Superman FAQ/Walkthrough

Disclaimer:  The Superman arcade game is not owned in any way, shape,
or form by me.  All rights are reserved by DC comics and Taito, and
probably a bunch of other companies.



Table of Contents

1. Background

2. Version(s)

3.Story

4. Characters

5. Controls

6. General Tips

7. Walkthrough

8. Final Notes and Thanks



1. Background

Greetings, my name is ChazA4.  Most everyone here(and virtually
everywhere, I'm sure) knows of Superman.  I remember watching him and
his Justice League buddies foil the bad guys time and again on the
OLD cartoon(this was when they had Martian Manhunter and Hawkman, and
Aquaman had that scale-looking suit, mind you).  So, it was to my
great delight that I saw a Superman arcade game in my local theater
when I went to see a movie with my dad.  Needless to say, I begged
for a few quarters to try it, and loved it.  Unfortunately, that was
the only time I ever saw it, as it was replaced by E-SWAT the next
time we went to a movie there.

Fast forward about 20 plus years, and I finally have a computer able
to do serious emulating.  Flipping through the old MAME roms, I see
Superman, and fond memories are conjured from my childhood.  But
imagine my dismay when I saw that no FAQs or walkthroughs were made
for this game.  Well...after having played through it, I can kind of
understand why.  But we'll get to that in the main body.  I hope you
enjoy this FAQ, and if you do, please let me know!



2. Versions

v. 1.0(12/29/2010):  Complete version.  I wonder how long this will be the
'final' version.



3. Story

Pretty standard story, even with as little as you're told.  It seems
that for unknown reasons, aliens have decided to invade Earth
 They've struck several of the largest cities(New York, Las Vegas,
San Francisco, Washington DC), in the first step of their campaign.
Only Superman(and I believe, Captain Marvel for 2P) stand in their
way!



4. Characters

(NOTE:  I have no idea what the names of the enemies are, or even if
they HAVE names.  I will be referring to them by description.)

SUPERMAN(1P) - The Man of Steel, The Last Son of Krypton, this is
you(if you play 1P)!  Simply because you know of the invasion and can
do something about it, you quickly take to the skies to show the
aliens that Earth is your home!

CAPTAIN MARVEL(2P)? - Captain Thunder, Shazam, this is you(if you
play 2P)!  You join your buddy Superman to provide some extra
muscular backup as you beat back the alien assault!

RED TROOPER - The standard foot soldiers of the alien army, these
guys will fly over, punch once or twice, then fly away.  Do with them
as you will.

YELLOW TROOPER - Much the same as their red-garbed brethren, these
guys seem to be a little quicker on the attack.  They primarily use
kicks.  As with their counterparts, give 'em whatever you wish.

METALLO CLONES - These guys look like the T-1000 in his liquimetal
form.  They'll appear from the background by morphing in, and then
attack with some rapid kicks or punches.  They can also defend, so
try to use kicks(they can't seem to block those too well).

ALIEN BATS - Basically Metallo Clones, the only difference is you'll
see these guys ahead of time.  Oh, and they don't block.  Treat them
to a kick.

SPIDER ALIENS - These guys climb up and down the background walls,
spitting webbing at you.  Wiggle the joystick to get free if they hit
you with it.  The webbing hurts, by the way.  Use your attack of
choice.

ELECTROBOLT - They fly in and start shooting balls of electricity at
you, but they are capable of blocking as well.  Try to get in close
for a kick, or just dodge until they get bored.

CAT CLAWS - These guys look like humanoid cats, and claw you.  Unlike
the troopers and clones, they can actually knock you back when they
hit you!  Be careful fighting them against the edges of the screen!
Use rapid attacks to get rid of them.

BIONIC GOBLINS - Seeing as Green Goblin is trademarked to Marvel, I'm
amazed they got away with this guy in the game.  Anyway, he looks
like Green Goblin, but with a bionic claw arm(shades of Rad Spencer).
He can attack with a punch, but only if you're right next to him.
Normally, he'll close, use his arm to bring you in for a bearhug.
Try to dodge his arm attack, and then nail him with your choice of
attack.

