Like UFOs, ball lightning and bigfoot, one of the great mysteries of our time is that Superman is apparently Kryptonite to good videogames. There's yet to be a truly great Kal-El game in the vein of Batman: Arkham Asylum or Spider-Man, but as you can see from the list below, many have tried.
The latest developer to try is Epic Games, as the Man of Steel has landed as part of Fortnite X Superman, the latest crossover event for one of the world's biggest games. But what does his inclusion in Fortnite involve? Our list takes a look at that, as well as taking you through a history of Superman in pixels. Discover where you can find Superman as a hero, a playable guest character or just a cheeky Easter Egg in the words below.
Official Superman Games
These are "true" and "proper" Superman games, experiences where you embody the Man of Steel himself.
Superman (1978)
This Atari 2600 release marks Superman's debut to gamers, all four kilobytes of him. It might not seem much to look at today, but won positive reviews for its action and graphics back in ye olde 1970s. In the role of Superman, players have to rebuild a bridge at the Metropolis waterfront damaged by Lex Luthor, capture your evil nemesis, and return to the Daily Planet as quickly as possible. Complicating things are the fact that Lois Lane has been kidnapped, Luthor has released Krytonite satellites that can deactivate your powers, and there are henchmen waiting to take you down. Using your powers, you can see beyond the area you're in with X-ray vision and then fly in to grab and drop Lex and his goons into jail. Just remember to use phone booths to change back into your Clark Kent clothes before stopping by the Daily Planet.
Superman (1987)
Jump forward almost a decade and our favorite alien adoptee found his way to the NES, and got a cute 8-bit makeover in the process. For this outing Superman gets a bunch of abilities including super hearing, x-ray vision, heat vision, super spin, and not one but two types of super breath. He needs them to take on not just Lex Luthor but also Kryptonian bad guys Ursa, Non and General Zod.
Superman (1988)
A year later, Superman leveled up for the Taito arcade game. Notable for having its own original villain Emperor Zaas, this time around Kal-El also got to use his fists, his feet and a Sonic Blast ability. A mix of sidescroller, action adventure and fighting game, it had a mixed reception, but snapping up one of these arcade machines today will set you back around $4,000.
Superman: The Man of Steel (1989)
Released in 1989 on both the ZX Spectrum and Amiga, Superman: The Man of Steel was split into flying levels, a side scrolling beat ‘em up, and a vertical scrolling battle in battle in space. The story that linked those levels was told with cute comic book page panels.
The Death and Return of Superman
In 1994, a pre-Warcraft Blizzard Entertainment released The Death and Return of Superman, a beat ‘em up featuring five playable flavors of the Man of Steel; the vanilla original, Superboy, Steel, Cyborg Superman, the Eradicator. Doomsday is the opening act’s big bad, and bio-genetically engineered monster Clawster also makes an appearance. The action was focused on melee combat and airborne projectile attacks. Fun fact: one of the game’s artists and producers, Samwise Didier – who just retired in 2023 – was later responsible for the addition of the Pandaren race to World of Warcraft in 2010.
Superman 64
Also known as Superman: The New Superman Adventure, this Nintendo 64 Supes game is infamous among retro gamers for its terrible execution. Created as a spin off from Superman: The Animated Series, it was the first time our blue boy scout has appeared in a 3D game, though he probably should have skipped the opportunity. It was called out for visual flaws like its Kryptonite fog (which crudely disguised a very short draw distance), terrible controls and a bizarre race mode. IGN reviewed it in 1999, and we weren't fans. "With horrible control, unforgivable framerates and more bugs than can be counted, [developer] Titus should be absolutely ashamed of this awful game, and the company should be doubly ashamed for pissing all over such a beloved license," said our reviewer. "Do not buy this piece of garbage."
