10 Awful Video Games With AWESOME Mechanics

10. City Health Bar - Superman Returns

Despite being one of the most beloved superheroes, adapting Superman into video games has proven to be tricky. After all, where's the sense of urgency when your protagonist can be anywhere in a heartbeat and shatter a diamond with his eyelid? 

However, EA's Superman Returns had a sneaky way to get around this problem. Though the Last Son of Krypton is invulnerable for the most part, he still has a health bar. 

But the health bar doesn't represent Supes, but the city of Metropolis. Any time a crime is committed or a disaster occurs, Superman needs to save the day to avoid losing health. This a great way to present a constant state of danger and it incentivises the player to leap into action anytime there's trouble afoot. Also, it perfectly fits the Man of Steel's MO, since he'll never hesitate to rescue somebody..

Too bad this clever idea doesn't redeem an otherwise atrocious game. Due to the shoddy combat, weak variety in enemies, unrefined gameplay, and monotonous missions, Superman Returns is the second worst game revolving around the spit-curled Kryptonian. (Superman 64 remains the reigning champion.)

Also, there are times where Superman Returns doesn't represent the source material. Although there are iconic supervillains to fight like Mongul and Bizarro, the Man of Tomorrow spends most of his time squaring off against robots and dragons. (On top of that, the final boss is a freakin' tornado.)

A heath bar for the city was smart, but it's not enough to justify playing this mess.