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You can ask most any gamer and they will remember their first Kaiju/Tokusatsu film. Be it Godzilla, Gamera, or even Giant Robo, they all fill the similar niche: Guys in big suits wrestling in a city/forest/military base/etc. For some reason these films, as horrible as they are sometimes, appeal to gamers in all of their splendor. So in honor of this time honored tradition of Kaiju battles, this October for Together Retro we are doing a double feature of a classic arcade title and a fantastic last gen title. This month fire up your Neo Geo for King of Monsters and your Gamecube/Xbox for Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee.
King of Monsters
History
Not a whole lot is known about the development of King of Monsters. It was released on the MVS in 1991 and was heavily inspired by the classic 1956 movie Godzilla: King of Monsters. Apart from that we have little knowledge into the how or why King of Monsters was created apart from a love for Kaiju movies.
Legacy
King of Monsters only had one sequel – King of Monsters 2. But it lives on in titles like our second title for the month and others like War of the Monsters. The giant monster game genre is not dead, just sadly not as popular as it use to be. There have been some nice throwbacks to the series in recent titles – Neo Geo Battle Coliseum and SNK vs Capcom Card Fighters DS, but there have been no statement of a revisit to this classic franchise.
Now there is a more modern copy of King of Monsters on the GBA called Godzilla Domination released in 2002. Its kinda like a revisioning, with extra moves and ofcourse the Godzilla license. Oh and they added in super moves, oh my mistake “Rage” moves.
Releases
- MVS – 1991
- AES – 1991
- SNES – 1993
- Genesis – 1993
- PS2 – 2008
- Wii – 2008
- PSP – 2008
Gameplay
Even though it is a Giant Monster game, King of Monsters is inherently a Wrestling game. You chose your monster and try to pin your opponents for a three count. There are six monsters and twelve stages. And while it sounds simple, it does take skill and timing to win. Just remember it is an arcade wrestling game so it was created to siphon away your money, so when you die by a cheap hit/grapple – that’s why.
Controls
Joystick – Move
Button 1 – Attack 1
Button 2 – Attack 2
Button 3 – Attacked downed enemy
Godzilla Destroy all Monster Melee
History
Directly inspired by King of Monsters, Godzilla Destroy all Monster Melee was a Christmas sale title for the Gamecube in 2002. It was highly received by fans and moderately by reviewers and was known for its fun four player mode. Sadly it was overshadowed by the 2001 megahit Super Smash Brothers Melee.
Legacy
Two sequels were released, Godzilla Save the Earth – 2006 and Godzilla Unleased – 2007, neither were as highly received as the first. Destroy All Monsters Melee is still considered one of the best Godzilla games to date. There is an unfounded rumor that the creators of PS2 hit War of the Monsters saw that there was a market with the sales of Destroy all Monsters Melee so they made their own version of King of Monsters, but that is ofcourse only a rumor.
Ports
- Gamecube – 2002
- Xbox – 2003
Gameplay
Choose one of your favorite Godzilla characters from the list of 11 (12 in the Xbox version) and beat the crap out of your opponents in seven cities from around the world and a Mothership. Unlike its inspiration, this title is a four player brawler, not a wrestling game. The single player is only soso, this is a game created for fourplayer. The Xbox version actually had live support, but it was still limited to four players and was rarely played online.
- Controls – Xbox version:
- Left stick/Dpad – Move
- Right stick – Aim Projectile Attack
- A – Punch
- X – Kick
- B – Heavy Attack/Getup Attack
- Y – Block
- L – Run/Duck
- R – Jump/Fly
- Black: Tap – Projectile attack
- Hold – Primary Beam Attack
- White – Grab/Throw
- A&B – Rage Mode
Together Retro Discussion
Instead of posting in the comments section of the blog, we will be using the forum for all of our discussion in order to keep things more organized. So play this month’s titles and talk to us about your thoughts and play experiences in the forums. We want to know your favorite parts, your successes and your failures.
Discuss King of Monsters in the Forum
Discuss Godzilla Destroy all Monster Melee in the Forum
