Atari 2600 Superman: A Day in the Life of a Mild-Mannered Reporter!

[@MylesSmith-q4y]

I just played 2600 Superman on my phone and played like the way you showed in this video and now I've finished Superman on the Atari 2600 mind you it's much easier to play it on a game console with a joystick or joypad than playing it on a touch phone.

[@AutismRocksOfficial]

Superman was the first 2600 game I was addicted to. Played it through sooooo many times.

[@gonzchi]

One of the best for sure.

[@ILoveSKH]

Me too! Seemed better than most arcade games, playing as Superman, being such of fan of the movie, I was so happy Christmas Eve!

[@SpartanDiab]

These videos about how older games played are great!

[@Skorpio420]

Not only that but how they were made with the extremely limited data space they had to work with (by today's standards).

[@AdamConus]

Superman was a game I never understood as a kid. Wanting to understand it, it was one of the first games I got for my 2600+ (I'm up to over 80 carts since Xmas, so yeah...) and I'm so happy I took the time to learn how it works. It's now among my top 10 favorites. It's a bird! It's a plane!

[@bulldog76472]

Yes. Didn't have a clue what I was doing when I was playing it 40+ years ago. Now I have a much better appreciation for how good it is. Definitely one of the best 2600 games from the 70s.

[@jacobmetz3267]

This game and E.T. are two games that are so underrated. No one understood the mechanics of E.T. because no one took the time to read the manual. Everything people didn't understand was explained perfectly in the manual. Once I read that and understood what the player was supposed to do, it was a pretty decent game. I think Superman also fits that category. Now, Raiders of the Lost Ark, on the other hand, was also a hot mess of a game and the manual didn't explain anything. But, if you were able to figure it out, it was another decent game. It just made you work for your fun. 😂

[@keithbk]

@@jacobmetz3267 E.T. is pretty easy to understand if you think of it as a cube. The top is the field where you land/take off. The bottom has all the buildings. The 4 sides are the pits. Once you get the hang of getting out of the pits, it's not too difficult, but it is a race against time.

[@joezar33]

​@@keithbk I never played this Atari Superman game , but I'm willing to gamble , it's better then the NES verison of Superman ? 😅

[@jamesnoble3502]

​@@jacobmetz3267I don't know how anyone back in the 80s figured out Raiders of the Lost Ark. There were some things in the game you had to do you wouldn't be able to figure out unless somebody directly told you

[@juancervantes2893]

Despite the fact that I did not understand how to play this game back in the day, it was still a game I played a lot. I was around at 6-8 years old at the time, so I was still learning to read AND I was also learning English (native Spanish speaker). In time, I figured out how to play EXCEPT for turning back to Clark Kent and going to the daily planet. At age 9-ish, I was trying out other games and this game was just one I had. It was not until relatively recently that I learned how to beat the game (and ET interestingly enough) from a different KZbinr. Thank you for the run and for the memories. I really did love playing this one.

[@pex_the_unalivedrunk6785]

cool story! and the gameplay of ET is very similar to Superman, exploring the different screens, collecting things, and returning to your ship...and instead of Lois Lane, there's Elliot! 🤣

[@adm712]

By 1979 Atari VCS standards, this game is fantastic. Also the box art has to be in the top 5 of all time great 2600 box art. This is the pre-Crisis on Infinite Earth's Superman we grew up with in the 70s.

[@jeremiahthomas8140]

Good point on this being before Crisis on Infinite Earths.

[@sithcritic8906]

Not many reviewers explain the difficulty switches, a key component of most all Atari games. Hats off for your attention to detail.

[@RCfromtheNYC]

As a kid, I never got tired of playing Superman on the 2600. I'll play that version over the N64 version all-day any day! 🦸🏻‍♂️

[@GenXGrownUp]

Oh, 100 per-CENT! I couldn't even tell you exactly why this version is so much fun, but it sure it.

[@zabagar]

I played the 2600 version just this past weekend!

[@jimjam51075]

Yeah, the 2600 version won't make you want to be like Superman and punch a hole in the wall like the N64 did.

