<s>
Superman	B-Application
is	O
a	O
video	O
game	O
programmed	O
by	O
John	O
Dunn	O
for	O
the	O
Atari	B-General_Concept
Video	I-General_Concept
Computer	I-General_Concept
System	I-General_Concept
(	O
later	O
renamed	O
Atari	B-General_Concept
2600	I-General_Concept
)	O
and	O
released	O
in	O
1979	O
by	O
Atari	O
,	O
Inc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
player	O
controls	O
Superman	B-Application
,	O
whose	O
quest	O
is	O
to	O
explore	O
an	O
open-ended	O
environment	O
to	O
find	O
three	O
pieces	O
of	O
a	O
bridge	O
that	O
was	O
destroyed	O
by	O
Lex	O
Luthor	O
,	O
capture	O
Luthor	O
and	O
his	O
criminal	O
gang	O
,	O
and	O
return	O
to	O
the	O
Daily	O
Planet	O
building	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
world	O
is	O
populated	O
by	O
antagonists	O
such	O
as	O
a	O
helicopter	O
that	O
re-arranges	O
the	O
bridge	O
pieces	O
and	O
roving	O
kryptonite	O
satellites	O
that	O
cause	O
Superman	B-Application
to	O
revert	O
into	O
Clark	O
Kent	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Atari	O
was	O
owned	O
by	O
Warner	O
Communications	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
also	O
the	O
parent	O
company	O
of	O
Superman	B-Application
publisher	O
DC	O
Comics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Following	O
the	O
financial	O
success	O
of	O
the	O
film	O
Superman	B-Application
(	O
1978	O
)	O
,	O
Atari	O
asked	O
programmer	O
Warren	O
Robinett	O
to	O
adapt	O
his	O
prototype	O
of	O
Adventure	B-Application
(	O
1980	O
)	O
into	O
a	O
Superman	B-Application
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Superman	B-Application
received	O
positive	O
reviews	O
on	O
its	O
release	O
from	O
the	O
publications	O
Video	O
and	O
The	O
Space	O
Gamer	O
who	O
proclaimed	O
it	O
as	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
best	O
games	O
from	O
Atari	O
while	O
noting	O
its	O
high	O
quality	O
graphics	O
and	O
unique	O
gameplay	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
retrospective	O
reviews	O
lamented	O
that	O
the	O
game	O
only	O
used	O
the	O
character	O
of	O
Superman	B-Application
for	O
his	O
more	O
action-oriented	O
abilities	O
,	O
while	O
others	O
continued	O
to	O
praise	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
unique	O
gameplay	O
and	O
high-quality	O
Atari	B-General_Concept
2600	I-General_Concept
graphics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Superman	B-Application
is	O
a	O
video	O
game	O
in	O
which	O
the	O
player	O
controls	O
Clark	O
Kent	O
and	O
his	O
superhero	O
alias	O
Superman	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
hearing	O
about	O
a	O
bomb	O
scare	O
in	O
Metropolis	O
,	O
Kent	O
examines	O
the	O
situation	O
and	O
finds	O
Superman	B-Application
's	O
nemesis	O
Lex	O
Luthor	O
leaving	O
the	O
scene	O
as	O
the	O
waterfront	O
bridge	O
explodes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Superman	B-Application
can	O
be	O
damaged	O
by	O
kryptonite	O
satellites	O
;	O
if	O
they	O
touch	O
him	O
,	O
he	O
loses	O
his	O
ability	O
to	O
fly	O
and	O
can	O
only	O
be	O
revived	O
by	O
interacting	O
with	O
Lois	O
Lane	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
player	O
can	O
enable	O
Superman	B-Application
's	O
x-ray	O
vision	O
to	O
see	O
any	O
of	O
the	O
four	O
adjoining	O
frames	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
viewing	O
these	O
,	O
Superman	B-Application
cannot	O
move	O
but	O
can	O
still	O
be	O
hit	O
by	O
kryptonite	O
