Superman (NES)/Chapter 2

Back in the Daily Planet, Clark Kent's copy chief wants him to find out why the stock prices have fallen so much. Lois suggests that Clark starts looking in Senneville to find out more about stocks, and Jimmy provides Clark with a pass to use the subways. With the ability to ride the subways, much more of Metropolis becomes available to you.

Visiting the stock market
After leaving the Daily Planet, you will find that the zombies you faced in the last chapter have become more prevalent. You can't fight them as Clark Kent, so hop in the phone booth, become Superman, and access Super Breath-2 to freeze them before beating them up. Your goal is to head to Senneville, but you have a couple of options as to how you get there.

Superman rides the subway
It may seem very unusual for Superman to get around Metropolis via the subway like common folks, but in this game, it tends to be a fairly common way for him to get from one location to another. So as strange as it may be, you can walk to the subway entrance to the right of the phone booth, and press to hitch a ride on the subway to the west side of Mt. Royal. From there, you can walk on foot to Senneville (drop down to "Running to Senneville" below), or attempt to fly. However, there are a few power upgrades that are easier to collect if you travel a different way.

Why ride when you can fly
In the last chapter, flying caused you to miss some power upgrades. In this chapter, it can actually make it easier for you to find them. Instead of riding the subway, activate your Super Flight power, and select Mt. Royal as your destination. When you land, you will arrive in a friendly neighborhood where none of the people will have anything of real importance to say.

If you travel to the right one block, you will enter an area where you are seemingly pushed back by an unseen force. Return to the screen and utilize your X-Ray Vision power. You should now be able to see a few ghost-like blobs wandering around. There are five of them, and you need to defeat all of them without letting any leap off the side of the screen, which the leftmost blobs have a tendency to do. If one does, you'll have to leave the screen and return, reactivate your X-Ray Vision, and try again. If you do manage to defeat all five of them, you will earn a Heat Vision upgrade.

From there, start running back to the left, through the friendly neighborhood, and on to the screen beyond. You'll encounter a number of small Chinese gang members. Fight them as you make your way to Glernmorgan Square. If you happened to visit the Stock Market first, someone inside would have informed you that Glernmorgan Square is having difficulties, so since you're here already, you might as well investigate. Once you step inside, you may not see anything, but you will probably get hit by another invisible force. Activate your X-Ray Vision again, and you will see what's causing the problem: three invisible cat-like demons. Beat them up, and when the third demon goes down, you will earn a Super Spin upgrade.

Back outside, continue running left. As you do, you will pass a subway entrance, but this is not the one that leads you back to the Daily Planet. Instead, this one takes you to Newtown, which is not where you need to be at this point. However, as soon as you arrive on the next screen, you will immediately come upon the subway entrance that does lead back to the Daily Planet, right next to a phone booth.

Running to Senneville
From the subway entrance, run to the left past St. Martin's Square and Harmony Music on the next screen, and fight the heavy gang members that try to stop you. Eventually, you will pass another subway entrance which takes you to Centennial Park. You will pass Palace Disco as well, which contains nothing interesting now, but is a place you will need to return to in a later chapter. You will also pass Metropolis University which is another location to make note of.

After you pass the University, you will reach a block with a type of enemy you haven't seen before. They look like they could be martial artists of some kind. There are five of them to beat, and they don't give items when they are defeated. This is a sign that once you beat all of them, you will earn a power-up. Sure enough, once you take down the final enemy, you will earn a Super Breath-1 power up. All of this takes place in front of the Mountain Records building.

So much action, and you still haven't reached the Stock Market. After you run through a group of small Chinese gang members, you will reach a block occupied by zombies. Prepare Super Breath-2 so you can deal with them. You will pass the Holography Museum along the way. Beyond that is another friendly block where the citizens have nothing helpful to say. You will pass a subway entrance that leads to Teaboro, as well as the entrance to Wonderland Toys. After fighting through a block of thugs, you reach another friendly section, followed by another zombie-infested block.

On the next screen, you will find the Metropolis Bank, which means you're very close to the stock market now. Continue to deal with the zombies as you run to the left, and you will pass a ladder in the ground before a phone booth. Make a note of this ladder, and continue on. Sure enough, just past the phone booth is the Stock Market. Step inside to hear the news. You will learn that there is trouble at the Fish Market in Old City, and also in Glernmorgan Square (which you hopefully already visited on your way here.) The FBI agents in the back seem to believe that the Dragon Gang is behind the problem.

