Talk:Superman: The Man of Steel (1989 video game)

Did an Apple IIGS port really exist?

There is a mention in the article Superman: The Man of Steel (as well as another title called Buffalo Bill's Wild West Rodeo) was ported to the 16-bit Apple IIGS by Tynesoft. I have no record of this game ever being commercial released for the Apple II, nor have I even heard of it being in development. There were however many games that never saw the light of day because projects were canceled and no one knew existed, some have surfaced in one form or another, much to the surprise of users all these years later. Could this be one?

If you have any more information about this or any of other games by Tynesoft for the Apple IIGS, please do share it here! Or better yet, contact Alex Lee at the 'What is the Apple IIGS?' website, at: http://www.whatisthe2gs.apple2.org.za/ -- He and I are both still interesting to tracking down ANY lost IIGS games--Apple2gs (talk) 05:52, 9 August 2010 (UTC)

Well an Apple II version was certainly created (as was a version of Rodeo Games) and they certainly weren't released in the UK (where there was no Apple II market). I did try and find trace of it on the internet but couldn't but then I couldn't find any information on the US release at all except an image of the Capstone released C64 version. Being 1989, I'm sure Capstone will have been more interested in the Amiga, Atari ST and Apple II versions. Can you point me in the direction of any useful US-based retro computing websites? The good ones all seem to be UK/Europe based (Lemon Amiga, Lemon 64, World of Spectrum, Acorn Electron World, Plus4 World etc etc). Now... to be honest the 'GS' bit was an assumption based on it being 1989 but I've checked since you questioned it and I see the Apple IIe was still very much around at that point. Also, since a quote about the Rodeo Games conversion says it was converted from the (8-bit) BBC Micro, it may well have been a lesser Apple II! There is an interview here with Kevin Blake who converted these games to the Apple II but I'll quote it here anyway "RODEO GAMES (APPLE II), SUPERMAN (also APPLE II) TYNESOFT These two were conversions of 16-bit games and came out O.K. I did conversions for the Apple II, using a similar method to US Drag Racing, except in Mode 5. When the code was ported, the only difference between the BBC/Electron and Apple II was the file handling (by Gary Partis) and the screen stuff. The Apple and BBC were VERY similar, surprisingly so. Rodeo Games was published by First Star in the States (they did Spy vs Spy and Boulderdash) and it was a huge success for them, purely down to the fact that it didn't look like any other Apple II game. It looked identical to the Electron version!". I suggest you register on the forum of [1] - somebody there may have Kevin's contact details and he may still have copies of the games (or at least give you a bit more information!). If you find out, or if you think it more likely theses were Apple IIe (or earlier), let me know. --Retro junkie (talk) 20:07, 10 August 2010 (UTC)

I'm not sure if you're aware, but the Apple IIGS in comparison to the Apple II+/e/c is akin to the Amiga versus the C64. Ahh, okay. I thought perhaps you saw a mention of the 16-bit IIGS written on the outside box, instruction manual or advertised in magazines or ad pamphlets. If its existence is solely based on your assumption, then I think we can rule out the possibility of it having exist. :)

As for either game existing for the 8-bit Apple II, that sounds far more likely, however I can't find any mention of them in old magazines and personally never heard of them before. It's quite possible these two games were ported but never publicly released. It's worth pointing out many companies began abandoning Apple II software projects around 1989-90, some were even completed but canceled because of the declining market. In some cases Apple officials were calling companies and encouraging them to drop their Apple II support/projects in order to push users towards the Macintosh.

Okay, so no IIGS versions, but there were 8-bit Apple II ports of these games. Question is, were they ever released? I'd be interested in finding out!

The "What is the Apple IIGS?" website mentioned above is a site based in Australia, however it's THE best site on Apple IIGS gaming software. Definitely check it out.

---Apple2gs (talk) 01:20, 11 August 2010 (UTC)

The quote above certainly seems to confirm at least Rodeo Games was released on the Apple II (...it did very well for them). I wouldn't entirely rule out it being for the GS though - I was aware it is 16-bit but, again, the quote above says they are 16-bit conversions and this was an Amiga/ST game really that was forced onto 8 bit machines because they were still very popular in the UK at the time. Anyway, for now I agree it's best to take out the GS (I've done it on the Tynesoft article as well)... particularly as the Apple II page here is about the series. --Retro junkie (talk) 18:41, 11 August 2010 (UTC)

Re-reading that quote above, you're right, it certainly sounds like Rodeo Games was published and released (as for a IIGS port my interpretation is he stated "conversions" of these 16-bit games, meaning he down converted a 16-bit title into an 8-bit. Saying "port" would more likely mean 16-bit->16-bit). Still, I looked through several Apple II magazines from the late 80's and early 90's and can't find any sign either game existed (I looked in software lists from major vendors at the time). I also did a quick search on one of the major Apple II game archive sites (ftp.apple.asimov.net) and couldn't find copies of either game. Maybe these were just obscure titles with a very limited and short distribution? I'd be interesting to speak with Kevin Blake and find out more details, especially if he worked on any IIGS-specific ports.--Apple2gs (talk) 01:05, 13 August 2010 (UTC)