Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Preview

By Jason Brown, GameSpotPosted Sep 6, 2002 2:25 pm PT

This fighting game is larger than life, and we've got new details, screenshots, and movies from the latest build.

After appearing in scores of original Japanese movies and one big-budget Hollywood adaptation, with half a century of history and clear fan-favorite status, it's little surprise that Godzilla has come crashing into gaming in recent years--but in Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee, he's brought his friends. In what is essentially a fighting game, you can control nearly every monster from the Godzilla universe and fight it out against other monsters in scores of classic cityscapes. The fighting itself is fun and easy to learn, but it's also deeply strategic, with unique designs, attacks, and special moves for each monster. Since the battles are truly epic, buildings will fall, cities will be leveled, and giant monsters will reign. We played a nearly complete build recently and found that even weeks before its release, the game is solidifying and features maps that are truly interactive--buildings can be used as giant projectiles, civilian enemies can attack based on which monster is hurting the city more, and strategic power-ups can become points of contention for competing monsters. The mix of solid fighting and interactive maps creates a strategic game with depth uncommon to fighting games. The game is replete with the detail and requisite mass destruction, explosions, and effects befitting the Godzilla franchise, so commanding and fighting as one of the lumbering beasts is a satisfying translation of what has made Godzilla such a long-lasting franchise.

Destroy All Monsters features the same legendary monsters that were featured in the 1968 movie by the same name.

Created by Japanese film studio Toho, Godzilla was first seen in the 1954 classic Gojira and has endured in popularity since. Godzilla subsequently appeared in a total of 24 Japanese films, in which Toho introduced many monsters to accompany Godzilla. The game itself is based on the 1968 film Destroy All Monsters, which is widely believed to be one of the best Godzilla movies. The movie is particularly noteworthy for featuring nearly all of the monsters Toho created for the Godzilla universe in one outing. Blessedly, the game features nearly all of the monsters too, with 14 playable, officially licensed monsters in all. Monsters include Megalon, Gigan, King Ghidorah, Mecha King Ghidorah, Destoroyah, Rodan, Anguirus, and three Godzillas: Godzilla '90s, Godzilla 2000, and Mecha Godzilla. Mothra and Hedora also make appearances as nonplayable characters. Simply put, it's a lot of fun to maneuver and command these giant, lumbering beasts for the same reason gamers have enjoyed battling with giant robots for years--they're big, they're powerful, and they smash anything in their way. The game captures the joy of watching Godzilla and company wreak havoc, but that by itself would naturally get old without solid gameplay and smart design to capture the spirit of the movies. Thankfully, Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee does just that.

You'll do as much damage to the other monster as you will to the surrounding city.

Though there's nothing revolutionary about the fighting itself, it is solid and deep with plenty of variety and options. Each monster has the customary kicks, punches, jumps with jump attacks, ducks, and blocks, plus its own primary and secondary weapons and unique abilities, like mecha monsters using ammo-based weapons. Executing basic combos is simple and requires pressing the main punch button (A) twice, followed by any other attack button, for a wide array of simple moves. Like in other games, from there it gets complicated, with the addition of different directional buttons and situation-specific attacks. To further add variety, some monsters have variations on these basic moves--for instance, Mecha Godzilla has only a single kick, and Ghidorah has three heads, adding an additional normal attack. You can also create custom combos by interrupting basic combos with other moves.

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