Superman: Countdown to Apokolips

• Release Date: March 26, 2003
• Genre: Action
• Style: Side-Scrolling Combat
• Similar Games: Batman: Vengeance (Game Boy Advance), Spider-Man (Game Boy Advance), Justice League: Injustice for All (Game Boy Advance)

Game Description

Based on the Cartoon Network's Superman: The Animated Series, Superman: Countdown to Apokolips has the man in blue defending Metropolis against a host of enemies from the planet Apokolips as well as some local villains out for revenge. To make matters worse, his beloved Lois Lane has been kidnapped and is in dire need of help. As the Man of Steel, players must battle through a total of eight levels, each viewed from an isometric perspective.

To combat the likes of Bruno Mannheim, Metallo, Kalibak, and Livewire, Superman uses his super strength in the form of hand-to-hand combat. Superman can also pick up and use objects found within the environment to help solve puzzles or to fight the various goons and demons running amok. Skilled players may be able to unlock a bonus level as well as a special cast of characters gallery on their way to saving both Metropolis and Lois Lane.

Review: Overall

Superman video games have had roughly the same effect on players as kryptonite has on the Man of Steel: sudden fatigue and sharp pangs of discomfort followed by listlessness. Superman: Countdown to Apokolips follows this disturbing trend almost to a tee, even despite an interesting approach to the visuals and the ability to use all of the superhero's powers at once without going on some sort of glorified Easter egg hunt. Yet the game ultimately fails because of its repetitive level design and a control system that's more irritating than fun. Only one conclusion can be drawn from this Game Boy Advance cartridge: Superman must be cursed.

It didn't have to be that way. The isometric viewpoint solves one of the biggest problems with superhero-based handheld games, which is how to present a realistic world while still allowing players the freedom to go anywhere they want. Given Superman's power of flight, limiting his movement from left to right would have been inadequate, and an overhead view would have taken away from the sense that players were interacting in a real-world environment filled with skyscrapers, cars, pedestrians, and other objects. With this unusual approach to the visuals, it seemed a memorable game starring the comic book hero was in reach.

The isometric viewpoint gives the environments a sense of scale, and Superman is free to use his most notable powers to help him accomplish his goals. Players can hover in midair or fly over many buildings at high speeds, though not over every building, since there is a limit to how high Superman can fly. This is a reasonable concession considering that many of the threats players have to deal with remain close to the ground. Other powers include heat vision, freeze breath, and super speed, which are what one would expect to use from Superman's considerable repertoire. His strength is also accounted for with the ability to pick up large objects like cars or tanks and throw them as if they were tin cans.

Where Superman: Countdown to Apokolips stumbles is in the shallow objectives required of players. While they could be zipping through cities saving pedestrians from natural disasters such as fire, earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes, or propping up collapsing buildings, stacking cars to create barricades, and similar objectives, players instead walk through maze-like locales punching criminals who are surprisingly resilient to attacks. Players navigate the city streets using an overhead map with icons designating the next encounter, which involves Superman rescuing citizens by defeating one or two enemies holding them hostage.

Despite many of the thugs being dressed in business suits, they all take multiple punches to bring down, a slow and awkward process that will soon be skipped in favor of the more direct heat vision power, which emits a long red line that will stun and then eliminate any enemy in its path. Completing levels then boils down to walking, speed running, or flying to the enemy's location, zapping them with heat vision, and then repeating. Interestingly enough, none of the enemies move from their designated spots unless Superman gets very close, so all players have to do is inch up the screen until they see a shadow, then start the frying process.

Early enemies use machine guns and crushing grabs to hurt Superman, both of which are unrealistically effective, while later enemies fire more powerful missiles and ray guns. Missions all feature the same tedious combat, however, with slight variations on the locale: instead of combing through the city streets each time, Superman will walk across the top of a train (why he isn't allowed to simply fly in front of it is unclear), firing at enemies and zapping mines with his heat vision, as well as fighting a variety of bosses.

Control is a problem due to the perspective and the imprecise diagonal movement when using the Control Pad. Seeing the surrounding area is also an issue during boss fights, with enemies running, charging, or flying across the screen at high speeds. Adding to the frustration is the inability to save progress during a level, with the game relying on an irritating password system to continue. Replay value is tied into achieving perfect scores on a mission, which is solely based on using the more challenging method of punching enemies instead of zapping them with Superman's powerful peepers. The reward is another stage that most players won't care about.

Superman: Countdown to Apokolips seemed to have the right idea behind it with the well-balanced mix of the superhero's powers, the engaging perspective, and the freedom to explore city streets. The control is a problem, but the most serious issue plaguing the game is its boring objectives and silly, repetitive combat. Superman offers a total of eight levels, the majority of which are played in the same manner and fail to make use of the many different possibilities afforded by the environments. There is potential with this game engine, but this potential went up, up, and away at some point in the development process. Unfortunately, so did the fun.

Review: Enjoyment

The levels all feature tedious combat with the most useless move being the super punch, which is highly ineffective.

Review: Graphics

The characters are a bit small but well defined, with the environments being the most interesting aspect of Superman's presentation.

Review: Sound

A few voice clips would have been nice, as the included sound effects and music are forgettable.

Review: Replay Value

A password system allows players to resume progress after the system is shut off, and players can try to unlock an additional level by achieving a top ranking on each stage.

Review: Documentation

The color manual could use a few more screen shots and some character bios, but the controls and {\action} are explained well enough.

Production Credits

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