Did you know the original Xbox had an exclusive Superman game? If you had asked me that question a few days ago, I’d have told you no, surely that’s something I’d have heard of before. Based on the people I’ve talked to since discovering this game, there’s a decent chance you never knew about it either.
Superman: The Man of Steel was published by Atari’s Infogrames label in 2002 and developed by Circus Freak, a development team founded within Infogrames. As far as I could find, this Superman game and a Looney Tunes Racing game are their only credits.
Superman: The Man of Steel on Xbox
Over the last week I’ve been spotlighting various Superman games over on my TikTok and YouTube channel ranging from Superman and Justice League Task Force on the Sega Genesis, Justice League Heroes and Superman Returns on PlayStation 2, and of course Superman 64 on Nintendo 64. Most of them range from not great to terrible.
I knew I was leaving out a few games I didn’t have copies of, like the Atari, NES, and Game Boy titles, but then fate intervened for another I was missing.
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I was browsing my local game store just a couple of days ago, which was running a 50% discount promotion on loose game discs, and that’s when I spotted it. A Superman game for the original Xbox I’d never heard of. I did a little research on my phone and realized it was an Xbox console exclusive and, after the discount, it would only set me back $5 for the loose disc.
That’s a risk I’m willing to take on a video game every single time.
After I got home I popped it in my Xbox and, sure enough, it worked just fine. The opening cinematic showed Lois Lane and Clark Kent walking down the street in a futuristic version of Metropolis with flying cars overhead. She remarks that her husband is a hero, meaning the pair are already married and she knows all about his real identity.
From what I could glean online, it looks like this game is based directly on the comic book source material of the era (specifically the Superman Y2k storyline), rather than pulling from the movies or animated series like most of the other Superman games I’ve played. Admittedly, I haven’t read many Superman comics, so I could be wrong, but at first glance that’s immediately more interesting to me.
I appreciate that this isn’t a convoluted origin story as Superman is already clearly established in this universe and as soon as the introductory cinematic ends, the city is under attack and you take off to defend it. Brainiac’s robots are wreaking havoc so you’ve got to fly around the city, cycle through your powers like heat vision and cold breath, and take them out.
Granted, I haven’t played through the entire game yet, but what I’ve seen so far is actually surprisingly fun. I like the vibes, the city is overall quite detailed, everything controls well, flying feels great, and it seems like they’ve understood the gist of the character.
One area that presents some frequent frustrations though is the time limit. A lot of missions are very strictly timed, which can ruin the flow and fun of the game. Not to mention many of the missions feature repetitive objectives, so I can definitely see it wearing out its welcome rather quickly.
Rather than the game following a strictly linear mission structure, it could have really been improved it if instead had an open world hub similar to the Spider-Man 2 game or Grand Theft Auto games from the same generation, in which you could explore and do side objectives in-between story missions.
This game reviewed terribly when it released. It’s certainly not an instant classic, but I’m still surprised it was forgotten so quickly and doesn’t ever get discussed very much. The GameRankings aggregate score has it at a 42.28% which is wild considering that it seems to be a competent, unique, and generally enjoyable game.
Maybe I’m in the minority here, but I miss when we’d get licensed video games like this more often. I used to love playing the games based on the movies, TV shows, and characters I loved as a kid and it’s a shame my kids won’t have that luxury. I prefer when developers had the flexibility and funding to take risks, try new things, and innovate beyond the same handful of genre blends we mostly see today.
Every time my son discovers a new show he really loves, he asks if there are any games based on that show and the answer is almost always a resounding no. Other than a handful of mobile apps, themed worlds in Roblox, or a LEGO game here and there, chances are there are very few properly released licensed games nowadays. Thankfully some publishers are still cranking them out when they can, like Outright Games, but it’s not the same as it once was.
Ultimately, I hope to see another Superman game one day. The man of steel deserves it.