[@mindbenderx1174]

Would AVGN gate N64 or 2600 more?@@jimjam51075

[@christopherrobinmarriott7218]

@christopherrobinmarriott7218 0 seconds ago I would play ‘ Stab myself in the eye with a butter knife’ Before I would play the Nintendo 64 version of Superman again. I remember buying it for my nephew & still to this day, the look of sorrow/fristration/boredom on his face while he played it haunts me. I still tell people ‘to my utter dismay I mentally abused my nephew cuz u gifted him Superman64”

[@fensthespook]

I love this series. One of my favorite games too! Superman is a blast once you know what to do. It's also the bases for one of the hacks in Haunted Trilogy Adventure. Great video! I vote for Haunted House as the next video.

[@janetcarr1576]

You made this so much more clear than the manual. Now, I can try it again without getting discouraged! Thanks!!!

[@GenXGrownUp]

Glad I could help!

[@martinlorenz4053]

Man, I love your content. This is like me being a kid again back at the start of the 80s. Thank you so much for all of this.

[@GenXGrownUp]

I'm so grateful for viewers & commenters like you, Martin. In case you didn't know, our stuff reaches beyond KZbin. We have a weekly nostalgic podcast and a thriving Discord community, too. Links are all in the video description for you to explore. 😁

[@martinlorenz4053]

Thank you, Jon. Now I am subscribed to your podcast. Looking forward to all of your future content.

[@GenXGrownUp]

@@martinlorenz4053 How cool - thanks! I hope you find something there to enjoy as well.

[@SoulPoetryandOtherWorks]

Probably my favourite Atari game after Space Invaders. Played it for ages.

[@BoomGiggity]

Superman has a slight glitch. When you first start the game, instead of flying down to the phone booth, use your vision to look around. Sometimes, he'll skip the phone booth and you can fly straight to the bridge and you can immediately start scooping up bad guys and bridge parts. The bridge will blow up into parts, but will still be intact at the same time.

[@pezjohnson]

Yeah, I used to speed run this (before I knew it was called speed run) when I was about 7 or 8 when I found out about this. Just x-ray look around for a few seconds. When the timer starts running, when you dip down, just don't hit the phone booth.

[@Vox-Multis]

Schrodinger's Bridge?

[@sandal_thong8631]

I consider this to be a game variation rather than a cheat, as long as you are truthful about your time. It takes over 10 seconds to get three bridge pieces, so this is how I first broke 1 minute to win the game.

[@scottfarrar3441]

Excellent Video! I never understood the A2600 Games that used MAPS...so I never "tried" and therefore they went into the "SUCK" Bin. Thanks for showing on neat/clever these games are - ADVENTURE and SUPERMAN. I'd appreciate coverage of other MAP games in future videos! Also, even though I Googled (and found) the MAP...you could add a Link to it/them in future MAP Game videos...or go back to this Video and Adventure Video and add the Links. Thanks.

[@mtslyh]

The greatest thing about this game is that the better you get, the shorter the game. I remember getting tired of playing games like Pac-Man because I was good enough to play those games for hours and just didn't want to spend that much time playing. But with Superman, you could play for literally less than 60 seconds per game when you got good at it.

[@sandal_thong8631]

Well, maybe 2 minutes. I only won in 56 and 60 seconds this year without "cheating."

[@DavidWonn]

I used to find several glitches and Easter Eggs back in the day. One involved capitalizing on the Select button, which paused the game. While paused, the screen jumps around to other scenes. It turns out that if you resume the game while Superman (or Clark Kent) is superimposed with a subway entrance from another screen (or even the Daily Planet), you can effectively warp there, despite it not being on the screen you originally paused from! With just a little creativity, you can have the broken bridge screen warp Clark Kent to the left. And with even more creativity, you can bypass the initial phone booth at the beginning of the game! Doing this gives you a crippled version of Superman that tries to fly but immediately goes back down. But you can still travel south, just never north unless you're in a subway or the Daily Planet. Furthermore, you can even find the broken bridge pieces inside the subway if you use the above tricks to bypass the bridge screen. Doing so will allow the coexistence of an intact bridge plus the 3 pieces! And even funnier still, you can do the initial transformation to Clark Kent, warp to the Daily Planet and "win" the game, even while Lex Luthor's minions are still roaming around! And if you're still creative enough, you can "win" in just a few seconds, or even zero seconds!

[@GenXGrownUp]

It sounds like you're describing the video I released two days ago.

