The year 2009 saw the release of the phenomenal video game adaptation of the iconic comic book character Batman in Batman: Arkham Asylum.  A beautifully rendered game, it blended elements of atmosphere, stellar game play control, and the Batman mythos to create one of the finest Superhero adapted video games of all time.  And now, with the September 2010, Game Informer hitting shelves and giving us a glimpse at next year’s sequel, Batman: Arkham City, I thought it would be fun to start a weekly column taking a look back at video games adapted from comic books over the years.  Starting at the beginning with the very first comic book adapted game, Superman, for the home console system the Atari 2600.

Released in 1978 to coincide with the Richard Donner film Superman: The Movie, the video game, designed by programmer John Dunn is considered by many not only to be one of the finest Atari games, but one of the most beloved Superhero games.  With a concept incorporating multiple tasks, the game requires the player to start off as Clark Kent, until Lex Luthor steals a bridge, then the player must move Kent into a phone booth where he turns into Superman.  You then control Superman, moving him through Metropolis as he flies.  You can go in all four directions of the screen and into a couple of buildings, including the Daily Planet.  Your job is to find the pieces of the bridge scattered about Metropolis and put them back together in their original place. Then you must nab Luthor and his goons, who are running around, and drop them off in jail, all the while dodging kryptonite that’s floating about.  If you are hit by kryptonite you lose your powers and must find Lois Lane who heals you with a kiss as she also does a leg kick in the process.  After all this is completed, you have to return to the phone booth, switch back into Clark Kent, and return to the Daily Planet.  The game is designed to be played over and over again based on memory and skill in order for you to get the highest score in the fastest amount of time.

Superman is an interesting and unique piece of video game craftsmanship.  Dunn wanted to work upon themes of positive educational reinforcement, and brought this as a slight touch to the game.  This is laid evident by the challenges brought before Superman.  Superman’s main goal in the game is his duty to the city; he must repair a bridge that was destroyed by the enemy.  His secondary goal is to not just to stop the villains, but instead of beating them up he carries them to prison.  Clearly these few tasks are designed with the idea of adding a level of moral engagement to what could have been a simple beat ‘em up action fare.  This video game is also the first game in history to use the Atari’s full programming capacity of 4K ROMs. Before that, only 2K of ROM space was given to programmers for development.

The purpose of video games has been argued much since they were originally created–the main debate seems to be divided over whether video games are for the sheer purpose of playing a game, one that doesn’t further a plot or agenda but provides a continuous objective for the player to overcome, such as Tetris, or Pacman.  Or, the other side of the debate, which favors the purpose of video games to allow the player to assume control of a character, or characters and play out a story based scenario, or plot.  When playing a video game based on a comic book, in particular one that is about perhaps the medium’s most iconic character, it is typically the player’s desire to get the opportunity to take control of the iconic comic book character and role play, if you will, for the duration of the game.

Due to hardware and programming restraints, as well as its timely nature to be the first, Superman, and practically all Atari 2600 games are of a slightly different beast than what we’ve come to expect and know as video games today.  Instead of giving the reigns to players to play as Superman, the game affords the gamer the opportunity to play at being Superman.  As a pixilated character in the game, Superman is hardly recognizable as anything, person or otherwise.  He dons a simple blue uniform and something akin to a cape fluttering behind his back when he flies.  And while the game offers the minor additions of other characters from the Superman universe, like Lois Lane and Lex Luthor neither of which are recognizable to their comic book counterparts, and therefore serve little purpose in transporting the player into the world Superman inhabits.  If not for the inclusion of the Daily Planet during play the game could have just as easily been called something else.

If we look at Superman in the context of the great video game debate, we boil the objective of the game down to a simple framework of accomplishing a few goals around a labyrinth like environment in the quickest amount of time.  In this way, Superman supports the theory of a game that is played for the simple sake of playing a game, an infinite game if you will.  As a video game that allows the player to assume the identity of a character, and then play out a scenario or story giving them the opportunity to be the larger than life icon that a person goes into playing a game based on a Superhero does, then this game can’t help but fail.  The game only offers its players two of all of Superman’s powers to wield, flight, and x-ray vision, which you can use to see the next screen you’ll pass into by flying in that direction off screen.  Hardly something that a person expecting to play as Superman can feel truly meets the requirements of being Superman.

Perhaps due to things mentioned like, programming and hardware restraints, the game inevitably could do nothing to further the experience of being Superman?  Or, perhaps it could have been due to a lack of appropriate inspiration or imagination?  This I can only speculate on.  I can say as a video game player, and a comic book reader, that there have been games that accomplish this goal of fulfilling a comic reader’s fantasy of, playing as, that iconic character far better than the original Superman game.  While the game does not hold up to the standards we have come to apply to video games and the experiences they afford us in today, Superman does remain a true classic in the pantheon of both video games and games adapted from comic books, simply for the fact that it is a fun, repetitive experience that gave us the first chance ever to control, ourselves, that perhaps greatest of all Superheroes.

If you are so inspired, you can play the game online here.

Kevin-Let me start off by saying that it was very awesome to not only bypass the extremely long line of people waiting to get into the movie but then, when we got into the theater we had seats reserved for us!  +5 ego +7 entitlement on my part.

