Reloading…Comic Book Heroes

Superheroes have been a staple of entertainment for decades, since Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman (the caped crusader hadn’t added ‘The’ to his monicker quite yet!) took the army of masked avengers from the printed page to the big screen. From lunchboxes to action figures and clothing to tie-in video games, superheroes are a genre to themselves. Mimicking the movies that inspired them, while many are treasured by fans the majority of tie-in games ride the wave of hype and are then forgotten. In the case of the games covered here, they’re deleted from the App Store as well as our memories, so we thought we would go back and look at these lost games to see if they can get our Spidey senses tingling.

Superman

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a Superman game! We could hardly have a round-up of comic hero titles without at least one featuring the Man of Steel. There were actually several Superman games for mobile, but this one by Chillingo Ltd has got to be our favorite.

The simply-named Superman saw our hero soaring across the Metropolis skyline, taking on a myriad of enemies using many of his best-known powers. These include heat vision, super-breath, and super speed, but it’s the flying element that makes this game so much fun. The action took place over 18 levels as the evil mastermind, Lex Luthor, attempts to take over the world (well, what else does he have to fill his days?)

The game was fairly simple in design, but that made sense, as the action was often faster than a speeding bullet, and anything more complex would have made things difficult to follow. Each level contained score challenges, with gold, silver, and bronze rewards; giving Superman a level of re-playability. You could also play a Random Mission Mode when you’ve completed all of the main levels.

All in all, Superman was a fast, furious and fun challenge, even if it isn't the most amazing-looking game around - even at the time of its 2012 release. It was probably aimed more at younger players, but that didn't mean more mature superhero fans didn't find plenty to keep them entertained for a short time. Sadly, in terms of long-term appeal, this app also left your memory faster than a speeding bullet (sorry couldn’t resist that!)

Iron Man 2