Why is it impossible for a good superman game to be made??
Published Wednesday 17 Feb 2010 12:06pm |
23
Tags: Superman
In all my years (all 33) of them, I have yet to play a decent superman game. I really wanted to love Superman Returns, because the flying mechanics were so good (and the less said about the horror of THAT GAME you know which one, the better). And as I continued to pull what little remaining hair I have, it came to me, is it because he can fly??
Now flying in most games is ok, I mean plane sims do it alright, but because the man of steel is invulnerable and is super fast, getting a good balance between flight, speed has been the biggest problem. Granted on Superman Returns the flying aspect (while he is flying forward) is spot on. You really feel like your faster than a speeding bullet.
However.... once he starts hovering and trying to fight than we start running into all sorts of problems, he becomes jerky and based on past superman games he ends up looking less than super. Which leads me to believe once again, if they made a game where Superman's flying is non-existent or saved for every other stage, would that break the curse??
For many gamers seeing Superman butchered time and time again has made us feel like game companies all smoke Kryptonite and want nothing better than to see him fail. (Is EA owned by Lexcorp or something??)
So I put this out to all the fanboys, gamer heads, and staright up geeks on nzgamer, what could they do to fix superman? Is it even possible. Batman seems to do alright.
COMMENTS (23)
1. No one cares about Superman anymore...Batman is clearly superior.
and
2. You didn't actually even begin to answer the question in your blog title.
Im confused.
and
2. You didn't actually even begin to answer the question in your blog title.
Im confused.
I just think game dev's trade on the fact that movie licences will drive sales. Perhaps even the budget that's afforded to the title might be a factor too.
"2. You didn't actually even begin to answer the question in your blog title."
Maybe the question was rhetorical. Then again, the blog was so short that it was little more than "a question". But he has a point. Licensed superhero games have a tendency to be sh*t.
I suspect this is because the impetus behind these games is usually pure profiteering (because of the fatcat publishers, rights holders etc), with no spare thought for artistic or technical integrity. So perhaps the development contract ends up in the hands of the worst programmers/designers the smallest amount of money possible can afford.
I swear the most laughable video game I have ever seen is Spiderman on Wii. Makes most PS1 games look good. Hell, it makes horse crap look good. How do the devs behind that one look at themselves in the mirror each morning?
Maybe the question was rhetorical. Then again, the blog was so short that it was little more than "a question". But he has a point. Licensed superhero games have a tendency to be sh*t.
I suspect this is because the impetus behind these games is usually pure profiteering (because of the fatcat publishers, rights holders etc), with no spare thought for artistic or technical integrity. So perhaps the development contract ends up in the hands of the worst programmers/designers the smallest amount of money possible can afford.
I swear the most laughable video game I have ever seen is Spiderman on Wii. Makes most PS1 games look good. Hell, it makes horse crap look good. How do the devs behind that one look at themselves in the mirror each morning?
25 February 2010, 01:23 PM
Reply to leopardsqueezy
"2. You didn't actually even begin to answer the question in your blog title."
Maybe the question was rhetorical. Then again, the blog was so short that it was little more than "a question". But he has a point. Licensed superhero games have a tendency to be sh*t.
I suspect this is because the impetus behind these games is usually pure profiteering (because of the fatcat publishers, rights holders etc), with no spare thought for artistic or technical integrity. So perhaps the development contract ends up in the hands of the worst programmers/designers the smallest amount of money possible can afford.
I swear the most laughable video game I have ever seen is Spiderman on Wii. Makes most PS1 games look good. Hell, it makes horse crap look good. How do the devs behind that one look at themselves in the mirror each morning?
Tbh, I'm not a fan of any "Superhero" comic figures because to me they're all simply overkill."2. You didn't actually even begin to answer the question in your blog title."
Maybe the question was rhetorical. Then again, the blog was so short that it was little more than "a question". But he has a point. Licensed superhero games have a tendency to be sh*t.
I suspect this is because the impetus behind these games is usually pure profiteering (because of the fatcat publishers, rights holders etc), with no spare thought for artistic or technical integrity. So perhaps the development contract ends up in the hands of the worst programmers/designers the smallest amount of money possible can afford.