Pete-You know what class is? Seeing your name on the “reserved for” list. Wait, that isn’t so much “class” per seas it is ego inflating… meh, same thing.

Kevin-If I had known we were going to get that kind of treatment I would have worn my monocle and top-hat along with my Kim Pine-Toronto t-shirt.

Pete-You know, you just don’t see enough monocles these days.

Kevin-The last time I saw excellent monocle usage was at the end of the Last Starfighter when Lord Kril pops on the electro-monocle to say, “We die” before his ship blows up.  Awesome.

Pete-Ooooh man I love me a good Last Starfighter reference. How many video games did you go out and play hoping that they were recruiting machines to go and kick some Kodan armada butt? I don’t know that I’ve ever shaken that feeling… I don’t know that I want to.
Speaking of awesome feelings and Scott Pilgrim, were you surprised that it ruled as much as it did? To be honest, I kinda was.

Kevin-When I was 11 I plunked quite a bit of my allowance into the game N.A.R.C. and when I finally beat the final boss George HW Bush himself walked through the doors of the Happy Joe’s Pizza Parlor and recruited me for a special D.E.A squad tasked to eliminate Cyborg Crack Dealers.  That was one fun summer.  True story.
As for the movie we’re supposed to be reviewing instead of talking video games, I was pretty stoked about the movie, but privately I had doubts and wasn’t sure if Edgar Wright would be able to pull the whole thing off. But the opening scene was absolutely spot on in both characterization and in tone, so once the opening credits rolled, my doubts had fallen away and I was pretty much in love with the movie from then on.

Pete-Ooooooooooooh man now a N.A.R.C. reference? Get out of my video game obsessed childhood… next you’ll be talking about Bad Dudes…

So I’ve read most of the Scott Pilgrim comics and had the same sort of hesitance with the comic about its art that most people seem to mention (don’t like manga) but, the movie felt like a very solid adaptation. On its own I think it was a solidly entertaining movie. I was unsure about the page to screen transition and I think it was handled well. Visually, it was a very appealing movie. Acting-wise I think the cast really seemed to enjoy their roles and that made me enjoy the movie that much more. Even Michael Cera who, at times, can be a little too “Cera-y” managed make his performance interesting.  Maybe that’s just good casting or what the model for the comic was all along. Maybe Mumbles McCera is the real life Scott Pilgrim?

Kevin-Michael Cera’s portrayal of Scott was probably what I liked the least about the movie.  He wasn’t too “Cera-y” for me, he just didn’t play up the overblown/perhaps overcompensating confidence that Scott Pilgrim shows in the book that goes along with the crippling lack of confidence that the character has.  It was pretty much all shyness all the time until it came to fighting time.

But all the other characters I thought were spot on, especially Ramona, Knives and Wallace.  Kieran Culkin was pretty damn awesome as Wallace.

Pete-Okay, how much did you love Knives? Soooooooooooooo f-ing good. Found myself way more invested in the movie when she was on screen. Actually same goes for Wallace as well. Just waiting to see what those characters were going to do next really hooked me.

Kevin-Ellen Wong played Knives Chau’s in-love/heartbroken/stalkyness quite well; my interest in her is quite professional.  Alison Pill’s portrayal of Kim Pine however kinda made me fall in not-creepy love.
So we agree that the adaptation was pretty faithful in characterization and tone then?  What about the deeper meaning of the story about relationships and baggage? That work for you?

Pete-Ahhh what kids don’t have baggage these days? Seriously though… I think that part gets a touch lost in the movie. I mean you know they all have issues by how they relate and live their lives but, it isn’t really ever super stressed that they’re really screwed-up people. Which, as I think about it, I’m okay with. I think it might have taken away from the entertainment of the movie and the quick jokes peppered throughout.

Also I want to say that making the transition from page (or in this case what my brain imagined was on the page), to movieland, I thought Sex Bob-omb sounded exactly like what I’d expect them to.
Kevin-I thought that the baggage issue was pretty central.  Sure Scott didn’t notice it but it was there quite literally smacking him in the face.
As for Sex-Bobomb I totally agree, they were terrible but they still rocked hard enough to make me believe they’re able to defeat twin-synth-pop-dragons.

Pete-Well he looks like crap, he hasn’t really cut his hair in over a year, he’s sharinga bed with someone he isn’t involved with, has no job, no money, is dating a high schooler, I dunno… to me, it was pretty clear that this dude was a little off his game…

Kevin-Don’t forget that he’s also chasing someone who is always running.  That’senough to make even super studs like me act a little goofy. BUT if I learned any lesson from this movie, its that if you are having problems in your relationship, the best way to solve those problems is with lots of punching.
Pete-and sloppy rock n roll and video games. Yup, I’d call that a win.

I do want to add that I think this movie is going to be a surprise hit. I seriously wasn’t expecting too much and honestly the trailer kinda made it look assy. I was wrong. Way wrong. This thing was fun. And well done. A solid choice for the summer movie season and I think it will appeal to folk who aren’t familiar with the comic as well.

Kevin-This movie is going to do better than Iron Man 2 and Toy Story 3 combined…there I said it.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to save the President as he has been kidnapped by ninjas.  Are you a Bad enough Dude to help me Pete?

Pete-BAD DUDES!