Below are user reviews of Superman Returns and on the right are links to professionally written reviews.
The summary of review scores shows the distribution of scores given by the professional reviewers for Superman Returns.
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Higher scores (columns further towards the right) are better.
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User Reviews (1 - 11 of 34)
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Bad, just bad
1
Rating: 1,
Useful: 20 / 26
Date: November 24, 2006
Author: Amazon User
It's funny that the most invincible super hero ever created has never translated well to the video game world. Superman Returns seems as if that may change, but alas, this is just another licensed, mindless beat 'em up, and yet another lame Superman game. The game starts off promising enough: you fly around Metropolis, and the city is gigantic. All at once memories of the Spider-Man 2 video game surface because you get the feeling that this could be the type of do anything, anytime gaming that the aforementioned game was based on, but this is not the case. As all kinds of chaos explode in the city, the more the city gets damaged, the more it's own life bar is drained, and once it's drained all the way, it's game over. Now, it's a nice change of pace that Superman himself doesn't have a life bar, but why are his powers (heat vision, super breath, etc.) still have to be so limited and only attained after completing boring, repetitive objectives? The fighting system is boring, and for Metropolis being so big, there's hardly anything really to do. There's a nice list of villains to take on; including Metallo, Bizarro, Mr. Mxyzptlk, and of course, Lex Luthor. After that, it all goes even further downhill. The graphics are blocky and just plain ugly, even for a PS2 game, and the camera really does want to jerk around and work against you. Yeah, Superman Returns is a just plain bad licensed crud fest that had more than enough time to get the kinks worked out (the game was originally slated to be released alongside the movie's premiere in theaters this past summer), but what else would you expect from EA? Thanks again guys.
DO NOT BUY THIS GAME!!!
1
Rating: 1,
Useful: 7 / 9
Date: November 24, 2006
Author: Amazon User
I am an avid gamer. I have played a wide range of games of all types from shoot em up, to role playing for over 2 decades. I would be hard pressed to find a game of lower quality than Superman Returns. From the get go, you can tell that the makers of the game tried desperatly to get it finished and packaged to be on store shelves in time for the christmas season, much to the dismay of anyone who buys this game.
The loading of each scene is choppy. When fighting, it is difficult to target in on your enemies. As you find yourself fighting through the center of Metropolis, if you hit any civilians or vehicles (which there are many of) it counts against you. The destruction adds up quickly.
The physics are not very fluid. When flying from area to area, the speed at which Superman flies is a help. When in combat, the same physics apply, so when trying to circle or approach an enemy, he swoops around wildly and almost asks for a beating.
I would say that the game designers were about 70% complete in making this game. The concept is a good one. If they just spent more time refining the individual elements of the game it could have been a half way decent game. Do not buy this game. It is not worth the agrevation.
Superman Should've Never Returned to Gaming
1
Rating: 1,
Useful: 5 / 7
Date: November 25, 2006
Author: Amazon User
Here's a rule of thumb for gamers. Superman games are always bad. Superman 64 is constantly cited as being one of the worst games of all time. When Superman Returns came out, the first thing that came to mind was that it could not be nearly as bad as Superman 64. The good news? The game really isn't as bad as Superman 64. The bad news? The game is still bad. Not for all the same reasons, but its still bad.
The first thing that gets me about the game is the overall story itself. It's just sloppy. There's a lot of stuff thrown in, but it doesn't make sense. I didn't see the movie, but I'm pretty sure it didn't have dragons running rampant. I'm also certain the plot of the movie made sense. Here it really doesn't.
Superman Returns takes on the sandbox approach. That means its like Grand Theft Auto. You'll spend a lot of time flying around Metropolis looking for things to do. Most missions have you either saving someone or a building or something to that effect... either way you're saving Metropolis or a part of it from something. The game introduces a new health bar for you too. Superman doesn't have a health bar... but Metropolis does. So the game really does take saving Metropolis seriously. However, the dilemna with this is that it takes the fun out of the free-roaming aspect of the game. You can't have too much fun in Metropolis because doing something to a building, or harming one of its citizens causes its health to drop. What's the fun of having all these super powers if you can't a little fun with them?
Throughout the game you can use Superman's powers. His heat vision, freezing breath etc. Its great to have access to his powers, but again, you can't have too much fun with them because if you hurt Metropolis you're only making things harder on yourself.
The boss battles give the game some variety but not much. The objectives are never actually explained... and when they are they're pretty vague. The biggest frustration, however, is that if you fail a boss fight or something, you've got to do the whole objective over again. It's annoying. Especially when you're in the midst of a fight and you don't know what to do!
The game doesn't even look all that great or run well. It lacks detail overall, which is really sad considering this game spent more time in development than originally planned. They could've taken time to vamp up the graphics or fix some bugs. There's no excuse for a PS2 game to lack detail. The camera is also terrible. It often gets stuck behind objects or something... the camera is just annoying.
The sad part about all this is that Superman Returns may very well be one of the better Superman games. Its got bugs and glitches, along with some boring gameplay and yet it still manages to be better than previous Superman attempts. It seems Superman, like Batman, was not meant to have a good game. Its time Superman leave the videogame realm, and this time he probably shouldn't return.