[@DavidWonn]

​@@GenXGrownUpI just now found your more recent video. I commented over there that I posted this on my site back in the 90s. Under some conditions, only very minimal pausing is needed.

[@GenXGrownUp]

@@DavidWonn This is a fun one to play around with.

[@gonzchi]

I'm 54 now and when I want to play something, I just open Stella in my PC and play a round of Superman. Fantastic game even today.

[@dahak2112]

What makes this game fun to me is that Superman does Superman things. He flies. He can’t be killed; it’s why the gangsters never fire the tommy guns. He has x-ray vision. And he has heat vision (how do you think he puts the bridge back together). It’s only a race against time, as any classic Superman story should be.

[@sandal_thong8631]

Truck falls off the bridge before Superman arrives. "You're too late, Superman." -Superman III.

[@mrgonk871]

One of my favourite games ever. I always played this prior to any other game as it could be finished easily in 5 minutes. I still play this now at least once a month on my Atari 2600. Absolute classic.

[@originalfred66]

You did a great job explaining this game. It was really an amazing adventure style game for its time. The xray vision and the subway made it very fast paced and fun. Having an entire city packed into one game seemed amazing at the time.

[@gonzchi]

One of the best 2600 games. Top 3 in my personal list. Together with Adventure and probably Space Inv.

[@kjhoskins]

Great game. Spent many an hour playing this. Thanks for the video.

[@Tyrannt316]

Love it man, I never had this one, but in preparation for me getting the 2600+ soon, I grabbed it on eBay a few weeks ago. Thanks for the vid!! Looking forward to more

[@GenXGrownUp]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@DrDavelope]

Thanks Jon! I remember playing Superman decades ago, but never got the hang of the detailed steps. Thanks for taking us through them. I’ll be playing this one tonight!

[@dohertyaaron]

Great video, thanks for the upload. I remember playing Superman well before Adventure launched and I was blown away that you could transition from one screen to another. It's the first title I remember playing that did that and so the game holds an extra special fondness for me. Kinda like how AD&D: Treasure of Tarmin (Intellivision) was my first dive into first-person perspective gaming, lol.

[@GenXGrownUp]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for adding your memories. 😁

[@sandal_thong8631]

It's funny to look at the manual and see them explain this to people: if your Superman character leaves the screen he goes to another one!

[@leoc.9341]

Probably one of the first home video games where you walk into a very short "cut scene" before the game really begins. 😄

[@GenXGrownUp]

Oh, yeah. Good point!

[@neohermitist]

This was one of the games I would play at the Atari demo kiosk at Montgomery Wards and not understanding what the hell was going on. You might want to do a video on those demo setups because they were pretty sweet with the ability to select different games and the joystick and paddle controllers built in.

[@mindbenderx1174]

I spent my kid money on E.T. I actually beat it. The pits are frustrating but as with anything you what side of the pits to enter. and you memorize what screens are where even if you didn't know it was supposed to be a cube....now that you mention it. It has the same qualities...screens with items, bad guys who take it away....it really is the same as both the ones you mentioned...always wondered the hate for it.

[@sindred]

It used to blow my mind playing an Atari game where I could "explore" and open world. I loved using the subway for shortcuts.

[@sandal_thong8631]

I finally learned the maps. Besides the subway entrances, the bridge and phone booth screens, there's like three other screens you can't see from the subway. Some of the guys like to hang out at the subway entrances to make it more difficult for Superman to find and capture them. Also, there's a secret entrance to the subway only they can use, opposite to the subway entrance rectangle.

[@generalshakewell]

Great video! Gonna give this one a try.

[@deanster300]

At first I was disappointed by the pixelation and complexity of the game in regards to mapping. All the buildings look the same, but then as I got to learn the game, my imagination excelled and was able to pretend I really was Superman. I got enthralled with capturing the bad guys, kissing Lois lane, avoiding kryptonite, and putting the bridge together. It all was so fun

[@jesseschartz]

As a kid in the 80s I got this at a garage sale with no instructions. Had no idea what to do!

[@DJHyeFXOfficial]

Here is a game that SCREAMS for an 8K update.

[@sandal_thong8631]

I don't feel that. I played it this year and finally broke 1 minute. What would an extra 4K add to it? It was Donkey Kong and Pac-Man that suffered from not being 8K, though they sold millions anyway. The only thing Superman needed was to do those tricks to avoid flashing and blinking like in Pac-Man.

