Museum of the Game ®

International Arcade Museum® — Killer List of Videogames®

Superman

Description

You control Superman or a red Superman in two-player games to fight and kick in a battle against the evil super-powered aliens. The game alternates between fight/kick sequences and flying sequences where Superman uses his heat vision to shoot meteors and mechanical weapons.

Superman was produced by Taito in 1988.

Taito released 486 machines in our database under this trade name, starting in 1967. Taito was based in Japan.

Other machines made by Taito during the time period Superman was produced include: Tokusyu Butai UAG, Full Throttle, Contintental Circuit, Exzisus, Wardner No Mori, Bonze Adventure, Chase H.Q., Chuka Taisen, Cloud Master, and Fighting Hawk

Specs

Name	Superman
Developer	Taito (Japan)
Year	1988
Type	Videogame
KLOV/MOG #	9977
Class	Wide Release
Genre	Scrolling Fighter
Monitor	Orientation: Horizontal Type: Raster: Standard Resolution Color: Color
Conversion Class	JAMMA
Dipswitch Settings	Superman Dipswitch Settings (user contributed)
# Simultaneous Players	2
# Maximum Players	2
Game Play	Joint
Control Panel Layout	Multiple Player
Controls	Joystick: 8-way Buttons: 2 - PunchKick/Heat Vision
Sound	Amplified Mono (one channel)
Cabinet Styles	Upright/Standard
Side Art	Superman Side Art Image
PCB	Superman PCB Image

Video Clips

Superman arcade 1988 ending

Superman shortplay by Ivan Paduano

Game Introduction

Superman is a horizontal video game that may be played by one or two players interactively.

The two players, one controlling a blue Superman character and one controlling a red Superman character, team up to save the world from conquest by battling against the evil super-powered aliens.

Each player uses a joystick to move his Superman character while walking, hovering or in flight. Two buttons aside each joystick are used to throw punches, kick, or emit heat vision, a high-intensity laser which destroys all in its path. By pressing the punch button and holding it momentarily, Superman can throw a blast punch.

As Superman picks up various colored crystals, he is awarded with additional energy and weapons, including a Super Blast Punch and Mass Terminator. The Mass Terminator destroys all enemies presently on the screen.

Items such as cars, gasoline cans, etc. can also be picked up and hurled at approaching enemies. This is done by crouching down and then standing up.

It is possible for a second player to join the game at any time and the players can keep playing with the "Continue Play" options.

The game begins with Clark Kent running through an empty alley and switching to Superman.

There are five rounds:

Metropolis
San Francisco
Las Vegas
Washington D.C.
The Spaceship

At the end of each round, there is a "boss" enemy who must be defeated in order to proceed to the next round.

The game ends after completing the fifth and final round.

Superman KLOV/IAM 5 Point User Score: 4.65 (1 vote)

Fun Factor: 4.80

Overall Like	5.00
Fun (Social)	5.00
Fun (Solo)	5.00
Collector Desire	4.00

Technical Rating: 4.50

Gameplay	5.00
Graphics	5.00
Originality	4.00
Sound/Music	4.00

Personal Impressions and Technical Impressions each account for half of the total score. Within the Personal Impressions category, Like carries a little more weight than the other factors.

Images

Trivia

During the demo, there is a screen which has a picture of an evil alien creature holding a small globe in his huge hand. That picture originally appeared in an old DC Special Series graphic novel titled "Superman Vs. Muhammad Ali".

It is possible that the idea for the second player's red Superman came from the imaginary story "The Amazing Story Of Superman-Red And Superman-Blue" which was published in Superman No. 162 in 1963, but perhaps this is just a coincidence.

Superman's first appearance in Action Comics 1 May 1938. In 1978, The Superman movie opened in theaters, and years later it would be released on video tapes.

Miscellaneous

The game plays the theme music from the Superman movies.

VAPS Arcade/Coin-Op Superman Census

There are 15,211 members of the Video Arcade Preservation Society / Vintage Arcade Preservation Society, 9,644 whom participate in our arcade census project of games owned, wanted, or for sale. Census data currently includes 166,563 machines (6,981 unique titles).

Very Common - There are 106 known instances of this machine owned by Superman collectors who are active members. Of these, 22 of them are original dedicated machines. 15 of them are conversions in which game circuit boards (and possibly cabinet graphics) have been placed in (and on) another game cabinet. 67 of them are only circuit boards which a collector could put into a generic case if desired.

For Sale - There are 5 active VAPS members with a Superman machines for sale. There are 8 active VAPS members with a Superman circuit boards for sale.

Wanted - There are 4 active VAPS members currently looking for Superman. There is one active VAPS member looking for a Superman circuit board set.

This game ranks a 27 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most often seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on census ownership records.

This game ranks a 5 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most often seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on census want list records.

Rarity and Popularity independently are not necessarily indications of value. [More Information]

Flyers

Manuals

Pinout and DIP switch settings. - Superman Manual — **Pinout and DIP switch settings.**
(3 pages, 477 kB File)

Foto-Finder® (Books)

The Encyclopedia of Arcade Video Games Kurtz (ISBN 0764319256) Page: 205; Color photo Price guide: No
Encyclopedia of Arcade Video Games Kurtz (ISBN 0764319256) Page: 205; Color photo

Additional References (logged in members often see more)

3D Model (External): Upright (d8a44fc1f40d0ec271d096a6914e7333)

eBay Listings

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