ROCKET TROOPERS - These jerks fly in, level out on your plane, and
then charge at you.  You CAN knock them out of it, but the timing is
tight...better to just dodge the attack.

EARTHMEN - Basically Bruisers that have rocky skin, they seem to
serve as mini-bosses.  Just throw rapid punches at them as they
approach...you should be able to wipe them out before they attack.

XENOBUNNIES - Looking like pink bunny humanoids, these things are
vicious!  They hop in, and if you're facing them, try to hop behind
you for a sneak attack.  Pretty easy to exploit this opening unless
you're caught off-guard(say, like in a fight?).  Their attacks have
knockback.

SPACE NINJAS - Seriously, they look like ninjas in space!  These guys
can warp around via the background, and they do this to get close
enough to grab you.  Wiggle the joystick to get loose, and you
automatically defeat them; otherwise, you'll get a nasty shock.  Can
be a problem if you have a large group of enemies after you, though.

ROCKET COMMANDOS - Dressed in a Han Solo-esque vest, these guys fly
in, and shoot first.  They take several blows to knock out, so try to
make some breathing room as fast as possible to focus on them.

ENERGY FOUNTAINS - These things spew a tall column of blue energy,
preventing you from advancing without damage.  Drop to street level
and give them a good kick to continue on.

FLOOR/CEILING/MOBILE CANNONS - These are simple guns.  Dodge their
bullets as best you can, and decommission them immediately.

METEORS - Round rocks that swarm onto the screen, these only show up
during the horizontal flying stages.  Dodge them or blast them with
your eye-beams.

GIRDERS - Earth has got some FUNKY construction going on to have you
flying through buildings this high up!  Regardless, these pose
another obstacle in the horizontal flying levels.  Blast them, or
avoid it.

HELICOPTER - Looks like the aliens love our Apache chopper design,
'cause that's what this looks like.  Again, only shows up in the
horizontal flying stages.  Be careful not to lose the bullets in the
swarm of enemies!  Also, watch out for the shrapnel when you destroy
it!

MISSILES - Standard look for a missile.  They fly in, and fly out.
Blast or avoid.  Be aware that there's a street level version,
too...but you won't see those until D.C.

BURST ROCKS - These rocks have a more jagged, 'natural' look to them.
When you shoot them(and sometimes even when you don't) they split
into smaller pieces, adding more chaos to an already hectic
battlefield.

PROBES - These things look like recon doohickeys with blue auras.
These things CAN be destroyed, but they take a lot of shots.  Just
avoid them.

DEBRIS - They look like pieces of some ship wreckage.  Nothing
special about them.

SHRAPROCKS - Similar to burst rocks, these things look like debris
with an X on them.  When you shoot them, they detonate shrapnel in
four diagonal directions.

SCATTER ORBS - Looking like nuclear isotopes of some kind, when these
things are shot, they release bullets in a circle.  Either dodge, or
shoot and then dodge.

BRUISERS - You'll encounter your first bruiser as a boss at the end
of the first street level map.  They tend to look like 'roided-out
aliens from nightmares.  This guy attacks with the basic punches with
knockback.  If you try to fly up out of his reach, he can JUMP to
your level and beat you down.

TORCH - As if a Green Goblin knockoff wasn't enough, DC and Taito
even took the Human Torch!  All he basically does is fly around in a
circle, shooting 8 fireballs out from his body.  However, if you get
close, he will use melee.  Also, note that when you hit him, he will
return to his normal pattern, but be briefly invincible.

ATTACK CRAFT - At the end of the flying stages, you'll square off
against various attack craft that the aliens have cobbled together.
 Some of these would be more at home in Gradius, but that's beside
the point.  Each one has different attacks, but they all have the
same, obvious weakpoint.  I will point them out in the walkthrough.

PLASMANOID - This guy is a pain.  He'll warp in and out of the
background every time you get close, throwing bolts of energy at you.
Careful; his attacks have knockback.

