Superman is one of the most iconic characters in fiction, with Superman being one of the most widely recognised Superheroes, Despite this when it comes to videogames he is known for one of the worst games of all time with Superman 64, but unlike DC’s other big property Batman he does not have any great games to balance out the bad licensed titles. So why is that?
Superman as well as being one of the most iconic characters is also one of the most powerful, if you think of a super power chances are at some point Superman has had it. The obvious problem that arises from this is balance, when a character is so overpowered it is difficult to present a challenge to them. The workaround that most writers use is kryptonite to weaken the character, which if used in a game kind of defeats the point of being Superman.
So how would I make a Superman game, well firstly no kryptonite, you need to feel like a fully powered Superman which means that enemies won’t be a threat. The best Superman stories are about him struggling to keep up with all the demands of many people needing him at once. So for a game you drop Superman into a sandbox city of Metropolis with cries for help coming from all directions. Rather than a health bar for Superman there would be a health bar for the city representing the people’s belief in the hero, the goal and challenge is efficiency if you spend too long fighting off Braniac somebody else might fall victim to other crimes, it’s all about keeping lots of plates spinning at once so that you don’t let anybody down.
Of course the other option to the question of how to make a Superman game is to approach it like a politician and sidestep the issue by redirecting the question and not making a Superman game. By which I mean don’t make a game where Superman is the protagonist and instead play as his most well known enemy Lex Luthor. Playing as Lex would avoid the issue of an overpowered protagonist by making Superman the antagonist instead.
So Lex Luthor is a genius who a) has a deep hatred of Superman and b) runs his own mega-corporation and at times the whole of the USA. The way I envision the game playing out is juggling these two aspect of his character via a Sim City style management game. You’d have to keep Lexcorp profitable and maintain public appearances to stay out of jail, while at the same time you’d be deploying the Legion of Doom villains and working with the government agency Cadmus to develop further human weapons that you’d use to attack Superman to prevent him and the league from investigating Lex and arresting him all while diverting profits from the business to build up more in quality and quantity of the means you have to finally take down Superman. It would be an interesting take on superhero games to instead play the role of the villain.
These are my ideas for making a Superman game, but the one important thing to bear in mind is that if you make a Superman game do something more than just fly through some rings.
The David E Gamery 