[@sutorippuwebmaster8783]

I remember this being the first game I ever played that you could actually beat.

[@VolJoe]

Love this treatment of this game. I loved this game when it came out. It was confusing until you got into it and then it made sense.

[@kanepeterson9775]

There is a cheat/bug in Superman I found that I think few people know about. Start the game, just exit the phone booth and move up. Now pause the game (by using game select). During pause, it will cycle through city screens, on the third screen you will be standing on top the subway entrance. Move the joystick to go out of pause mode and you will be in the subway. Move to the left one screen which is the Daily Planet and win the game in 5 seconds!

[@sandal_thong8631]

I think he's now done a video about this, which I will watch next.

[@fleecyproduct2497]

Loved this game … great memories!

[@HMansion999]

one of my all time faves for the 2600. KEEP ON KEEPIN' ON!!!

[@scottwelch9172]

As a GenXGrownUp myself I played this SO much when I was a kid. It was one of my favorite Atari games.

[@43bigsteve]

I loved this game as a kid! My dad had to explain to me what I was supposed to do. I was shocked years later when I found out that a lot of people didn’t like this game. I never knew about the subway shortcuts, I always just avoided them. Good to know!

[@jayme69]

Great fun Jon! Thanks for sharing :-)

[@R3troZone]

I loved the Superman Atari game as a kid. Back when I was 4 and 5 years old I had no idea how to actually play it. But I had fun changing from Clark Kent into Superman and flying around the city.

[@type4647]

Believe it or not, this is still the best "Superman" video game, even after all these years. But it took me all of 10 days to master the game when I was 10.

[@gonzchi]

Agree.

[@hardkoregamer1981]

Thanks again Jon it's always a pleasure 👍 I hope you cover more super hero games in the near future 👍

[@Ecto_Eric]

I loved this game then & now thanks for the memories

[@GenXGrownUp]

My absolute pleasure. Thanks for watching. 😁

[@ctbinary42]

Another classic. I could never get the hang of it but a friend in our group was really good at this one

[@GenXGrownUp]

Well, check the the wife, and if she says it's OK, you should give it another try. 😉

[@Longshots10]

I liked this game a lot back in the day! I think my sister did as well.

[@jeremiahthomas8140]

I would like to bring attention to the fact that you always mention what the difficulty switches do. That is an important piece when explaining 2600 games.

[@GenXGrownUp]

So that's a good thing, yes? 😁

[@stormykeep9213]

Probably one of the best Superman video games for a long, long time...IMHO.

[@archbishop718]

This was my first favorite game.. until then I liked some games, didn't care for others, then I played this a experienced something completely new that has kept me playing it for 40+ years. My best legitimate speed run was 1:02.. I've tried to get under 1 minute and just haven't been able to get there (yet!). Thanks for this awesome video!

[@FUGP72]

It's kind of Adventure meets Pitfall with those shortcuts by going underground to the subway.

[@leiaorgana5491]

Still one of my favorite games.

[@stevesgaming7475]

This was my favourite 2600 game back in the day. great game

[@philv2529]

If you take the time and effort to memorize the map and the subway locations this game is actually fun

[@danielespeziari5545]

I was afraid to try this game, but now you convinced me to check it out

[@GenXGrownUp]

I love to read comments like this. I hope you'll tell me how it goes!

[@lemons2394]

Best game Atari ever put out. My record back then was a little under a minute.

[@gonzchi]

I think the same. Probably together with Adventure, and both are related.

[@sandal_thong8631]

I don't think I beat 1 minute 30 seconds in 1982-3. But I did finally beat 1 minute this year.

[@thedeadpoolwhochuckles.6852]

I had that cart as a kid. i don't recall ever playing it just staring at the mystery that was Superman on the Atari 2600.

[@DevilsReject765]

That's one sweet Adventure T-shirt that was a great Atari game 🙃🙃😊😊😅😅

[@talir71]

I played a ton of Superman as a kid. I remember getting frustrated the first time I played because I didn’t know how to finish the game, and It took over 20 minutes to beat it. After I got the hang of it, my best time was 1:45. It’s the only game I’ve ever ver tried to speed run, and I used multiple exploits to reduce my time, like resetting the game each time the counter started at 1 instead of 0, and not waiting for the bridge to explode before running to change back into Superman. Fun times!!

