The Death and Retruns of Superman

The Death and Return of Superman is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, based directly on the landmark 1992–1993 DC Comics storyline of the same name in which Superman is killed by the creature Doomsday and later resurrected. The game arrived during a period when the SNES was firmly in its commercial prime and licensed superhero brawlers were a well-established genre on the platform, following in the footsteps of titles like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Captain America and the Avengers in arcades and on home consoles. The comic arc itself was a genuine cultural phenomenon — the death of Superman made international headlines and drove record-breaking comic sales — so a game adaptation was a natural commercial move. The SNES version was developed by Blizzard Entertainment (then known as Silicon & Synapse) and published by Sunsoft, released in 1994. Players progress through a series of linear stages that follow the comic's narrative beats: battling Doomsday, the aftermath, and the emergence of four Superman pretenders — Steel, Superboy, the Eradicator, and the Cyborg Superman — before the return of the genuine article. Each of these five characters is playable at different points in the game, and each brings a distinct move set to the action. Superman and the Eradicator rely on flight and energy blasts, Steel is a slower but powerful melee fighter, Superboy uses tactile telekinesis for ranged attacks, and the Cyborg Superman has a mix of both physical and energy-based moves. Controls follow the standard SNES brawler template: the face buttons handle punching, jumping, and special attacks, while holding a direction and pressing attack executes different combo strings. Special energy moves drain a power meter that refills over time, encouraging players to use them strategically rather than spamming them. Levels scroll horizontally and are populated by waves of enemies drawn from the comics — Intergang soldiers, Doomsday-spawn creatures, and various DC villains — culminating in boss encounters. The game is relatively short by modern standards, completable in a single sitting of roughly one to two hours, but the difficulty is tuned to be punishing on default settings, with limited continues and enemies that deal significant damage. The presentation was praised at the time for its faithfulness to the source material, with large, detailed character sprites and a soundtrack that captures an appropriately dramatic tone. As a single-player-only experience on a platform where co-op brawlers were common, it stood apart, keeping the focus on the solo narrative journey rather than cooperative play.