SPACE [Insert Animal Here] - Major pain in the behind!  His pattern
is basic(fly over to you, and attack), but his attacks have
knockback.  If he catches you up against the wall, prepare to lose
that life!

SUPER-ROBO - His pattern is also pretty basic, but with his homing
missile punch, you're never out of range.  Your best bet is to use
his reload time to get in fast and deliver attacks like crazy; he has
no melee of his own..  Be forewarned, his attacks have knockback.

TRIPLE THREAT - All three of these guys are one boss.  And yes, this
isn't fair.  Blue seems to favor using kicks, while Green prefers
punches, and Red appears to be balanced.  As best as you can, try to
knock out one or two quickly...otherwise, you can expect to lose a
lot of credits here.  Their attacks also have knockback.


5. Controls

Joystick - Moves you left, right, up and down.  On street level maps,
Captain Marvel and Superman will fly automatically if you press up.
If you press down while they are on the ground, they will crouch.

Button 1 - Punch your opponent.  You will always have this available,
even during the flying stages.  Hold the button down, and you will
charge energy into your fist for a 'blast punch' when you release it.

Button 2 - Kick/eye lasers.  During the street level, or vertical
maps, this will be your kick button.  During the flying stages, it
will allow you to shoot Superman's famous eye lasers.

6. General Tips

- Keep an eye out for crystal pick-ups.  There are three kinds:  blue
restores your health(or points if you're at full health), yellow
provides you a ready-to-go blast punch, and red gives an extra life(?
very rare, and thus unconfirmed as of yet).
- Every stage will have the same three rounds(though not in this
order):  street level, vertical ascent/descent, and flying.
- Kicks are more powerful than punches.
- A 'blast punch' has different levels of charging, allowing it to
penetrate multiple enemies and do more damage at higher charge.
However, while you're charging it, you are effectively immobile.
- Play this game with a patient attitude and lots of time, or a lot
of quarters!  This is not for the cash-shy gung-ho, blaze-o'-glory types.
- In 2 player games, whoever gets yellow crystals should be covered
by the other player, so they can use those blast punches on the boss.
- If you have a blast punch via yellow crystal, remember that your
kicks will not waste the punch.
- If you know you're about to face a boss, get a blast punch ready,
then hammer them with it.  It's your only knockback attack!
- Dodging is the best thing you can do in 90% of the flying stages.



7. Walkthrough

No phone booth for Superman(and for that matter, no 'Shazam'
lightning bolt for Captain Marvel).  You simply change on the go, and
head off to defend(surprise) Metropolis!

Stage 1:  Metropolis

1-1:  Head right, taking time to knock the enemies out as they
appear.  When the Metallo clones show up, use kicks to dispatch them
faster(they seem to have trouble blocking those).  Knock the barriers
down as you approach them, and either pick up or destroy the trash
cans and boxes you find on the ground.  At the end of the level, a
Green Bruiser will approach you.  Stay close above him(just to the
left of the top of his head), and kick as fast as possible.  He will
try backing up, so try to maintain that position above him.  He
should go down before too long.

1-2:  The scrolling is automatic on these vertical stages, so just
take the time to defend yourself here.  Stay in the center, and use
punches for enemies above your character's waistline, and kicks for
those below.  At the end, you'll square off against Torch.  Fly in
when the timing looks good, hit him once, then back out and wait for
your next shot.  These guys are annoying, so don't be surprised if it
costs you a few credits.

1-3:  This is another autoscrolling level.  Keep your finger on
button 2, the eye lasers are rapid fire.  For the most part, you can
stay in the center here, on the left side of the screen, and be safe.
Past the first set of girders, a helicopter will come down and
attack.  Once you deal with it, work through the second girder set.
Halfway through, missiles will start screaming in.  Be
careful...sometimes they can go just under your lasers, and still hit
you.  When the Attack Craft shows up, stay on the left and keep
shooting, trying to hit the green windshield.  The pods will flash as
though damage has been done, but you need to focus as much as
possible on the main part.  After enough damage has been dealt,
Metropolis is safe!

