10 Ways To Make A Superman Video Game That Won't Suck

It’s no secret that video game adaptations of comic books are a mixed bag. With some exceptions, most games just end up as either entertaining fighting games or pretty generic action/adventure games. One of those characters who often gets the short end of the stick is Superman. 

Many believe that a good Superman game is impossible. The belief is that with his vast array of powers and his invulnerability, there’s no real way to challenge the character without either depowering him or just make a game that’s essentially an always-on god mode.

But where games like the Arkham series succeeded while others have failed is in the way Rocksteady looked at who Batman was as a character and built the games around those aspects. A similar approach was used in Spider-Man 2 and also in The Punisher. It's no surprise that those games make the usual superhero fare look embarrassing by comparison.

The same approach could work for Superman. All that a Superman game needs to succeed is a developer willing to do the work of building a game around the Man Of Steel, rather than dropping him into a jigsaw that doesn't fit him. And if all the Superman references in Arkham Knight were a harbinger of things to come, then maybe Rocksteady will be the ones to do that.

Even with their successes, there are still certain golden rules they must heed to make sure their Superman game doesn't suck...

How many of you play the free-roaming Spider-Man games and just spend time swinging around the city? What about the Arkham games and grappling and gliding from building to building across Gotham? That's what flying should be like for Superman.

The Superman Returns video game that was based on the movie of the same name was a pretty flawed product, but it did have some good ideas. It's just that they fell down thanks to sloppy execution. One thing it did pretty well was the flying.

Flying around Metropolis or through space as Superman should be one of the key modes of the game. You should be able to alter your speed, switching between a casual cruising speed and a faster, superhuman speed, and using the trigger buttons to speed up or slow down, just like you would in any vehicle. 

And just like in a car or a plane, going too fast should make it difficult to make sharp turns. Limits are just as key as abilities after all.

There are a lot of applications for flying missions. Beyond the obvious side missions of races or obstacle courses, or trying to get to a place within a time limit or chasing down a villain, you can also have rescue missions. Helicopter out of control? Superman can catch it in mid-air and carry it to safety. Construction worker fall off a high-rise? There’s Superman rushing to break his fall.