I had hesitation when firing this game up for the first time. I mean, it's Superman! He has a standard to live up to! That, and the animated series didn't exactly catch my fancy. I'm still a fan for the movies (except for #3. What the heck was that about?!), so my expectations were a little over-the-top. But when I saw the cartoon cover for the PS2 title, I decided it was worth a shot. I mean, it's Superman!
You know those expectations I was talking about? Yep…all but a few were blown away as the first level started.
Each level starts with a cinematic. This is great because you get to check out the story and the cel-shading that they used on the models. I must say this was impressive, since it was based off of the cartoon series, the shading made it look even better. I think they also used the original cast from the show to do the voices for the game, so it brings the whole experience around.
Loading time sucked a bit, but the games play made up for it. There was very little quality change between the cinematics and the actual game play, considering that it was all cel-shaded. When you went from one to the other, you noticed very minimal difference in quality.
Now the controls. I'll get the gritty stuff out of the way first. Superman will have to do battle with the evil Minions that plague the fair city of Metropolis on a constant basis. There are a variety of attacks that the blue-boy can use, and you will have to vary these attacks regularly. Standard attack is ye ol' fisticuffs, which is pretty effective with a decent crowd of bad guys. You can virtually take out about 5-7 guys just by using your bare knuckles, but keep in mind that you are not as invulnerable as you think you are (in the story, this robot army has Kryptonic-equipped weapons which can injure Superman). So, there are a few other tricks you can use to keep it real and keep from getting beaten. I mean come on, you're Superman!
On the ground, you can pick up objects from boxes to cars, rocks, tanks, and even other people! They don't seem to cause a lot of damage, but its fun just to start chucking things at your opponents. Against ground troops, you have your "Super Spin" which takes out a nice healthy chunk of your super power, but also stuns or takes out enemies surrounding you. There is also the "Floor Slam", which I use constantly. Pretty effective for stirring up the troops, and if you perform the move while right over an enemy soldier, you crush him while decimating half of the other soldiers. Other moves include the "Speeding Bullet", which is usually used for one enemy but inflicts a lot of damage; and your standard powers such as laser eyes (double-tap the Triangle and you get a Heat Blast) and super breath.
To be honest, I wasn't too impressed with the fighting. There was more I was expecting from it, but it seems that all Supe can do is throw a few hooks and a devastating uppercut. Not that it really bothered me, I think I too busy performing the floor slam and zapping baddies with my laser vision. My other favorite was tearing a piece of piping off the wall and playing baseball with the foot soldiers. It's pretty cool watching Superman swing that pipe and seeing some pathetic troop fly across the room, shattering into a thousand pieces once he hits the wall!
Anywho, the best part about this game, and I've spoken to other people about it that agree, is the flying. I can't even explain how freakin' cool this is, other than when you're the Man of Steel cruising around Metropolis for the first time, the comparison is few and far between. There is a thrill and a sense of freedom when you're flying through buildings and around the Daily Planet, flying low over traffic, people giving props as you zoom past them…if you must buy this game, buy it for this reason only!!!
If you were familiar with the cartoon series, then you'd recognize the main villain on the cover as Metallo. I caught a brief part of this episode, and the background is about some whacked out scientist who gets caught up Lex Luthor (who makes an appearance, by the way), loses his body, but somehow Lex transfers his brain (or thoughts, whatever) into a mechanical body. Well, Metallo doesn't really appreciate this "kind gesture" from our favorite arch-nemesis, so he seeks revenge against Luthor and, no surprise, Superman.
But it doesn't stop there. The battles get crazier when you have to go up against the metallic army, or take care of a prison break where two more villains from the series make an appearance: Livewire and Parasite.
