Back when he was invented, he didn't have all these powers. For instance, he couldn't fly, he could only leap tall buildings in a single bound. He just got more powerful as each writer gave him more abilities.
That’s why those “crossover” comics from the 70s didn’t work for me. Superman versus Spiderman? Superman could just kill Spiderman with one punch if he wanted to. He’s TOO powerful, so kind of boring. I generally liked DC comics more than Marvel, because some of the heroes were humans, with powers that came from ingenuity or hard-core training, like Batman or Green Arrow.