''Sunman'' is an unreleased

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

developed by EIM and planned to be published by

Sunsoft , stylized as SUNSOFT, is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. Sunsoft is the video games division of Japanese electronics manufacturer Sun Corporation. Its U.S. subsidiary operated under the name Sun Corporation of America, though, ...

for the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...

in 1992. Despite being mostly complete, it was never commercially released.

Gameplay

The gameplay is very similar to Sunsoft's

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book '' Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939 ...

games, ''

'' and '' Batman: Return of the Joker'', in that the character can run, jump, punch, and duck, although in this game the player can also fly simply by pushing up. There are also some side scrolling flying levels where the player can shoot laser/heat vision from Sunman's eyes. The game is divided into five stages, each made up of one to four areas, with a boss at the end of each stage.

History

The game features a superhero, named ''Sunman''. He is very reminiscent of Superman with his cape, and flying abilities - furthermore, the game's title screen is similar to the Superman logo. Sunsoft's involvement with other

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with their f ...

character licenses lead some to speculate that ''Sunman'' was intended to be a Superman game, but DC for whatever reason decided not to go along and the game had some changes made to lose the likeness. In an interview with planner/director

Kenji Eno was a Japanese musician and video game designer. He gained a reputation as a maverick during the mid-1990s for creating unorthodox games like '' Real Sound'' and is perhaps best remembered today for his rebellious marketing techniques. Outside o ...

, it was confirmed that this was originally intended to be a Superman game. The game was obtained by The Lost Levels, a website that specializes in unreleased and prototype video games, from a European collector without any information on what it was. It was to much surprise that the game could be functionally played through from start to finish. The game was made available for play as a

ROM Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * ...

for use with an NES

emulator In computing, an emulator is hardware or software that enables one computer system (called the ''host'') to behave like another computer system (called the ''guest''). An emulator typically enables the host system to run software or use peri ...

. The early, rough prototype of the ROM was also made for release on The Lost Levels, and it indeed had sprites of Superman as the original sprites for the main character, and the background music played in-game replaced with John Williams's Superman Theme. Another unreleased Sunsoft cart in the US can be made to confirm that this was indeed ''Superman'' originally, as the levels are identical to ''Sunman'', but they are in a less finished form, and the player is able to skip levels by pausing and pressing the select button. In February 2014, a

ROM hack ROM hacking is the process of modifying a ROM image or ROM file of a video game to alter the game's graphics, dialogue, levels, gameplay, and/or other elements. This is usually done by technically inclined video game fans to improve an old game ...

was released by a user with the pseudonym Pacnsacdave of a full ''Sunman'' to ''Superman'' NES conversion. The hack changes the title screen, cutscenes, and sprites to those of the actual Superman prototype ROM. It is unlicensed by Nintendo despite being marked as "Licensed by Nintendo" on the title screen.

References

External links

''Sunman''
at The Lost Levels {{DEFAULTSORT:Sunman (video game) 1992 video games Cancelled Nintendo Entertainment System games Nintendo Entertainment System-only games Nintendo Entertainment System games Sunsoft games Superman video games Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Hirohiko Takayama EIM (video game developer) games

Gameplay

History

See also

References

External links