[@IuriFiedoruk]

This was one of my favorite games on the 2600 when I was a kid. And still is. You can play it and have fun even today. And is the first game I knew had a pause feature, that I used quite a few times for lunch time and such.

[@billkendrick1]

I get that "game complete" Dum-Dee-Dummmm tune in my head all the tims, to this day.

[@GenXGrownUp]

I imagined that was the chime on the front door of the Daily Planet.

[@Darkuni]

This is one of my favorite 2600 games along with Spiderman.

[@Skorpio420]

Atari 2600 Superman > N64 Superman. And it's not even close.

[@dustheg]

Still one of the top Superman games

[@reinhard3209]

Great game, great video, great channel - thanks Jon! 🙏👍😉

[@GenXGrownUp]

Great comment! 😉 Thanks, Reinhard!

[@theironfox2756]

Superman on the 2600 had an actual narrative.

[@sandal_thong8631]

And an ending!

[@Digital_Ninja279]

Thanks for this. I got the game recently, in bad shape, and wondered what I was supposed to do.

[@sandal_thong8631]

Putting one of the difficulty switches on A, to stop Lois Lane (or maybe Miss Teschmacher from the movie) from coming to your rescue is just sadistic. You've really got to reset when the Kryptonite hits you. However, it's possible to win without touching them, though they blink or flash like crazy, and the silver one is really fast with the other difficulty on A, too.

[@mikeburkhart8336]

This is still the best game version of Superman....

[@paulhanson001]

Great explanation of a game I never played on my 2600 back in the 80's and proof that movie tie-in games can be great (cough E.T. cough)

[@KristianWontroba]

This game held up pretty well. 😊

[@sandal_thong8631]

Perhaps it's sad that people say there hasn't been a great Superman game since.

[@davidmt4067]

What a great game. I was doing speed-runs before it was a thing! The copy I had came with a Superman wallet - super cool! I've not played it in many years but I can totally see how confusing it is. I knew the map so well though; I guess I had a lot of time on my hands :) I think its so unfortunate this game, along with many others, cannot be included/mentioned in Atari's collections due to "licensing". I wish that legal stuff could be figured out somehow.

[@GenXGrownUp]

You had the wallet that came shrink-wrapped to the box? Neat! 😁

[@jameserdmann2468]

Great game! Played the heck out of it back in the day. I wouldn’t have been able to resist picking up Lex Luthor when first spotting him!

[@kraftaculousgreekgodofcraf1113]

In my 50s… I finally know how to play this game! I have to go and beat it now. Thank you!

[@BAZFANSHOTHITSClassicTunes]

i had this back in the day and didnt have a fook kin clue what to do. Great run thru brother.

[@bbb462cid]

We called it "Flying Spiderman" and now that's in your head so you're welcome

[@rhydean693]

I saw this game at a pawn shop about 15 years ago. Even though it's been about 35 years since I've had my Atari, I still had to get it.

[@lorenclarke7815]

Never had Superman as a kid. Played the heck out of Spider-Man though. Wish I still had the ol 2600 and all the games.

[@RacerX-]

I had a lot of fun playing this as a kid. My preferred time was early Saturday morning before the rest of the clan woke up and before cartoons.

[@deeesher]

This was always one of my favorites! Admittedly, there's not much to it, but it was a great source of shutting off your brain fun. I also enjoyed "cheating" on this one! I don't recall how I did it, but at the very beginning, if you don't go to cross the bridge, it won't explode. It's been a loooong time, but either I stayed as Clark Kent, just NOT going to the bridge scene, or I stayed as Superman (somehow) and just flew around the city, never seeing the bridge explode.

[@sandal_thong8631]

There's two options. One is a cheat using select button as pause, then the screensaver kicks in and you can hit the joystick when the Daily Planet comes around to win at 0 seconds. The second is to fly off without changing and catch all the crooks without the bridge exploding. I call the latter a game variation, which they should have had for little kids.

[@hellerhs]

Loved that game way back when!

[@DouglasTitchmarsh]

I remember playing this bitd. But didn't get into it at the time. Space Invaders was always waiting instead.