satellites	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Warner	O
Communications	O
also	O
owned	O
DC	O
Comics	O
,	O
which	O
owned	O
the	O
Superman	B-Application
character	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
market	O
for	O
comics	O
was	O
shrinking	O
during	O
this	O
period	O
and	O
for	O
the	O
first	O
time	O
,	O
licensing	O
the	O
characters	O
became	O
more	O
profitable	O
,	O
specifically	O
in	O
comparison	O
to	O
the	O
film	O
rentals	O
for	O
the	O
1978	O
film	O
Superman	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
Jessica	O
Aldred	O
in	O
the	O
book	O
Before	O
the	O
Crash	O
,	O
Superman	B-Application
was	O
the	O
first	O
film-licensed	O
game	O
for	O
the	O
Atari	B-General_Concept
VCS	I-General_Concept
,	O
while	O
Ian	O
Bogost	O
and	O
Nick	O
Monfort	O
in	O
their	O
book	O
Chasing	O
the	O
Beam	O
(	O
2009	O
)	O
stated	O
that	O
it	O
was	O
not	O
clear	O
that	O
the	O
game	O
was	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
film	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Carl	O
Wilson	O
wrote	O
in	O
The	O
Superhero	O
Multiverse	O
that	O
Mario	O
Puzo	O
's	O
contract	O
had	O
mandated	O
that	O
his	O
story	O
for	O
the	O
Superman	B-Application
film	O
was	O
not	O
to	O
be	O
adapted	O
into	O
any	O
other	O
form	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
finding	O
that	O
the	O
brief	O
plot	O
summary	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
did	O
not	O
relate	O
to	O
any	O
specific	O
Superman	B-Application
comic	O
story	O
running	O
at	O
that	O
period	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
developing	O
the	O
game	O
Adventure	B-Application
(	O
1980	O
)	O
in	O
1978	O
,	O
Warren	O
Robinett	O
was	O
asked	O
to	O
shelve	O
the	O
game	O
and	O
use	O
its	O
design	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
game	O
based	O
on	O
Superman	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Dunn	O
took	O
on	O
the	O
job	O
with	O
the	O
condition	O
that	O
he	O
could	O
develop	O
a	O
game	O
that	O
had	O
a	O
four	O
kilobyte	O
ROM	B-Device
chip	I-Device
on	O
its	O
cartridge	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
exception	O
of	O
Casino	B-Application
(	O
1978	O
)	O
and	O
Hangman	B-Application
(	O
1978	O
)	O
,	O
every	O
game	O
made	O
for	O
the	O
Atari	B-General_Concept
VCS	I-General_Concept
had	O
been	O
written	O
within	O
two	O
kilobytes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
sound	O
and	O
graphics	O
,	O
the	O
Atari	B-General_Concept
2600	I-General_Concept
had	O
its	O
Television	B-General_Concept
Interface	I-General_Concept
Adaptor	I-General_Concept
(	O
TIA	O
)	O
which	O
authors	O
Nick	O
Montfort	O
and	O
Ian	O
Bogost	O
described	O
as	O
a	O
programming	O
challenge	O
,	O
allowing	O
for	O
only	O
a	O
relatively	O
small	O
number	O
of	O
unique	O
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Atari	B-General_Concept
2600	I-General_Concept
did	O
not	O
allow	O
for	O
such	O
services	O
such	O
as	O
graphic	O
rendering	O
,	O
forcing	O
programmers	O
to	O
draw	O
the	O
entirety	O
of	O
each	O
frame	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
display	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
features	O
no	O
music	O
and	O
only	O
simple	O
sound	O
effects	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
audio	O
getting	O
louder	O
and	O
quieter	O
as	O
Superman	B-Application
flies	O
higher	O
and	O
lower	O
into	O
the	O
air	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
