{"id":1351,"date":"2025-01-03T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-04T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gaminginsurrection.com\/reviews\/?p=1351"},"modified":"2024-12-28T13:11:50","modified_gmt":"2024-12-28T18:11:50","slug":"the-death-and-return-of-superman-issue-51","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gaminginsurrection.com\/reviews\/index.php\/2025\/01\/03\/the-death-and-return-of-superman-issue-51\/","title":{"rendered":"The Death and Return of Superman \u2014 Issue 51"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Mid\u00addling return spells dooms\u00adday for Man of Steel<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Death and Return of Super\u00adman arc dropped in 1994<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Super\u00adman has nev\u00ader been among my favorite super\u00adheroes. First, I\u2019m a Mar\u00advel girl at heart and I gen\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly don\u2019t care for most DC<\/span> char\u00adac\u00adters. Sec\u00adond, if there was a DC<\/span> super\u00adhero that I love, it\u2019s going to be Bat\u00adman. No prep time and by him\u00adself. So, it stands to rea\u00adson that I don\u2019t care for most DC<\/span> games out\u00adside of Bat\u00adman prop\u00ader\u00adties. And so, it con\u00adtin\u00adues with The Death and Return of Superman.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nDeath and Return of Super\u00adman fol\u00adlows the plot of the comics well. Super\u00adman fights his ulti\u00admate neme\u00adsis in Dooms\u00adday, and he dies in the bat\u00adtle. Short\u00adly after, four oth\u00ader Super\u00admen (Super\u00adboy, Cyborg Super\u00adman, Erad\u00adi\u00adca\u00adtor and Steel) show up to claim their right\u00adful place as the Man of Steel. The prob\u00adlem is, how\u00adev\u00ader, these guys are not Super\u00adman, and it shows. Coast City is anni\u00adhi\u00adlat\u00aded, and it turns out that Cyborg Super\u00adman is respon\u00adsi\u00adble for the car\u00adnage. The oth\u00ader Super\u00admen, includ\u00ading the real Super\u00adman him\u00adself, return to stop the cyborg men\u00adace. If you\u2019re famil\u00adiar with the comics arc, this is basi\u00adcal\u00adly what hap\u00adpened there. It\u2019s noth\u00ading super com\u00adpli\u00adcat\u00aded and there are no addi\u00adtions or changes for the game. I appre\u00adci\u00adat\u00aded it as some\u00adone who does\u00adn\u2019t fol\u00adlow Super\u00adman that close\u00adly because it allowed me to learn some\u00adthing new about a well-known super\u00adhero and encour\u00adaged me to learn about the comics\u2019 ver\u00adsion of the sto\u00adry simultaneously.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ram\u00adpag\u00ading through the streets of Metrop\u00ado\u00adlis to stop crime and Cyborg Super\u00adman is a no-frills affair as well. There is absolute\u00adly noth\u00ading note\u00adwor\u00adthy or spe\u00adcial about the envi\u00adron\u00adments and the pre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtion. Noth\u00ading stands out, though the char\u00adac\u00adter mod\u00adels and designs look nice. The sprites are nice\u00adly drawn and rather large, so they will catch your eye. How\u00adev\u00ader, noth\u00ading else will. The back\u00adgrounds are just there, sta\u00adt\u00adic and unchang\u00ading, and noth\u00ading looks par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly inter\u00adest\u00ading. The music is the same. The intro theme is kind of a toe-tap\u00adper but noth\u00ading about this is going to make you search it out online to add to the collection.<\/span><\/p>\n

The con\u00adtrols aren\u2019t any\u00adthing spe\u00adcial, either. They\u2019re just stan\u00addard beat-\u2019em-up con\u00adtrols. There are your stan\u00addard attacks, a throw, a fire\u00adball some\u00adtimes, and an ulti\u00admate screen-clear\u00ading attack that requires ener\u00adgy. While the pay\u00adoff is the same for all the Super\u00admen, the attack ani\u00adma\u00adtion is dif\u00adfer\u00adent. It\u2019s kind of cool to see what each char\u00adac\u00adter is capa\u00adble of but it\u2019s by no means any\u00adthing excit\u00ading. And, as is the prob\u00adlem with most beat-\u2019em-ups like this one, you\u2019re going to run into quar\u00adter-munch\u00ader syn\u00addrome. The hits are always unfair, espe\u00adcial\u00adly with mul\u00adti\u00adple ene\u00admies on the screen, and health isn\u2019t exact\u00adly plen\u00adti\u00adful. The boss\u00ades par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly are bad about this, and it\u2019s infu\u00adri\u00adat\u00ading to no end that you can\u2019t get clean hits against them with\u00adout tak\u00ading a bru\u00adtal beating.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the end of the day, Death and Return of Super\u00adman goes about as well as you\u2019d expect: You fight Dooms\u00adday, you play as pre\u00adtenders to the throne, and you res\u00adur\u00adrect to stop a greater threat. It\u2019s not ter\u00adri\u00adble but it isn\u2019t great, either. Giv\u00aden that we know how this end\u00aded in the comics, is there real\u00adly a need to play through a mid\u00addling game that does\u00adn\u2019t do any\u00adthing spe\u00adcial with the Super\u00adman name? No. Let this death cycle play out and remain in its grave, respectfully.<\/span><\/p>\n