[@mitchmegaw7201]

I loved this one. It’s second to Adventure for me. As the youngest, I was quite proud to have the speed run record of just a bit over 2 minutes with both difficulties on. Sure, a lot of luck was involved but I was a kid! So proud.

[@GenXGrownUp]

Oh, wow. Setting the switches to A can make this quite a bit tougher. Don't hit that kryptonite no matter WHAT you do!

[@mitchmegaw7201]

@@GenXGrownUp And another Adventure connection is the red one is the fastest.

[@jeddis92]

My favorite 2600 superhero game was Spider-Man. I played the heck out of that.

[@ddw1272]

If we are doing Superman, then i hope Spiderman is on the docket as well. Sling those webs baby!

[@GenXGrownUp]

The awesome Parker Brothers game where Spidey can't climb walls? On it.

[@sandal_thong8631]

The box for Superman and some others had a diagonal banner for Special Edition or something. I figured out recently that those were for the games that went to 4K ROMs from the initial 2K ROMs they used for their launch titles and '78 games. I don't know if they were more expensive than other games because of that.

[@ComicBookNostalgia]

First Superhero Video Game EVER

[@danielgehring7437]

Oh wow, why did KZbin wait so long to suggest this channel to me?

[@GenXGrownUp]

Dammit, KZbin! Get your act together - Daniel needs some videos to watch! 😉 (At least it ultimately got you here. Welcome!)

[@lydiakossow]

Had this one when we were young. Gawd..it took us forever to figure this one out, without the manual. Although I have 100+ carts, I don't have this one...yet!

[@GenXGrownUp]

And somehow, I don't have a physical copy of this either! I think I see it so often and it feels so common that I'm always thinking, "Surely I already own this." Prepping for this video I learned otherwise. Now it's a race - which of us can snag one first! 😁

[@lydiakossow]

@@GenXGrownUp ...well the odds are very much in your favor.😄😊

[@leoc.9341]

@@GenXGrownUp Try finding the Sears version with the picture on the cartridge. I believe that is the "rarest" one.

[@leoc.9341]

Oops. Sears version with just text is the rarest variety. The Sears Superman never had a version with the picture.

[@lydiakossow]

@@leoc.9341 Thnx, I'll be on the lookout for each version, which is how I collect (although I'm not a collector of the Activion blue label carts). dunno why tho, just a weird thing I guess.😄

[@miked4377]

i had one of my buddys stay overnight back when i was 10 years old in 1980.. he lived on a farm and had never really played atari ..so i had superman...ifell asleep and woke up at like 5 in the morning and he was still flying superman around the city...thats all he figured out how to do!!😅😅 it made me laugh back then...great times! so he played all night long!I was surprised...he loved being superman and flying around the city!

[@sandal_thong8631]

"Do you have Asteroids?" "My dad does." -National Lampoon's Vacation.

[@backpackingtony1779]

Brooooooo! I’m stoned AF!!! This channel rocks! Superman was like the first open world, go anywhere game! Blows your mind right bro?

[@FaxiiChannel]

Sempre più afascinato dall'Atari 👍🏻 Bella live ieri sera scusa perchè non scrivo in inglese solo italiano Ciao Jon e buona Pasquetta🐣 Faxii

[@GenXGrownUp]

Tutto bene! Grazie per la visione!

[@Datan0de]

Nice! Never tried this because i simply didn't know how it's played. Now I do!

[@GenXGrownUp]

Have fun!

[@johngudonis2015]

I loved this game!

[@cryptocoffee13]

I had this game, and similar to what you do with instructions, I don't throw them out, I just don't read them. So I just go in blindly and see what I can do and figure it out. Until I get stuck or so frustrated I might break something, I'll crack out the instructions to help me figure things out. Once I completed Superman back in the day, I don't think I ever turned it on again.

[@michaellarocca1435]

I loved this game as a kid! If you haven’t already, I would suggest a Spider-Man play-through video!

[@wildstar41]

Today we can pretend the human sized helicopter is an advanced drone built by Lex Corp.

[@GenXGrownUp]

I like it!

[@jbponzi1]

I love this game.

[@IamPowerdriven]

Absolutely top notch game

[@atothed84]

I think I might have played it, but it's too far back to remember exactly. I better remember the NES and arcade games. Still, it looks like good ole simple fun.