Released in 1994 for PC CD-ROM by Legend Entertainment, "Superhero League of Hoboken" is an RPG/adventure game set in post-apocalyptic metropolitan New York. Written by Steve Meretzky, it's a truly off-the-wall gaming experience. You play the Crimson Tape, a superhero with the dubious power of making charts.

Yes, charts.

Other heroes include Princess Glovebox (who can refold a roadmap), Tropical Oil Man (who can raise enemy cholesterol levels), and King Midas (everything he touches turns into a muffler, whether metal or wooly).

The action centers around a few simplistic missions whose goals are merely finding items and using them. The fighting is interesting, and the voice acting and music are quite good. The dialogue is well-written and, at times, hilarious.

It's not particularly challenging or involved, so if you're into Final Fantasy and its ilk, you might want to skip this one. But if you want to waste an afternoon and maybe get a chuckle or two, Superhero League of Hoboken is a good option. It might still be available at stores that deal in old software, and is almost certainly on the abandonware circuit.

Besides, you get to beat up on lawyers.


patientfox also notes that SLH used a modified version of the Companions of Xanth engine (released by Mindscape). I was not aware of that.