Using Brandon "I'm not Christopher Reeves" Routh as the palette for the man in blue, Superman's visuals are easily part of the great appeal of this title. It is not just the characters and their wonderful assortment of animations, but also the great lighting effects from special attacks and explosions, and the fact that the city itself is huge, greatly detailed, and full of life. It could be said that it is the massive 80 square miles of Metropolis and the look and feel of flying that will win gamers over more than anything else the game offers.

It also helps that EA didn't just make this a movie based license. While the progression of the storyline follows the film, you will have side stories that involve many of the characters and villains in Superman's 60 year history. Tangling with Spacey's Lex Luthor is not your only concern when Metallo, Mongul, Bizzaro, Riot, and even Mxyzptlk join in trying to take down the last son of Krypton.

Of course as Superman, you have to have your powers provided by Earth's yellow sun in order to take down these foes and keep Metropolis safe. EA not only gives Superman some of his familiar abilities such as Flight, Strength, Heat Vision, Freeze Breath, and Blow Breath, but uncovering many combination attacks will be key to victory over Sup's archenemies. It is very satisfying to use your Blow Breath and watch as people, cars, and debris blow around with rag doll physics beauty. One of Superman Returns best mimicry of a superpower is his super speed. Nothing is cooler or more exhilarating that running at breakneck speeds along the city to get from one place to another or take a civilian to safety. I take that back, only one thing is cooler and that is flying at sound barrier smashing speeds to get to a particular far away area. With the landscape being so massive, it is nice that special warning icons help Superman not only find the trouble spots, but also where to take civilians to safety. I guess you can call it GPS for the son of Jor-El.

Ah, but there is one thing besides lead that the Man of Steel couldn't see past and that is a shoddy camera. While very workable for 70 percent of the game, there will be many of moments throughout the game you will want to curse at your television as the camera sometimes has a mind of its own. This happens too often in the thick of battle or when you don't need it to happen most. It is also worth noting that some of the combination attacks may be too close together and will throw off your attacks. For instance, X and A together allow you to uppercut. Holding those buttons allow to you to lift off the ground. However, these two things don't work together as it is frustrating to be in the middle of a ground combo attack only to be lifted out of position. Lastly, there are too many repeating mini missions that will help you power up, but become monotonous when you are just trying to move the story along. Moments such as these may turn off casual, not huge Superman fans off after a few hours. For us die-hard fans it is just another day in the hectic life of Superman and we can leap that hurdle if it means being in the shoes of the man of steel.

The game is capped off with wonderful presentation such as CG Cut scenes, voice acting, and a brilliant score that inspires you to want to be successful in saving the good people of Metropolis.

Lasting around 7-10 hours, depending on how many side quests you do, Superman Returns may seem short to some but it is a perfect fit for this game's engine. This is one Superman title, while not perfect in any way, that will happily sit beside any collector's wide array of treasures. This is easily of the best Superman games to come along in quite some time, and if this keeps up, we will want Superman to return again very soon.