm24

 

[ReiGun]

Give him a gun and make a third person shooter.

?

 

[Delta Assault]

Because most video games tend to copy each other. Look at most first person shooters, they're all derivative of CoD or Battlefield. Look at most third person shooters, they're all derivative of Gears of War.

In a video game landscape like this... you can't really copy and paste some superheroes into a particular video game genre and have it translate effectively. Sure, sometimes it works. For example, Wolverine fit perfectly into a God of War-style game with Raven's X-Men Origins Wolverine. But that's for a certain superhero. For Batman, this sorta thing doesn't work. That's why Arkham Asylum was such a surprise. Rocksteady didn't try and fit Batman into an established video game genre, they had to go completely outside the box and make a wholly new kind of video game. Even today, the Arkham games are the only ones in their particular niche. Nobody else really makes Arkham-type games. They had to create anew, in an industry which generously rewards and encourages imitation.

And that's the same case with Superman. You can't comfortably fit a Superman game into a pre-existing video game genre. Doing that is only going to lead to dissatisfied comic fans and dissatisfied gamers. Anybody who takes on the herculean task of making the next big Superman game is going to need to go the Rocksteady way and create a new kind of game, one that caters to the particular demands of the Superman property/mythology.

 

[Sibersk Esto]

There could be some cool DLC, like golden age Superman vs the Martians from War of the Worlds, done in Fleischer style.

Or a DLC done entirely in the cell Shaded DCAU style

 

[KalBalboa]

Superman's weaknesses: All forms of Kryptonite (there are several), Red Sun radiation, magic, any attack strong enough to affect. He is not invincible, he is super durable. If he was indestructible then Doomsday wouldn't have been able to "kill" him just by beating the crap out of him. There's also cutting him off from the Sun which means his powers have a limit, the more he exerts himself the weaker he gets.


BTW, I never understood why people like Wolverine whom is, essentially, immortal and indestructible but hate Superman.

Eh, they'll find some rationale to dismiss your salient points.

Superman is only "godlike" in certain incarnations. Just... don't go down that rabbit hole. Presto.

 

[vypek]

Superman's weaknesses: All forms of Kryptonite (there are several), Red Sun radiation, magic, any attack strong enough to affect. He is not invincible, he is super durable. If he was indestructible then Doomsday wouldn't have been able to "kill" him just by beating the crap out of him. There's also cutting him off from the Sun which means his powers have a limit, the more he exerts himself the weaker he gets.


BTW, I never understood why people like Wolverine whom is, essentially, immortal and indestructible but hate Superman.

Seems to be a really common misconception about Superman. I mean, Superman can actually just be beaten to death by some characters. But great job listing all the weaknesses. Besides the popular kryptonite, magic is really strong against him and strong in general in the DC universe.

There was a shorts series where someone takes advantage of the sun weakness with special lamps and comes pretty close to beating the crap out of him

 

[TnK]

IMO to make a good superman game, it has to be set in space and be vs all the ultra powerful villains like darkseid etc. That way Superman won't be too OP.

 

[Sibersk Esto]

Because most video games tend to copy each other. Look at most first person shooters, they're all derivative of CoD or Battlefield. Look at most third person shooters, they're all derivative of Gears of War.

In a video game landscape like this... you can't really copy and paste some superheroes into a particular video game genre and have it translate effectively. Sure, sometimes it works. For example, Wolverine fit perfectly into a God of War-style game with Raven's X-Men Origins Wolverine. But that's for a certain superhero. For Batman, this sorta thing doesn't work. That's why Arkham Asylum was such a surprise. Rockstar didn't try and fit Batman into an established video game genre, they had to go completely outside the box and make a wholly new kind of video game. Even today, the Arkham games are the only ones in their particular niche. Nobody else really makes Arkham-type games. They had to create anew, in an industry which generously rewards and encourages imitation.

And that's the same case with Superman. You can't comfortably fit a Superman game into a pre-existing video game genre. Doing that is only going to lead to dissatisfied comic fans and dissatisfied gamers. Anybody who takes on the herculean task of making the next big Superman game is going to need to go the Rockstar way and create a new kind of game, one that caters to the particular demands of the Superman property/mythology.

Unfortunately, this is a very good point.

 

[jabberwocker]

Because as superheroes go superman is too damn powerful.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

Maybe Superman is carrying on the long tradition of bad license/comic book games?

 

[vypek]

Because as superheroes go superman is too damn powerful.

There are solutions for that though

 

[KalBalboa]

There are solutions for that though

Absolutely. Just don't do a god-tier take in him and the problem is moot.

Honestly, Superman games aren't even that bad when compared to most superhero games. Superman 64 is obviously a horrid piece of junk, but his other entries aren't exactly worse than, say, Iron Man/Thor games.