Wanted to title this "Yo Bitches - Let's Make A Superman Game, You Whores", but due to the new TOS we aren't allowed to do it...whatever though, this has been on my mind while I was playing Gran Turismo 5.   
 
Let's talk, Superman is not a normal superhero.  He is THE superhero.  He is unbeatable, he is the savior of all heroes, he is the human that all of us strive to be.  He is beyond the scope of our imaginations, and because of that we have struggled to truly make him relatable... because in a way, he is completely not-relatable. 
 
His powers are limitless, and is weakness is one.  His weakness is also so rare that very few would be able to use it, and if they used it in an absurd way...it would be stupid...as shown in the later Superman movies.   
 
I don't know how many here have read the novel "Kingdom Come" but it sums of what Superman is.  He stops fighting for years after the Joker nuked the fuck out of a city and he lost everyone he loved.  Over the years the Superheroes fought and Superman hid, he ignored it all.  He finally couldn't take it and conquered all the evil, he stood up for man and retook his honors of being humanity's savior.  He finished the war in minutes...a war that had been going on for years.   
 
That is the power he has.  Even in the comics, he has won every battle...he cannot die.  Even with his "death", he faked it so he could understand how to win.   
 
So, all of you have played games for years...tell everyone how you'd make Superman relatable in a video game.   
 

You put him in a Dragon Ball Z game.

Are you drunk?

" You put him in a Dragon Ball Z game. "

You make him a boss in a Batman game, not playable.

Make his powers stunted, as a story element. 

" @Icemael said:

" You put him in a Dragon Ball Z game. "

"

incase him in a kryptonite suit and the unlockables is having parts of the krypto suit coming off. 

make his weakness easier to exploit. the more vulnerable he is the less likely you are to think of what a terrible character he is.

" You put him in a Dragon Ball Z game. "

" Make his powers stunted, as a story element.  "

" You make him a boss in a Batman game, not playable. "

I'd rather play a Lex Luthor.

He ain't human, bro.

Put him in Carbonite and make a game with Magneto.

Make him fly through a series of rings.

Magic. Superman must fight a cult of wizards trying to resurrect a dark god.

Superman is probably the lamest super hero out there. Any game with the DC license should just be about Batman. He's really their only interesting character.

" I'd rather play a Lex Luthor. "

" Magic. Superman must fight a cult of wizards trying to resurrect a dark god. "

" I'd rather play a Lex Luthor. "

maybe make it psychological? you can't hurt his body, but you can hurt his MIND

There's also the whole "infinite earths" thing. What about a "good" Lex Luthor taking down an evil Superman? 
 
Or Superman versus various evil incarnations of himself and other heroes. Teaming up with alternate universe "good" versions of his nemeses in the process.

" @Icemael said:

" You put him in a Dragon Ball Z game. "

Even in DBZ he'd be overpowered.  Superman can go into space, doesn't need air, and can't die from energy attacks.  He doesn't need Super Sayin...because he's beyond that level. "

I hate how people shit on Superman sorry he isn't a billionaire with deep psychological issues or breaks the 4th wall and randomly says "Chimichanga".  Read All-Star Superman and Batman/Superman is a consistently good comic.   
Anyway the Metroidvania style game where Superman gradually gets his powers seems kinda like a cop out.  Though if they were to go that route I would just have numerous satellite dishes that are turning the rays from the Sun red so after each dish is destroyed Superman gets a little more powerful.  Personally I think it is impossible to make a decent Superman game.

Make it a dating simulator. Control Superman as he maintains a healthy relationship while fighting crime!

"  Personally I think it is impossible to make a decent Superman game. "

make it a game where it takes place in the "4th world" he has to battle through apkolpse and the last boss is darkside. 
  
I would through in warworld and braniac some where was well.

" Make it a dating simulator. Control Superman as he maintains a healthy relationship while fighting crime! "

Do you think her fallopian tubes can handle the sperm?
I guarantee you he blows a load like a shotgun right through her back.

