Summary
Although the most famous superhero in history has had a lot of media made about him,Supermanis mostly known for being incredibly overpowered, and this has made it a challenge for many comic book writers, directors, and even game designers to find ways to keep the Man of Steel from becoming too predictable.
However, that challenge has not stopped a variety of game designers from trying to put players in the shoes of the legendary Kryptonian. Superman games have littered the history of the video game industry, offering so many different games that even the biggest Superman fans won’t remember all of them (even if they remember every film). From taking on his greatest rivals to party games, team-ups with the Justice League, and even working against his best friends inElseworldstitles,Supermangames have provided plenty of challenges over the years, but some have proven to be more difficult than others.
Although not many games have picked up such widespread new stories for Kal-El, fans loved whatShadow of Apokolipsdid for the Man of Steel. Based on the Superman animated series, which was hugely popular at the time, this game saw Superman taking on a group of robots using the Intergang’s methods to cause chaos in Metropolis.
The genius behind the bots is in fact Lex Luthor, who hired various other Superman villains, such as Parasite and Metallo, to take him on while he enacts his master plan, working alongside Darkseid. This game was ambitious in terms of its story, but it also greatly challenged players as it introduced somany different villains capable of maiming the Man of Steel. This ensured that the game did a good job of not making Superman feel “too invulnerable,” which has been a common complaint for many easierSupermangames over the years.
One of the most prolific games featuring Superman to have been released in recent years,Injusticeintroduced a world that has become the most famous Elseworld in DC history.Injusticewas set in a world where Superman went insane after the death of Lois Lane and took control of the Earth for himself,killing the Joker and many other characters along the way. The games are known for their story, but this first game, which is essentially a fighting game, also challenged players with a lot of difficulty.
Injusticewas a wild ride, being a fighting game that explored the length and breadth of the DC Universe, and the controls took some getting used to, while different styles of fighters could also present a challenge to players. Every time the player thought they understood how to win the battles, another, harder opponent managed to appear, culminating with thedevastatingly powerful evil version of Superman.
Not everySupermangame is created equal, and this was said to be true by many fans upon the release ofSuperman: The Man of Steelin 2002, which was generally viewed unfavorably by many. This game featured Superman dealing with Brainiac in a futuristic version of Metropolis, creating a strange location and a fun story, with a basis much more like that of the comic books than mostSupermangames.
WhileThe Man of Steelwas faithful to the comics in many ways, the real difficulty of this entry was in the time limits, which were placed on many sections of the game and forced players to make it through several objectives in short spaces of time. This provided an extra challenge that many fans felt was unnecessary in such a game.
An arcade machine game that featured a classic beat-em-up style, it is no surprise that an entry in theSupermangame franchise coming from the 1980s offers a challenging experience. This arcade game was a classic experience that featured an original villainous character, Emperor Zaas, taking on the Man of Steel, as well asfeaturing the famous 1978 movie soundtrack in the background.
Through the classic arcade-style battles, players had to deal with their fair share of challenges in this entry, and the old-school controls may not have helped. All of this made the game a true challenge, one that could eat up an awful lot of quarters in an arcade back in the day.
Another extremely old game,Superman: The Man of Steelwas a PC game available on a variety of platforms, which told a simplistic, old comic book type of story about Superman taking on Lex Luthor, as well as other enemies such as parademons and terrorists holding Lois Lane hostage.
The varied level design made some players feel like they were playing totally different games with each new level. This made the game a difficult one to get a handle on and produced an experience that was challenging even at the time, when game difficulty was generally quite a bit higher.
AnotherSupermangame that arrived early on in gaming history, this side-scrolling entry, known for being available on the Sega Genesis, provided an excellent level of challenge for gamers at the time, and could easily fit intoa fun collection ofSupermangames today.
Every level began with a Daily Planet bulletin about another villain on the loose, and the big challenge inSupermanwas that the Man of Steel couldn’t fly. Players had his strength, and they could jump and kick, but flying was impossible. Older titles like this used these excuses to allow for more difficulty, and a random boss rush in the final level made this game particularly brutal to finish off.
The Game Boy was a huge platform. The level of success it achieved has helped many games that were specifically made for it become immortalized. ThisSupermangame, released in 1997, featured 10 different levels. It had astoryline based onSuperman: The Animated Series, and it was an exciting new development as the first handheldSupermangame.
However, the challenge in this game was huge. Superman could fly, but a huge number of obstacles, bombs constantly thrown at the player, and all sorts of enemies, as well as the early Game Boy-style controls, made for a brutally hard title that remains a challenge to take on today.
Often referred to asSuperman 64, this game was an infamous one for many reasons. Disputes between the developers and Warner Bros. led to a lot of development issues for this title, and it has been regarded as unfinished and challenging to play for all sorts of reasons that aren’t necessarily on purpose.
The platforming style could have worked for aSupermangame, and the various abilities that the hero could use were more diverse than previous entries in the franchise, but unfortunately,The New Superman Adventureswas incredibly challenging to play, and as such, it remains the most difficultSupermangame in more ways than one.