I swear the most laughable video game I have ever seen is Spiderman on Wii. Makes most PS1 games look good. Hell, it makes horse crap look good. How do the devs behind that one look at themselves in the mirror each morning?
Why the hell would Superman have issues? Its like: "Oh hey, Im invulnerable and stuff...but apparently people rebel against me"
Oh sure...cause thats bright.
Yea, I never expect anything out of American comic book superheros simply because the heros themselves are thin...
Although...I played a Marvel game (I think) where you go into a 3d area and beat the crap out of each other which was kinda fun...specially as Wolverine. You could just pick up trucks and hurl them at the opponent.
Kept me entertained many-a-drunk night
Yeah, throwing trucks would keep anyone with a sense of humour occupied for hours.
I love over-the-top slapstick violence. It should become a new genre.
Cliched comic book heroes aren't exactly my "thing" either, but really all that matters is the underlying game. So before anyone slags off all superhero games, please remember to exclude Capcom's Marvel fighting games - I've had most of them since Marvel Super Heroes on Sega Saturn, and they are amongst the best fighters ever. They don't make 'em like that anymore.
I love over-the-top slapstick violence. It should become a new genre.
Cliched comic book heroes aren't exactly my "thing" either, but really all that matters is the underlying game. So before anyone slags off all superhero games, please remember to exclude Capcom's Marvel fighting games - I've had most of them since Marvel Super Heroes on Sega Saturn, and they are amongst the best fighters ever. They don't make 'em like that anymore.
25 February 2010, 01:30 PM
Reply to Takuyafire
Tbh, I'm not a fan of any "Superhero" comic figures because to me they're all simply overkill.
Why the hell would Superman have issues? Its like: "Oh hey, Im invulnerable and stuff...but apparently people rebel against me"
Oh sure...cause thats bright.
Yea, I never expect anything out of American comic book superheros simply because the heros themselves are thin...
Although...I played a Marvel game (I think) where you go into a 3d area and beat the crap out of each other which was kinda fun...specially as Wolverine. You could just pick up trucks and hurl them at the opponent.
Kept me entertained many-a-drunk night
Why would Superman have issues?Tbh, I'm not a fan of any "Superhero" comic figures because to me they're all simply overkill.
Why the hell would Superman have issues? Its like: "Oh hey, Im invulnerable and stuff...but apparently people rebel against me"
Oh sure...cause thats bright.
Yea, I never expect anything out of American comic book superheros simply because the heros themselves are thin...
Although...I played a Marvel game (I think) where you go into a 3d area and beat the crap out of each other which was kinda fun...specially as Wolverine. You could just pick up trucks and hurl them at the opponent.
Kept me entertained many-a-drunk night
If you look at it on an emotional level, he may have issues because:
- He lost his ACTUAL home planet
- Any kind of tether he had to that world barely exists and the humans who helped him don't really understand Krypton
- Though he is a God amongst us, he was raised as a man who must understand right from wrong. Who must understand the responsibility he has in the world. And so he must feel HE IS responsible for the wellbeing of the world
Maybe that's why.
And pretty straightforward blog. Who knows why Superman games suck, but I know I enjoyed the hell out of Superman: The Animated Series game on PS2. It wasn't bad. WASN'T GOOD! But wasn't bad.
sh*t man no need to get defensive...
I just think if superman is a good guy and all, he might as well just strap a tank cannon to his back and pretty much beat everything to death.
However if he was remotely humanoid, he would be all emo'd out about losing his planet and would likely strap a nuke to himself and fly into people making his life hell.
I know I would
I just think if superman is a good guy and all, he might as well just strap a tank cannon to his back and pretty much beat everything to death.
However if he was remotely humanoid, he would be all emo'd out about losing his planet and would likely strap a nuke to himself and fly into people making his life hell.
I know I would
To be honest, I don't even think Superman is that great a superhero anyways. When you're so 'all powerful' that you can rebuild the Great Wall of China with you eye beams and then try to compress that into a console of considerably less power then you're starting to have some problems. Unless your console is a quantum computer.
Hulk: Ultimate Destruction is pretty darn good if you're a fan of him. Chucking a tree clean through a bus never gets old.