A game where you play as Clark Kent trying to live your everyday life. But you have to be careful not to let slip that you are actually superman. Your superman tights were ruined in the tumble dryer so you have to walk around in your normal clothes and you must stop a series of unfortunate accidents without your true identity being known.

Fuck playing as superman, it would be so hard to make him a fun playable character. I rather him be a guest star in like a batman game or something. Maybe at like the begining of Arkam City batman is talking to superman saying how he could really use his help on this one, but superman denys saying how he is busy with other stuff blah blah blah batman is more then capable. Then near the end of the game you are getting your shit wrecked as batman, you are outnumbered, and near death, and lets just the joker is on top of you about to cut your throat with a knife. Then all of a sudden you see a red beam go through the jokers neck and his head falls off, you get up and see superman just beating the living shit out of all of the jokers goons while you get up and join him in the fray. Then some story stuff gets tied or and the credits roll. 

Superman has like 20 villains that can fly and have superstrength, and they can knock him out. So just give him a life bar. 
And people thinking he should be an emo eccentric millionare who dresses like a bat to be more "relatable", don't be stupid.

" @SSully: That would work better in a movie to be honest.  The suspense of waiting for Superman to save the day.  Also Superman never kills.  >.> "

"Most games feature characters with one or two of those powers not all of them and if the Iron Man video games taught us anything it is hard to make a game with a dude that can fly. "

You could do it Smallville style with a young Clark Kent going through super puberty and gradually gaining powers.

" You could do it Smallville style with a young Clark Kent going through super puberty and gradually gaining powers. "

And thus we reach the ultimate conundrum of why Superman is lame: He's unbeatable, can do anything, and has a single weakness that is exploited over and over again by his enemies. Thus, saying that, I have an even harder time thinking of a way to make him into an interesting game character. I guess you could make a smallvile game where you awkwardly act your way through high school (despite being like 30) and have to navigate through dialog trees in order to, once again, assure your best buddy Lex Luthor that you don't have a secret and all your monster of the week classmates didn't actually just spit fire out of their mouths before you beat the hell out of them and they were shipped of to an asylum. Also, you spend half the game without your shirt on.
 
Know who is the only cool DC superhero? Batman. Maybe you have heard of him. Everyone else in that universe is hella lame.

There are several hurdles in making a good Superman game that must be dealt with, most of which have already been mentioned.
 
First of all, he's always flying. If the flying sucks, the game will suck. If the flying mechanic isn't fun or intuitive, it's not gonna be very fun to play.
 
Secondly, Superman might find getting a Boeing 747 thrown squarely in his jaw mildly distracting. He's invulnerable and as such, the developers either have to find an alternative way to gauge failure or cop out and make him weak.
 
Thirdly, Superman has exactly two good villains. Darkseid doesn't count, he's not a Superman villain. He's a DC villain. He threatens the Justice League as a whole. The only good Superman Villains are Lex Luthor (who is best when not physically engaging Superman) and Brainiac. Guys like Metallo, Parasite, Toy Man, Bizarro and Mr. Mxyzptlk make for decent bosses, but they can't be the focus of the plot.
 
That's what Superman has lacked, really. A good rogue's gallery. He has a lot of gimmick villains that rarely evolve beyond the gimmick.

"Know who is the only cool DC superhero? Batman. Maybe you have heard of him. Everyone else in that universe is hella lame. "

"I think that if it were like Resident Evil 4/5, in the fact that if you fuck up on something (like your partner dies), then you "die". "

Check this out. This guy works at PCGamer and seems to have given it some thought. I like his ideas, and so does Valve, they've got tons of TF2 unlocks which are similar to his ideas.

Stealth game. If the bad guys see Superman approaching, they kill the hostages, blow up the city, explode the planet, whatever. Use your powers of x-ray vision, laser eyes, and flight to stealthily disarm the criminals.
 
Gameplay contrivance: Superman can't use his super strength to bust through walls and shit or else it will be too loud and they know it's Superman.