Stage 2:  San Francisco

2-1: Time to show the aliens YOUR 'San Francisco treat'!  Here,
you'll face the Bat-Aliens.  They function pretty much like the
Metallo Clones(which are also here); give them a kick, because they
block most punches.  The Spider Aliens are new, though:  they crawl
up and down the walls, spitting some sort of webbing at your
character.  It doesn't take much to break out, but you DON'T want to
be caught motionless in a swarm of enemies.  At the end, Plasmanoid
will attack.  Don't get too close, or he'll warp away.  Get just
within your attack range and hit him once, then back off.  Repeat
until he's gone.

2-2:  The aliens have a base in the sewers?!?  Okay...again, take
care of defense the same way you did earlier.  This is the first
appearance of Rocket Troopers, too.  Try to fake them out...the
window for knocking them out of the charge is far too tight.  At the
end, you'll face off against Space Lizard:  whatever you do, DON'T
let him corner you!  You're just barely more maneuverable...as much
as possible, try to stick and move.  Try to get behind him over his
head...his kicks have significant range.  An energy blast would also
help if you have the time to charge one.

2-3:  No girders down here, but you're going to have your first
experience with Burst Rocks.  Get your dodging skills down pat:
 these flying stages only get worse.  At the end, you'll have to face
off against another Attack Craft.  Shoot it in between its front
lasers at the red orb to cause damage.  Dodge its lasers, and blast
or dodge the homing missiles it will fire.  If you've played Gradius,
the routine should be very familiar, and very quick.  On to Las
Vegas!

Stage 3:  Las Vegas

3-1:  This stage will introduce the Electrobolts.  You'll be spending
a lot more time in this and upcoming stages dodging, just to warn
you.  About halfway through, you'll run into some Earthmen.  They
shouldn't give you much trouble.  At the end, you'll come across
another Bruiser.  Treat him as you did the first one.

3-2:  Hopefully, you can afford to lose a life here, or you're gawdly
with the dodging skills, because you'll be squaring off against
multiple Rocket Troopers, mostly when you're already fighting.  If
you get past that part(at the beginning of the stage), the rest is
pretty easy.  At the end, you'll face Super-Robo.  He can use melee,
but he mostly uses a homing missile punch.  Charge in and hammer him;
if you time your attacks right, you can destroy his projectile
without getting hit.

3-3:  The first part of this stage is a constant missile barrage,
coupled with girders and meteors.  After the second girder set, a
helicopter will attack.  After the third set, another chopper will
attack, along with a meteor and burst rock barrage.  From there,
you'll square off against your third Attack Craft.  This one has arms
that shoot lasers.  They try to mix this one up with it not only
having the arms block your shots, but also another hatch that opens
and closes randomly.  Pull off your best Gradius moves and waste this
alien weapon!  To the US capitol!

Stage 4:  Washington D.C.

4-1:  Pretty standard fare.  When you pass in front of the Capitol
Building though, you'll come across a missile barrage.  Carefully
thread your way through to Space Elephant.  He works pretty much the
same way as his Lizard brethren in San Fran.  Hope you've got a spare
life or two...

4-2:  Again, pretty standard fare.  Stay in the middle as much as
possible; the Cat Claws can cause serious damage if they pin you
against one of the sides.  At the end, you'll face another Torch.
Use the same tactics to send him packing.

4-3:  You get introduced to Probes here.  Focus on dodging around
them; they take a lot of shots.  When the fifth one pops onscreen,
missiles will start arriving.  Just after you've seen your last
probe, burst rocks will join the missiles.  Then, a helicopter will
replace the missiles.  After the burst rocks stop, meteors will start
bombarding you, coupled with missiles.  The missiles will continue as
burst rocks take over, then meteors replace the missiles.  You'll
think it's Christmas when you get to the waterfall, and only have to
deal with(one at a time) meteors, burst rocks, and then probes.
 Enjoy it while you can, because a helicopter will arrive with
missiles, and then burst rocks, followed by MORE probes!  Finally,
still dealing with probes, you'll get barraged with burst rocks,
meteors, AND missiles all at once!  If you can get past that part
without crying, you'll fight another Attack Craft.  This one's bigger
than those you've fought, but the weak point is still glaringly
obvious.  Shoot the yellow orb, and dodge it's small shots and laser
orbs.  The shots behave as normal, but the orbs are a different
story; they will fly in a figure eight pattern to the OPPOSITE cannon
they were fired from.  Just draw a mental 8 from one cannon to the
other, and you'll have their flight path.  Despite this craft looking
as though it has a hatch like the last craft did, it's not blocking
your eye lasers.  Time to take the fight to the alien spaceship!