Horrible beyond excuse! A Complete EA Movie Tie in Ripoff!
1
Rating: 1,
Useful: 3 / 6
Date: November 23, 2006
Author: Amazon User
Like the first reviewer I was excited about the game and picked it up as soon as it came out without first renting or trying it out beforehand. When it was pushed back I thought that it was a decision to make the game better - Not at all in this case. Unfortunately their additional effort must have gone into marketing and cut scenes rather than gameplay. The controls are unresponsive, camera does not follow well, menus are lame, and the manual is an afterthought.
With games like God of War that do so much with visuals and even Hulk Ultimate Destruction (if you want to talk superhero games specifically) their is no excuse for such a third (or fourth) rate effort - especially when the game was pushed back!!! Superman - you deserved so much more from EA than ANOTHER CRAPPY interpretation.
Infuriating!
1
Rating: 1,
Useful: 4 / 6
Date: November 27, 2006
Author: Amazon User
Perhaps the most aggravating thing about this game is the fact that it could and should have been so much fun. I was really looking forward to this one after hearing promises of a Superman game to rival the Spiderman series. Unfortunately it seems the game was rushed onto shelves - or perhaps just poorly conceived - and it doesn't take more than an hour or two of play before it becomes readily apparent that the game is just a great big mess.
First off, the controls are horrible - completely unresponsive. I'm sure the designers will say that there is a "learning curve" to playing the game, but don't be fooled. The controls just don't work. Second, the graphics are shoddy to say the least. Detail seems to have suffered in place of scope, but that scope is rendered meaningless as every part of Metropolis looks pretty much the same. And finally, the play is repetitive and boring. Granted, this may be due in part to the unresponsive controls, as you find yourself having to play and replay even the first few levels.
You have been warned...
..............................
1
Rating: 1,
Useful: 3 / 5
Date: November 27, 2006
Author: Amazon User
ok look i have beaten every spiderman slash super hero game that was even a little bit popular and omg this game sucks BAD i mean i rented the game and it seemed like they seriously rushed it cause it seems like grass water buildings at first then i land on the ground where the first medior is and my foot gets jammed into the medior and i have to reset the game then i walk up to the thing and i can just walk through it and i say it was a real dissapointment it might be better on 360 but i personally thought the thing really sucked and according to the other reviewers we all agree!!!! so rent it if you really want to try it but after u beat the game your goin to think why the crap did i waste 6 bucks on renting that gay game.......
Glad I only rented it...
1
Rating: 1,
Useful: 2 / 3
Date: November 29, 2006
Author: Amazon User
I can't express how awful this game is. Its not only a disappointment to Superman fans, but to hardcore gamers as well. The controls are unresponsive, the graphics are blocky, the camera views are hard to center when you're in the middle of the action. This entire game seems like one big glitch. The game might actually be fun...if you can get past the 2nd level! RENT THIS GAME, don't buy it.
DO NOT buy this game!!!
1
Rating: 1,
Useful: 1 / 2
Date: December 05, 2006
Author: Amazon User
My first review on here because I don't want others doing what I did. I was waiting for this game for months and I planned on liking it no matter how bad it was. So I went to (Competitor) on Black Friday (worst shopping day of the year) to risk being trampled and getting one of the last copies. They had it on sale for $20 and even that price was too much for it.
I'd give you a spoiler warning of some sort but there isn't anything to spoil. If you want a great Superman story, you won't find it in this game. The controls are hard to get used to. Maybe it has a learning curve, but it's just too hard to do what they want you to do. You gotta lock on to something to fight it but if you want to switch targets, you can't. You can't move around while switching your super powers because you have to take your thumb off the analog stick to push the directional pad.
Everything is very repetitive. Fight a couple robots, bad guys, blow out a fire, save a kitten..... and repeat. Little more to it than that but that's a bulk of what you're doing. Even though the map is 80 square miles, you don't have the freedom of Spider-man 2 to roam around and do a quest when you feel like it.
I will say, however, that flying at superspeed is awesome!! The first time you do it, all these bad reviews mean nothing.... but after an hour, you're done with it. That's what I did. Played the game for an hour and returned it. I called (Competitor) and said "Hey, this game sucks, can I return it?" They're not "No, it's open." So, I went to (Used game competitor) and they gave me 17 bucks for it out of the 20 I paid for it. So, that's the 1 good thing I got out of the game.
Cameron's Superman Returns
1
Rating: 1,
Useful: 1 / 6
Date: January 16, 2007
Author: Amazon User
It was a gift for my grandson. He was overjoyed to get it.
Come on....
1
Rating: 1,
Useful: 1 / 4
Date: December 09, 2006
Author: Amazon User
I didn't like the new movie compared to the old ones and I didn't like this game. I mean imagine this, the save menu has the fortress of solitude to choose from but you never get to go there at any point of the game. If you have seen the movie the climatic scene takes place in the fortress of solitude. The game has no option to go there or fight there. I play the whole boring game waiting for this battle against Lex Luthor and his goons in the fortress just to get out of the city of Metropolis that never materailizes. They do the whole scene via cut scene. Ridicuolous! They could have at least shown him falling back to earth or something.
I would talk about the mindless game play and camera angles but I think those shortcomings were well addressed in other reviews. Don't buy this game!
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