The game has an 80 sq. mile free-roaming map, and the character can fly into the stratosphere generated in the game surrounding the fictional city. Superman's complete array of superpowers is at the player's disposal, and the player is required to 'master' Superman's powers, because Superman might cause harm to the city if his powers are misused. If the player wishes to use heat vision, they must use the correct power level, for too much power can lead to civilian casualties and destruction. At the beginning of the game, players use the most basic forms of Superman's powers and must upgrade them to achieve greater strength, speed, distance, and damage.
As for flying in-game, the player can fly at different speeds, up to 800 mph, which is faster than the speed of sound. The faster Superman travels, the more the screen will blur. Each power will have different levels of energy.
In the main game, Superman is invincible: no matter what happens to Superman in the game, he cannot be killed. The one exception is during the second part of the tutorial mission, which is three boss fights in a row on War World, where Superman takes damage to the point of mission failure. Metropolis has a damage meter - if too much damage is done to the city during a mission (in other words, if the damage meter is fully depleted) then the game ends. Superman has a stamina meter that depletes as more power is used. The player can fly Superman into the atmosphere and absorb sunlight to replenish the stamina meter faster, as Superman has many times in comic books.