Controls
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: Press left or right on the direction pad to make Clark Kent / Superman run in either direction. When disguised as Clark Kent, he runs a little slower, so as not to attract attention to himself.
: Press up on the direction pad to make Clark Kent / Superman jump in the air. He will jump the same height regardless of how long the up direction is pressed.
: Press down to enter/exit through doors of buildings, phone booths, subway entrances, etc.
: Press the A button to attack enemies by punching them. When no threats are around, press the A button to talk to friendly citizens of Metropolis, or read signs.
: Press the B button as Superman to utilize whichever super-power is currently activated, provided there is enough energy remaining in the meter.
: Press the Start button to pause the game and bring the sub-screen up to select which super-power is activated.
: Press the Select button to summon a map of Metropolis, and to see where you are currently located, as well as potential sites that Superman might fly to.
Superman
You control Superman, and his mild-mannered alter-ego Clark Kent, in the effort to defend his chosen home city of Metropolis from a selection of threats including crime gangs, evil Kryptonians, and even Lex Luthor himself. As Superman goes about the job of saving the world, he has a meter that displays his current level of health. If the meter is reduced to a final square, the player will lose the ability to remain as Superman and revert to Clark Kent. If the meter is depleted, Clark Kent will die, and the game will end. The player can then choose to continue the game, or begin again. When returning to the game, passwords can be entered to resume from the beginning of the chapter where the player left off. As Superman completes each of the five "chapters" of the game, his health meter grows and his defensive power increases, allowing him to sustain more damage before being forced to revert to Clark Kent. In addition, his offensive power increases with each chapter, allowing him to knock out enemies with fewer punches.
Powers
As a son of Krypton, Superman is endowed with special powers when under the influence of the Earth's yellow sun. However, in this game, Superman must select and use his powers wisely, as they are not infinite in supply. By pressing 
, you will summon a sub-screen where you can see Superman's current offensive and defensive power ratings, as well as a selection of six powers which Superman may select from. A seventh power, Super Hearing, is always in effect, and does not need to be chosen.
Each of these powers start out 3 tiles long, and can be improved by collecting tiles that extend the length of the meter representing each power, up to a maximum of 10 tiles. Such tiles contain the same symbol as the power they improve, but they are dark blue and flash. They can only be obtained by clearing certain locations or building floors of all enemies. There are four upgrades for each power. (There is a fifth upgrade available for Super Spin, but it will not increase the meter beyond 10 tiles.)
| Power | Description |
|---|---|
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X-ray vision: Throughout the game, there are certain locations where the enemies can not be seen with the naked eye. Instead, Superman must utilize his X-ray vision in order to see them and avoid their attack. Once activated, his X-ray vision will remain effective until he leaves the current area and enters a new location. |
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Super Flight: While Superman is known to be able to fly around at will, in this game, his ability to fly is quite limited, which forces you to decide when and how often to make use of it. The more flight power Superman has available to him, the farther and more often he can fly. As the meter depletes, the distance he can travel decreases. |
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Super Spin: As Superman explores different locations in Metropolis, you may notice some narrow columns on the ground that look different than others. These indicate the ability for Superman to spin around incredibly fast and behave like a drill, creating a hole in the ground and permitting him to explore underground spaces. |
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Heat Vision: Naturally, Superman doesn't only have to rely on his fists to do damage to his foes. He can also generate beams of intense heat from his eyes which fly forward and strike enemies that are caught in his gaze. While useful for fighting enemies, it should not be relied upon as a standard weapon, since it depletes quickly, and should be more of a backup attack. |
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Super Breath-1: By controlling the speed of his breathing, Superman can release an incredibly short, but intensely cold blast of breath which is capable of snuffing out the most powerful flames. This breath is not useful for many other purposes, but it can be used a great number of times before Superman runs out of this ability. |
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Super Breath-2: If Superman releases a longer breath of air, it is enough to freeze certain types of enemies in place. Regular human beings seem unaffected by this breath, but a raging epidemic of zombies has plagued Metropolis, and these zombie are quite vulnerable to the freezing effects of Super Breath-2. In fact, they cannot be defeated until they are first frozen in place. |
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Super Hearing: This is the one super power that cannot be chosen, used up, or strengthened. It is simply always on, and allows Superman to hear when a victim is crying for help, anywhere throughout Metropolis. When this happens, a help icon will appear in the upper right corner of the screen, as well as on the map screen showing you where Superman hears the cries coming from. |
Items
When defeating criminals and enemies throughout Metropolis, they may drop items that Clark Kent / Superman can collect. As Clark Kent, enemies will only drop two types of items: power crystals and green kryptonite. As Superman, the items that enemies drop may be power crystals or red kryptonite, or they may be one of the six power icons that can be collected to increase the level of power available to Superman. Dropped items will always travel upward to the right and arc downward, regardless of which way the enemy was facing when he was defeated. Items may also be obtained simply by running past certain locations where the items are hidden away.
Power Crystals
Every power crystal that Clark Kent or Superman collects will restore some of the damage that he has suffered in previous fights. If he is already at full health, the crystals will have no effect on him. If Superman is forced to revert back to Clark Kent, and he collects enough power crystals, he can return to Superman by entering a phone booth or indoor restroom. It is easier to collect power crystals as Clark Kent than it is to collect them as Superman, so you may opt to become Clark manually in order to restore your health to a sufficient level.
Kryptonite
Whether it is green or red, kryptonite spells bad news for Superman. Everyone Clark or Superman touches one of these items, he will lose a small bit of health. They resemble power crystals in shape, but not color. The color does not matter, it simply happens that only green kryptonite appears when Clark Kent is walking about, and red kryptonite appears when Superman is attacking enemies.