video	O
game	O
with	O
multicolored	O
sprites	O
and	O
was	O
among	O
the	O
first	O
console	O
games	O
with	O
a	O
pause	O
feature	O
,	O
following	O
the	O
Fairchild	B-Operating_System
Channel	I-Operating_System
F	I-Operating_System
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Atari	O
's	O
The	O
Atari	B-General_Concept
Video	I-General_Concept
Computer	I-General_Concept
System	I-General_Concept
Catalog	O
from	O
1979	O
,	O
the	O
game	O
was	O
listed	O
as	O
being	O
available	O
soon	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
Richter	O
,	O
DC	O
gave	O
them	O
a	O
playbook	O
on	O
exactly	O
how	O
Superman	B-Application
should	O
look	O
as	O
the	O
cover	O
art	O
was	O
going	O
to	O
be	O
crucial	O
as	O
that	O
is	O
what	O
people	O
would	O
see	O
on	O
the	O
store	O
shelves	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bill	O
Kunkel	O
and	O
Arnie	O
Katz	O
reviewed	O
Superman	B-Application
in	O
Video	O
,	O
and	O
declared	O
it	O
as	O
a	O
game	O
that	O
"	O
ushers	O
in	O
an	O
exciting	O
new	O
era	O
for	O
home	O
arcades	O
 [ ... ] 	O
put	O
simply	O
,	O
there	O
's	O
no	O
game	O
remotely	O
similar	O
to	O
this	O
one.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Superman	B-Application
was	O
listed	O
as	O
their	O
"	O
Game	O
of	O
the	O
Year	O
"	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
publication	O
declaring	O
it	O
a	O
single-player	O
masterpiece	O
and	O
"	O
the	O
most	O
important	O
release	O
"	O
of	O
the	O
year	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Retrospectively	O
,	O
Bogost	O
and	O
Monfort	O
found	O
that	O
Superman	B-Application
"	O
expunged	O
the	O
movie	O
's	O
social	O
and	O
emotional	O
relationships	O
-	O
and	O
those	O
of	O
the	O
comic	O
books	O
-	O
choosing	O
action	O
sequences	O
instead	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
William	O
Wilson	O
of	O
Forbes	O
stated	O
in	O
2015	O
that	O
Superman	B-Application
was	O
exceptional	O
by	O
contemporary	O
technical	O
standards	O
,	O
noting	O
its	O
graphics	O
being	O
better	O
than	O
some	O
of	O
the	O
competition	O
,	O
specifically	O
comparing	O
it	O
to	O
Atari	O
's	O
Adventure	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
also	O
appreciated	O
the	O
smaller	O
details	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
sound	O
of	O
flying	O
decreasing	O
in	O
volume	O
as	O
Superman	B-Application
ascends	O
and	O
Lois	O
Lane	O
lifting	O
her	O
leg	O
when	O
Superman	B-Application
kisses	O
her	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2009	O
,	O
Michal	O
Mozejko	O
of	O
Retro	O
Gamer	O
opined	O
that	O
the	O
game	O
was	O
still	O
the	O
best	O
Superman	B-Application
video	O
game	O
,	O
praising	O
its	O
innovation	O
with	O
being	O
the	O
first	O
to	O
utilize	O
multiple	O
screens	O
as	O
a	O
playing	O
area	O
,	O
although	O
he	O
noted	O
that	O
travelling	O
through	O
the	O
map	O
was	O
not	O
intuitive	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Superman	B-Application
was	O
the	O
first	O
published	O
superhero	O
to	O
feature	O
in	O
a	O
video	O
game	O
,	O
followed	O
up	O
on	O
the	O
Atari	B-General_Concept
2600	I-General_Concept
by	O
Spider-Man	B-Application
(	O
1982	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
next	O
game	O
featuring	O
Superman	B-Application
would	O
appear	O
in	O
1985	O
with	O
Superman	B-Application
:	I-Application
The	I-Application
Game	I-Application
by	O
First	O
Star	O
Software	O
for	O
the	O
Commodore	O
64	O
.	O
</s>