Superman: Shadow of Apokolips
Luckily Superman 64 wasn’t the end of the road for Kal-El’s adventures in video games, and the PlayStation 2/GameCube third person action game Shadow of Apokolips was better received than its predecessor. Its story saw Lex Luthor team up with Darkseid and the Intergang crime syndicate, and featured voice acting from Malcolm McDowell, Michael York and Lori Petty. "It's a thrill to finally play a Superman game that's handled with this much care and keen observation, with regard to control and special abilities," said our reviewer, before branding it a "a slightly better-than-decent action game."
Superman: The Man of Steel
Based on the events of Superman: Y2K and featuring Brainiac 13, Xbox’s alternative to Shadow of Apokalips, released in the same year, was another disappointment for Superman fans. "Superman: The Man of Steel is, at the very best, a weekend rental. It'll take about 10 hours to complete, mainly because it's so impossible to beat the missions thanks to the controls," wrote IGN's reviewer. "Someday someone is going to get Superman right and make a killer game. But not today."
Superman Returns
2006 was the last time Superman got to star in his very own game, but unfortunately it was a game where the final boss was a tornado, rather than an exciting supervillain. Very loosely based on the Bryan Singer movie, star Brandon Routh actually leant his voice to the game, although he "sounds about as interested in saving Metropolis as he is in deciding on a ripe melon at the market," according to the IGN review. "Punching out bad guys becomes about as fun as taking out the garbage, and the “epic” battle between Superman and the forces of evil is as simple and dull as a day of chores."
Super Playable Characters
These games are not about Superman, but they do feature Superman… and you can play as him, too.
Justice League Task Force
It's 1995. You've fired up your SNES, eaten your Honey Frosted Wheaties and your best friend is coming over to play your new fighting game. Justice League Task Force, developed by Blizzard Entertainment (wow, these guys sure loved DC before they got into orcs and elves) featured Superman alongside characters like The Flash, Wonder Woman, and Green Arrow battling mechanical clones of the DC heroes. Despite rocky reviews, the Justice League fighting series would get another three games, and Superman is a playable fighter in them all.
Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
In a world where Leatherface is a guest character in the Mortal Kombat series, a mash up between MK and a comic book universe looks positively tame. This 2008 crossing of the streams is the result of not just a canny guy in the licensing department at DC, but because Raiden and Superman accidentally create big bad Dark Kahn, who threatens both their universes. Superman has moves like Soaring Knockout, Ice Breath, and the Heroic Brutality finishers where he hammers his opponent into the ground like a rusty nail, or freezes them before shattering their bodies to pieces.
Lego Batman 2: DC Superheroes
Superman gets a mention in the first Lego Batman game, but in Lego Batman 2, Lego Batman 3 and Lego DC Super-Villains he's a playable character. You get most brawn for your buck in the second Lego Batman game, where he's a big part of the story (and comes complete with his signature theme tune, taken from the classic Christopher Reeves films). He rescues the Dark Knight and Robin, takes on a large Joker robot, and helps his Bat Buddy defend Wayne Tower.
Injustice: Gods Among Us
Superman appears on the roster of NetherRealm’s fighting game, Injustice, but as it's set in Earth-49 he's the spicy bad version, driven mad by the death of Lois Lane, and so gets to be a villain. He brings all the tricks you'd expect to the 1v1 matches; heat vision, Ground Tremor, and freezing Super Breath. His Super Move – the Kryptonian Smash – is brutal, he literally punches his opponent into space before punching them back down to Earth.
Injustice 2
And Super(bad)man came back for the sequel, with a new Final Flight Super Move that again sees him punching his opponent upwards, this time giving them a few wallops in the sky before slamming them into the ground. You can also add Meteor Drop to that too, where you introduce your opponent to the wonders of geology at close quarters.
Lego Dimensions
The 2015 game that used a Skylanders-style mix of real world figures and in-game content added the “Superman starring DC Comics fun pack” in 2016. By grabbing the Superman minifigure, players could get access to his Hoverpod and the DC Comics World in-game, opening up the glittering city of Metropolis. Admittedly, it’s a version of Metropolis that The Lord of the Rings villain Sauron has installed one of his creepy sky eyes into, but that’s about on par with the many other evils the city has had to contend with over the years.