Hulk: Ultimate Destruction is pretty darn good if you're a fan of him. Chucking a tree clean through a bus never gets old.
Fair enough takuya.
Just a comic fiend, everyone is always about the powers, not the people and that's a dynamic I feel should be recognised.
At least to understand a little about why they are who they are.
And Srassy, too right about Hulk: Ultimate Destruction. A really great comic game. And how fun was it to be Gamma Banner?
Little man running around with Hulk powers. RIDICULOUS.
Just a comic fiend, everyone is always about the powers, not the people and that's a dynamic I feel should be recognised.
At least to understand a little about why they are who they are.
And Srassy, too right about Hulk: Ultimate Destruction. A really great comic game. And how fun was it to be Gamma Banner?
Little man running around with Hulk powers. RIDICULOUS.
Well the obvious answer to this is because Superman Sucks...How could you make a game around someone who is either so strong he can't be hurt, or so weakend by kryptonite that he can't walk...That's like saying you can either play as a tank against pre-schoolers, or a pre-schooler against tanks.
Technically though, games have never really got hovering thing right. I think it has something to do with games being unable to provide responsive controls for quick all axis movement(up-down, forward-back, left-right). The raise and drop mechanics never work how they should it's either too slow, or automated through an ineffective auto-targeting system. It makes all air combat feel awkward.
Technically though, games have never really got hovering thing right. I think it has something to do with games being unable to provide responsive controls for quick all axis movement(up-down, forward-back, left-right). The raise and drop mechanics never work how they should it's either too slow, or automated through an ineffective auto-targeting system. It makes all air combat feel awkward.
I tend to try and steer clear of comic book games..
Only one that I played and enjoyed was Wolverine Origins, which was a sweet game btw.
I could imagine Superman being a very simple (maybe fun, but) game, that consists of Superman owning all the bad guys.
He in pretty much invincible, so i don't see how the game would be that challenging, without creating some kind of crazy weapon that actually hurts or hinders him..
Only one that I played and enjoyed was Wolverine Origins, which was a sweet game btw.
I could imagine Superman being a very simple (maybe fun, but) game, that consists of Superman owning all the bad guys.
He in pretty much invincible, so i don't see how the game would be that challenging, without creating some kind of crazy weapon that actually hurts or hinders him..
I honestly didn't think there were people that cared enough about Superman. Batman, sure. But Superman?
Nah.
Nah.
Meh, when you have such limitless potential as the man of steel it would be easy to get sidetracked and focus on crappy details, plus because it only pops up every now and then it wouldnt develop naturally and would just give into the modern standards, lame as they are (moral choice, quick time events)
imo
imo
good question. his large array of powers makes for varied gameplay, however his lack of personality would hurt. i say a justice league unlimited game!!
Lol, Superman.
We are still to see a good movie from Superman first.
We are still to see a good movie from Superman first.
Superman is a ver hard franchise to get right because of power activation. Batman is easier as he is combat and weapon based.
just make a game where he owns.
cruise around being awesome.
it's what rpg fiends strive for with all their grinding.
give it to them off the bat with an omnipotent character from scratch.
punch out the sun!
cruise around being awesome.
it's what rpg fiends strive for with all their grinding.
give it to them off the bat with an omnipotent character from scratch.
punch out the sun!
27 February 2010, 11:57 AM
Reply to Slide
Superman is a ver hard franchise to get right because of power activation. Batman is easier as he is combat and weapon based.
"burn sh*t with eyes, rinse and repeat" would get old fast
Superman is a ver hard franchise to get right because of power activation. Batman is easier as he is combat and weapon based.
26 February 2010, 10:45 AM
Reply to stupidlikeafox
good question. his large array of powers makes for varied gameplay, however his lack of personality would hurt. i say a justice league unlimited game!!
Definitely a good idea, theres a lot of combat opportunities with other characters such as flash, green lantern and martian manhunter. MK vs DC were on the right track with that one.good question. his large array of powers makes for varied gameplay, however his lack of personality would hurt. i say a justice league unlimited game!!
In terms of superman he i, it seems, just too super for the gaming world which is fine as batman more than makes up for him
Because it's hard to fill the game with superman's abilities when there are only 4 action buttons. Plus marvel just fail at games. (and dc)
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