SNES REVIEWS: The Death and Return of Superman
It is ironic how Superman is always portrayed as much weaker than he supposedly is in most works of fiction depicting him. Whether in games or movies, Superman cannot conveniently rotate three times around the Earth and punch the bad guys into space.
For games, it is obvious that developers want us to play as Superman within the confines of what they made possible. If it's a brawler, expect Superman to perform far below his level and fight every single scrub as if they were Kryptonians like him. Where would the fun be if we could just zoom through The Death and Return of Superman (DRS) at light speed?
Unfortunately, I imagine zooming through this game at Mach 9 would still be too slow of a zoom.
#81: The Death and Return of Superman:-
Year: 1994
Genre: Beat 'em Up
Publisher: Sunsoft
Developer: Sunsoft, Blizzard
"Only Superman Can Save Us Now"
Based on the game's title, you would probably guess that Superman dies at some point and eventually makes a triumphant return. It is no spoiler, then, to say that Superman kills and gets killed by Doomsday in the opening levels of the game.
The story is then handled by "cutscenes" between levels. Seeing how other comic-based brawlers handled their cutscenes, it is abhorrent to see DRS's scenes consisting of badly written exposition imposed alongside poorly drawn still images.
It makes you wish Superman stayed dead
Of course, we shouldn't expect a stellar story or storytelling from a brawler. However, some semblance of style in the game should be expected, especially when using the rich source material of Superman's comics. We saw an amazing stylistic achievement in Batman and some good effort in Spider-Man and Venom. However, DRS, unfortunately, is bland and does the source material no justice whatsoever. Level backgrounds are uninspiring and recycled far too often. The enemies are a range of unspectacular game rejects. And finally, Superman is so uninspiring in his combat style that you could imagine Bruce Lee having a stronger presence in the game.
The only animation worthy of note is Superman's cape as he flies and drops from distances.
"Let This Kid Handle This"
With Superman out of the action, four wannabe supers try on his shoes one at a time. Initially, I was excited at the prospect of controlling four other characters besides the Man of Steel. However, I soon realized all characters play exactly the same, with the only difference being the animation of their attacks.
It wouldn't be a major problem if the game mechanics were not such a letdown. With only one attack button, a projectile attack, grabs, and a special move, the combat does have some strategic elements. Yet, we soon find that grabs don't do much damage and that the projectile is useless in all circumstances bar one.
These goons shouldn't be an issue
Anything DRS does, other brawlers do better—even Final Fight, which I detest. In fact, the only original mechanic in DRS is the hover mechanic, which is a state of perpetual flight activated by double jumping. The catch is that it is only useful for one type of enemy and serves more as a showpiece than an actual mechanic.
Finally, carrying over a classic problem of brawler games, we manage to take most fights to the edge of the screen and beyond. Except, you can't leave the screen, so you either wait for the fools you threw off-screen to return to you (assuming they don't sit back and launch rockets), or "edge guard" the screen with dive kicks, which becomes the most reliable tactic later in the game.
"I Should Feel Tired"
After returning from the dead and beating the final boss, Superman thinks he should be tired and wonders why he isn't. Besides being THE Superman, a tangible reason would be that the players themselves absorbed the enormous fatigue the game inflicts instead of him.
Indeed, I am tired from the uninspired soundtrack—a soundtrack that consists of 10 tracks at most, none of which are memorable. Seriously, this game has the worst SNES soundtrack of all the games I've reviewed. Not only is it completely unoriginal and mundane, but it repeats itself to a criminal degree. For instance, ALL the bosses, including the final boss, share the exact same terrible music.
Flying levels mic things up, but not by much
In a twisted, malicious way, it makes sense that the final boss recycles the same track as the other bosses. Because—wait for it—the final boss is the exact same boss you fought TWO times before with no extra bells or whistles. Not even in the finale does this game deliver a memorable experience.
In Conclusion:
I thought reviewers had fun when slamming a terrible game. Based on this review, which was more difficult to write than a positive review despite being shorter, I think I was wrong.
First, I want to be fair to the hard work put into the game.
Second, I don't want to over-exaggerate my complaints.
Third, playing the game was not a pleasant experience to remember.
From this review, I can only say that DRS might be the worst game Blizzard ever made. It might be the worst SNES game I have played or am yet to play. Stay clear and go play Batman or Spider-Man brawlers if you want your comic book brawler fix.
Final: 2/10 (Not recommended at all)
Pro Points:
- The Power of Flight: +2
- Great Comic Aesthetic: +4
- Decent Brawler Gameplay: +3
- Great Music: +3
Con Points:
- Bland Style: -5
- Poor Storytelling: -2
- Terrible Combat: -3
- Lacks Variety: -3
- Bad Music: -3
- Bad Bosses: -3
Tips:
- Don't play the game.
Series:
I remember having a lot of fun times playing the SNES in my childhood, but I only played or bought about 10 to 15 games, and many games that I played I couldn't go far into owing to my inability to read basic instructions in English.
As I grew up, I played more SNES games that came my way, as well as others released on other platforms. Due to the sheer quality of those titles that I played years later (such as Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger) and those I remember playing (Donkey Kong's Country, Super Mario World), I was always curious about the quality of all those titles I did not play.
Three years before starting this review series, IGN released a list of their top 100 SNES games. Reading that list, I got excited and wanted to play all of them. However, I realized that just playing them wouldn't be enough. I wanted to study that list, and hence decided to review most games on the list.
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| Even the "strong" bosses are boring |
Next Game:
Apparently, I am done with brawlers for the rest of the list. The next game I will be playing is #73, Pocky & Rocky 2. The name tells you very little about the game, and any description won't do it justice. From what I have seen, it can be likened to Goemon's Great Adventure / Mystical Ninja. Also, it is published by Natsume of Harvest Moon fame.
Stay Tuned.
Editorial Note: Before posting the Pocky & Rocky review, I will post several "Legacy" reviews until I reach #73.
For Previous Genesis Game Reviews:
This blog was originally posted in Destructoid Community Blogs on April 30th, 2014. The blog was slightly edited to fit my newer review format.
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