Reign of the Supermen #241: Atari 2600 Superman

Source: Atari 2600 game by Atari Inc. (1978)
Type: Video game

Speaking of Prehistoric... 10 things you oughta be aware of as you watch the above video of actual game play...
1. 1978 is a lonnnnnnnng time ago. I didn't even know they HAD pixels back then.
2. The sound was entirely crafted out of fax machine and modem noises.
3. My cat is very cross that I am playing this vid. Remember folks, cat hearing is very sensitive.
4. Only three of Superman's powers are used in the game: Strength, X-ray vision, and flight.
5. The cartridge art looks like this. It's not bad!6. Despite the cartridge's affirmation that this is a one-player game, you can play with two. One of you controls up and down motion, the other left and right motion.
7. This is one of the earliest games to feature the Pause option. Unfortunately, it has a bug that allows you to complete the game without repairing the bridge or capturing Lex and his gang.
8. If hit by Kryptonite, Superman loses his abilities to capture criminals and fly. To regain them, he must find and kiss Lois Lane.
9. Featuring a Superman with no red shorts, it prefigured the post-Flushpoint Superman by more than 30 years.
10. Watch the epilepsy! (Cue Paul Shaffer and the band...)

Comments

De said…
Aside from the arcade game, has there been a decent video game for Superman?
Anonymous said…
Actually, the Atari cartridge wasn't too bad, in terms of game play. It beat the hell out of most games that were available at the time; I was there, I had the cartridge.
Anonymous said…
That *is* nice cartridge art. What do you think, Curt Swan on the background figure, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez on the foreground?
Mikester said…
Fastest time, without cheating: 42 seconds.

Fastest time, WITH the cheat: 2 seconds.

This was a really fun game...I can still hear the sound effects even now!
Matthew Turnage said…
jheaton: the background art is Swan and Oksner from the cover of Superman #300, and the foreground figure is Adams from the cover of Superman #252.