MultiVersus
Warner Bros. free to play fighting game MultiVersus was shut down just this year, but while it lived it was a fever dream where an eclectic mix of WB franchise characters faced off in platform-based, Super Smash-like combat. Superman was there along with his DC compadres Black Adam and Wonder Woman, but then so was Velma from Scooby-Doo, Gizmo from Gremlins, Arya Stark from Game of Thrones, Jake The Dog from Adventure Time, and Looney Tunes pin-up Lola Bunny. Oh, and you could dress them in skins, so Ugly Sweater Superman was a real thing that existed in the world for a short, beautiful time.
Honorable Mentions
This category is for the games where there's the barest whiff of Superman spandex. Little details hidden in the game world, special skins, or if you're lucky, an evil cameo.
Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure
This super cute 2013 spin off has you help Superman with a Lex Luthor problem and lets you summon him to help you in other battles, too. Using the right words you can call on a bunch of different Kal-El variants, from Cyborg Superman to Kingdom Come Superman, and you can even borrow a Superman costume to grant main character Maxwell heat vision and ice breath attacks.
DC Universe Online
The DC Comics MMO lets players create their own personalized brand of superhero (or supervillain) but Superman makes an appearance as a mentor for new superhero players, taking them through tutorial missions. He can also be found in the in-game Metropolis and appears as an ally to support players with his skillset. If you choose to be a villain you'll need to battle him as you level up. You can also try out a Superman avatar in the game's PvP mode, Legends.
Batman Arkham Knight
While you won't catch a glimpse of the hench hero in Rocksteady’s fantastic Batman Arkham series, there are multiple references to him in the third game's world. There are posters for flights to Metropolis, a few LexCorp buildings dotted around Gotham City, and the NPC thugs seem to enjoy gossiping about Superman on the regular. They call him "that freak from Metropolis," and "the other guy in the cape" and speculate on his alter ego. ""Next thing you know, someone's gonna tell me Superman's really a janitor. Or no, a journalist." Oh, if they only knew.
Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League
Evil Superman makes a dramatic entrance in Rocksteady’s ill-fated 2024 follow up for the Arkham series, appearing just in time to grab a nuke, laugh maniacally, and take on the Suicide Squad in a boss fight. He delivers some pretty weak sauce villain banter until you can bring him down to Earth with Gold Kryptonite assisted violence. The poor guy doesn't even get to play the top boss in the game; that role is taken in the finale by one of many Brianiacs.
LittleBigPlanet 2
A tiny Sackboy Superman skin and outfit based on the iconic hero, complete with adorable Superman forehead curl? Perfect. No notes.
Minecraft
To celebrate the release of the new James Gunn Superman movie, Minecraft has added a bunch of free Superman skins, featuring Lois Lane, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Mr. Terrific and of course, the old red cape and shiny suit. Previously, players could add some super to their world with the Superheroes Unlimited mod, which was first released in 2012.
Fortnite
The new Fortnite X Superman event, launched to coincide with the new James Gunn movie, adds a Kal-El themed battle pass that culminates in a skin based on David Corenswet’s version of the iconic superhero. There’s also an in-game item that will unlock Supes’ heroic abilities, allowing you to wipe the floor in a battle royale match. While this is the most prominent use of Superman in Fortnite to date, it’s not actually his first appearance: back in 2021, Chapter 2, Season 7 featured a Superman skin that had two styles; one featuring the suit and cape, and another that transformed you into the more civilian-looking Clark Kent, complete with glasses.
Rachel Weber is the Senior Editorial Director of Games at IGN and an elder millennial. She's been a professional nerd since 2006 when she got her start on Official PlayStation Magazine in the UK, and has since worked for GamesIndustry.Biz, Rolling Stone and GamesRadar. She loves horror, horror movies, horror games, and French Bulldogs. Those extra wrinkles on her face are thanks to going time blind and staying up too late finishing every sidequest in RPGs like Fallout and Witcher 3.