Stage 5:  Spaceship

5-1:  Just to change things up, you START with a flying level!  This
also introduces a new obstacle:  debris.  It's pretty basic to start
with, even when the burst rock barrage begins.  After some probes,
you'll get bombarded with more wreckage, then some missiles, and some
burst rocks and shraprocks.  Before too long, you'll face the next
Attack Craft.  This one's a bit more basic than the last one;  it has
two cannons that fire energy shots.  Dodge them as normal, and shoot
for the green core; it's smaller than the weakpoints have been, but
still very obvious.

5-2:  This is your 'street level' map.  Once more, head right,
destroying anyone in your way.  This is your first encounter with
what I've termed 'Xenobunnies'.  Very pink, and very deadly, get rid
of them as soon as they appear!  You'll also come across energy
fountains and floor guns.  You'll have to deal with those using
kicks.  Finally, also keep an eye out for Rocket Commandos.  After
some moving walls, a destructible barrier, and a short gauntlet of
energy barriers, a mobile cannon, and some Xenobunnies, you'll come
up against the Triple Threat.  As hard as it may be to do so, try to
focus on one at a time, and get them all on one side.

5-3:  Ascending to the command dome, this is yet another standard
fare map.  Work the enemies over as best you can.  After a short
gauntlet of foes, you'll square off against Super Robo again!  Use
the same strategies to finish him off once more.

5-4:  HAH!  Thought that was it, did you?  Nope, now you have another
flying stage!  This stage also introduces the scatter orbs, as well
as a new skin for the girder obstacles.  Immediately after the
missile barrage and girders, you'll come across a few scatter orbs,
then a meteor barrage, a burst rock barrage, more missiles, some
probes, more meteors and burst rocks, a few scatter orbs, and then
meteors and burst rocks again.  When you have a breather, the next
Attack Craft is arriving.  This one has TWO weakpoints, and a catch
to them; they fire their own lasers as well.  In all, this craft
shoots three lasers(one from both weakpoints, and the central
cannon), and rebounding energy orbs that bounce off the left side of
the screen to head to the opposite cannon they were fired from.  This
can get extremely hectic, but this one isn't as tough as the last few
have been.

5-5:  Not really a stage, this is the final showdown!  The supreme
alien leader is floating around at his desk, while up to two Bruisers
seek to protect him, and clean your clock.  Let me state this:  DO
NOT FIGHT THE BRUISERS!  The leader will just send in more, and
you'll be right back where you started, minus several lives.  Go
straight after the leader, and hammer him.  The Bruisers will knock
you away, and you'll probably lose a number of lives, but keep on the
leader.  He's not going to sit back and take punishment either, by
the way; every now and again, he'll lash out with a kick.  Even so,
keep on him.  He can't take too much punishment, and hopefully you'll
have enough credits to finish him off.

A WINNER IS YOU!


8. Final Notes and Thanks

As stated earlier, I believe this guide is effectively done.
However, if you disagree, and have something to add, please give me
your input and I will make the necessary changes!  Contact me at
runewalshps4[at]yahoo[dot]com, and put "Superman Arcade Game" in the
subject line.  Be advised, flames do not equal input, and will be
used instead to add to global warming.  Spam will be regurgitated in
your general vicinity.


Thanks go to:
DC Comics and Taito for making this game, imperfect as it may have
been.
The IRS for providing me with the excess taxes I used to buy my
computer, so that I can DO all of this.
My parents for putting up with my video game obsession for so many
years.
My fiancee for putting up with my video game obsession now.
GameFAQS for hosting this walkthrough.
You for reading it!