Underground to Old City
Although Glernmorgan Square was mentioned, you don't need to visit it. See above for information about what it contains and the power-up you can collect there. Exit the Stock Market, and continue running left. As soon as you arrive in the next screen, you will immediately see a ladder. You need to take this ladder to reach Old City, but before you do, investigate the rest of the screen. You will see a lone gang member in a suit running around very quickly. Once you find him, knock him out, and he'll profess to never snatch anything again. A Super Flight upgrade will also appear.

After you collect the upgrade, return to the ladder and climb down to the underground passage. Naturally, the underground will be crawling with thugs, so prepare to put up a fight as you cross from one end of the passage to the other. Climb up the ladder when you reach the end, and you will arrive in the small section of Old City. Thugs will already be in place to greet you. Clear them out of the area and you will find yourself in front of the Fish Market, one of the places you were told about at the Stock Market. Step inside, and beat up the three Chinese gang members to obtain a Super Breath-1 upgrade.

When you step back outside, a man will thank you for saving the market from the Dragon Gang. Another man to the left will inform you that the Gang intends to set fire to Lexcorp Plaza in Lafayette, which is your new destination. If you wish to fly there, you have a choice. You can either fly to Senneville from Old City, and take the underground passage to Lafayette, or you can return through the underground passage you took to get to Old City, and fly from the passage's exit to Lafayette. However, this walkthrough will assume that you chose not to fly.

Stopping the gang's plans
Return through the underground passage to the west side of Senneville, and return to the Stock Market. Just past the Stock Market, a short distance to the right, is a ladder that you passed earlier. Drop down this ladder to a new underground passage. This one is slightly more complex. A ladder to a level below appears early on, and the remainder of the initial passage dead-ends. Take the ladder down to the next level, and run to the right to find another ladder leading back up. You'll find another ladder leading up to the surface a short distance to the right. Climb up and you'll find yourself in Lafayette.

Lexcorp Plaza is at the left end of the block. Fight past the thugs to reach it and step inside. You'll see flames roaming the floor. This is no problem for Superman, as he can blow out each of the flames with a quick blast from his Super Breath-1 power. After defeating all four flames, you will receive the next Super Spin upgrade.

When you step outside, a man to the left will thank you, while a man to the right will inform you that the gang also planned to hold up Metropolis Bank. At the same time, your Super Hearing will pick up cries for Help, coming from the bank's vicinity. Return through the underground passage, and run to the right after you return to the surface. The bank will be at the far right end of the screen.

Inside, you will find four gun-toting gang members, so it's a good idea to jump over them before you attack, in order to dodge the bullets they fire at you. When you defeat all four, the last two will say things to you like, "Do you like Chinese Noodles?" and "Don't look for the Dragon Gang." These two quotes are clues to their whereabouts. You will also receive an X-Ray Vision upgrade as a reward.

When you step outside, a man will thank you. He will also ask if you can transport the criminals to the police station in Teaboro. At that point, a criminal icon will appear next to your subway pass in the upper left corner of the screen, indicating that you have prisoners in your custody.

Take the criminals to jail
Reaching Teaboro is a matter of running to the right, back to the subway entrance that takes you to Teaboro. You are not permitted to fly to Teaboro at this point. Keep running right until you pass Wonderland Toys, and use the first subway entrance that you find. After a short ride, you will arrive in Teaboro, and a zombie is likely waiting for you. Deal with it and run to the left and you will immediately stumble upon The Metro Police Station. Step inside, and the first policeman that you speak with will thank you for capturing the Dragon Gang. The prisoner icon will disappear.

Knock out the gang leader
At this point, it may not be so clear what the next step should be. Since you're in Teaboro, you might as well explore a little. Run to the right to see the next screen. Suddenly, the music and the architecture will change. If it isn't obvious, you've found China Town. The first building is China Garden. However, before you investigate it, run to the right. The next building you come to, the Firemen's Memorial Museum, will have a distress cry coming from inside. Step inside.

It may be ironic, but the Firemen's Memorial Museum is on fire. Just as you did in Lexcorp Plaza, switch to Super Breath-1 and use it to blow out all of the flames. When you do, you will earn a Heat Vision upgrade. Once you're done with that, you're free to visit the China Garden. However, before you step inside, it would be a very good idea to make sure that your health meter is as close to full as possible. When you're ready, step inside.

Boss: Gang Leader
The boss of the Dragon Gang is tucked away in the back of China Garden. He is protected by four small Chinese gang members who are easy to remove. When it's down to you and the boss, rush in and punch him as frequently as possible. The boss can breathe fire at Superman, and sometimes he will leap in the air and try to kick you. No matter what, stand your ground, face him, and punch as rapidly as possible. Eventually, he will walk into too many of your punches and go down.

The Daily Planet will report that Superman has bested and arrested the Dragon Gang, and that one of the world's top scientists has been kidnapped during a lecture. This will be Superman's next mystery.