Superman Longplay (Arcade) [4K]

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AL82 Retrogaming Longplays

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Published on January 26, 2025 12:08:54 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8AzLY8vd2o

Game:

Superman (1988)

Duration: 0:00

8,616 views

244

Game Info
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Developer: Taito
Publisher: Taito
Year of Release: 1988

Game Review & Impressions
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It's time to don our capes and wear our underpants on the outside, as we embark on a coin-op adventure with DC Comics' Superman. Despite the big-ticket license, it's not a game I knew existed, let alone saw in any of the arcades I frequented growing up, so I was curious to see what adventures the Man of Steel had in store.

In terms of plot, Supes is fighting against the minions of the Emperor Zaas. It seems that Zaas was created for the purposes of this game, insofar as I couldn't find any other information about who he is or what his motives are, other than he wants to conquer the Earth and all its inhabitants. It's sufficient exposition for an arcade game, at least enough to justify Superman's involvement.

Each of the game's stages typically commences with a side-scrolling fighting section, in which Supes punches and kicks a host of atomically-powered bad guys back to whichever parallel dimension they came. A power blast can be charged up and unleashed to take out multiple enemies in its path, and it's also possible to pick up and hurl crates and heavy objects at the various foes. Victory in these sections sees Superman take to the skies, fighting more bad guys as he goes, with the final section of the level turning into a horizontal shoot 'em up, with the hero taking out enemies with his iconic laser vision.

For the first stage at least, the game is pretty good fun. Taito definitely captured the look of central character, and the sense of his power is certainly conveyed through the way enemies get sent hurtling off the sides of the screen when hit. It's after the initial fun of the first level that the boredom starts to set in, because nothing really changes - there are perhaps a couple of additional enemies, but same old cycle of punch-kick--punch-zap becomes really dull. I also found it really irritating the way the game couldn't always work out if Superman was flying or on solid ground, and would lock the main sprite into the landing animation, despite hovering half way up a building. The game feels just a little underdone, and had it just a little more variety, this could have been a real coin-guzzler.

Chapters
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00:00 Attract mode
1:10 Stage 1
4:45 Stage 2
9:28 Stage 3
13:49 Stage 4
19:09 Stage 5
26:07 Ending