It’s been 16 years since Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee was announced and released. Since then several generations of video game consoles have come, as the industry continues to march on. Despite these advances, though, the original trilogy of games from Atari and Pipeworks are still well remembered today. In fact, one doesn’t have to look further than this petition to re-release them, currently with over 8,000 signatures, to see that.
So, the staff of Toho Kingdom does its retrospect on these titles, diving into what made the Atari and Pipeworks trilogy of Godzilla games particularly memorable. Feeling nostalgic for the titles yourself? Feel free to leave a comment on the article sharing your experience with the titles.
Jack Jordan
As an avid video game player to this day, I believe that I have never been more excited for any game than I was for Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee! There’s simply nothing else that compares. When I first got wind of it in a quarter page preview in Game Informer, my 11 year old brain went into overdrive. I spent at least 1 hour, every day, looking up screen shots, videos, and articles for the game on my slow dial up internet. It got to the point where I had to limit my searches just to spare myself agonizing over every screenshot. For the first time ever, I had a shot at fulfilling my childhood dream to get to be Godzilla. This game felt like the closest I could get to making that dream come true. So, needless to say, before the game even released I was hooked. I had my Mom take me to KB Toys to pick it up, desperately anxious to play. Waiting for the staff to find it and then bring it to me was agonizing, but at long last it was in my hands! What followed was a blur of elation and pure joy. I unlocked the roster in a matter of two days, played an untold number of hours against AI and friends. And even if it wasn’t perfect, it was an absolute treasure. Godzilla: DAMM was a routine mini-disc in my Game Cube (and later Xbox) tray, and I still keep both versions in my collection today.
Fast forward to the sequel in 2004 and my experience changes only very subtly. I was excited from the first announcement, and the expanded roster of kaiju only further fed my obsession. Thankfully I had learned to dial back my exhaustive researching, so it seemed like no time until the game was released. After that, I started networking my classmates; I hooked everyone I could into playing with me! I brought my PlayStation 2 over to other people’s houses just to get them in on the game, even buying the controller expansion port so I could have 3 other friends play with me. I played the asteroid and submarine levels on my own to get higher scores, staged recreations of Godzilla’s most famous movie bouts, as well as many original set ups as well. Truly, no Godzilla game before this could compare to it. Super Godzilla might be nostalgic, but nothing could come close to this game.
Which leaves Godzilla: Unleashed for our final entry in the trilogy. My relationship with this game is a bit of a rollercoaster. Being on the Wii, I was rather concerned about the controls… but my love of Godzilla overcame me and I bought a Wii just to play it! It just looked so exciting! The roster was even bigger than G:STE, and graphically it was improved (if only slightly). There were rumors and tales of an expanded story mode, which was more than enough to get me to chance it. And then, as I feared, the motion controls nearly killed if for me. It was clunky, not very responsive, and the battlefields just didn’t quite keep my attention. I played through it, unlocked as many kaiju as I could, and put it away… Until I didn’t. Years later, I put my Wii out for a party and Godzilla made it into the lineup! And to my initial surprise, he was a big hit too! Suddenly I was running tournaments with my friends, people were coming over just to play the game! Clearly I had been too harsh on my first play through; like all the games in the Pipeworks/Atari trilogy, this Godzilla game was a ton of fun!
Which is precisely why we need them back now! Godzilla is at the forefront of a kaiju resurgence. With multiple movies out and Godzilla: King of the Monsters on the horizon, now is the best time of all to bring these games back out. Plenty of people have the same dream I did at 12; to be Godzilla. And there are frankly no better nor more fun video games than these three gems to make that dream a reality.
Anthony Romero
There are three video games that I’ve anticipated more than any others. They are Super Smash Bros. Brawl, to which I would eagerly await the daily updates on Smashbros.com, Pokémon Gold/Silver, to which half the fun was trying to separate fake rumors on the net from actual news, and finally Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee.
I still vividly recall my disbelief that we were getting a Godzilla video game in the United States for the Nintendo Gamecube. Despite its faults, Godzilla: Monster of Monsters remains a very fond memory for me, drenched with Toho lore from every pore. However, it had been a long time since its sequel hit the US and the SNES Super Godzilla just never clicked with me and so felt like a distant memory at the time. Outside of these, it had felt like most Godzilla games were a Japan only affair, and my disappointment about us not getting Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters in the US was still palatable. So to discover we were getting a 3D fighting game based on the King of the Monsters felt like a dream, and I was instantly hooked on gathering as much information as possible.
Some may recall how fixated Toho Kingdom was on covering the game. Any and all news was broadcast on the game, and we had early access to producer Kirby Fong and Pipeworks president Dan Duncalf as well to fuel the excitement. At that time, all eyes were on the roster for the game. Every day felt like a new adventure to see who might be confirmed, looking through new screenshots for any hints. That’s a real testament considering the final roster, for the US Gamecube release, ended up being 11 monsters. Ultimately, the last reveal happened by accident, as the final copyright for the game, due to Toho’s policy, revealed everyone.
Excitement building aside, how did the final game stack up? Well I played the hell out of it, for sure. The title was immensely more engaging than most of the Godzilla games before it, greatly surpassing Godzilla Generations just in being able to feel like you are walking around in a city as the title character. The multiplayer aspect was icing on the cake… and honestly, it’s just a lot of fun to pickup a building and toss it at another monster. In fact, it’s still a Gamecube game I revisit, pretty much the only one at this stage beyond some occasional joy in playing Link in Soul Calibur 2. While I enjoyed the sequels, which I’m not saying aren’t better games, the first Pipeworks title will always hold a special place for me due to the hype leading to its release and the fun I had with it.
Nicholas Driscoll
Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee (Gamecube, Xbox)
I never had the Gamecube version of this game, but I remember finding a Gamestop that had a demo version of the game running shortly after its release. I was really excited to try it out, and thought the monsters looked great, which was pretty exciting for a Godzilla geek like me. If I remember correctly, only a few monsters were enabled on the demo—I think Megalon, Anguirus, and Godzilla. I remember smashing things up for a bit, but getting my hinder handed to me by the aggressive computer. Later my brother picked up the Xbox version of the game and we played it via the Xbox360 emulator, but by that time I had played Save the Earth, and the older game felt pretty clunky to me, so I personally didn’t get very far.
Godzilla: Save the Earth (PS2, Xbox)
This was probably my favorite game in the series, but for the life of me, I can’t remember it very well. My strongest memory of playing this game was picking up the Japanese version when I lived in southern Honshu many years ago and being blown away by the gorgeous cover art. I am sure I played through the game several times, but in all honesty, while I remember enjoying the game (especially size-shifting Jet Jaguar), the game didn’t have a huge impact on me.
Godzilla: Unleashed (Wii, PS2)
So… the game that had the biggest impact on me personally out of all three of the Pipeworks Godzilla games was Unleashed, specifically the PS2 version. I have had only very limited playtime with the Wii version, but the PS2 version I played to exhaustion because for a while I was thinking to write a review of the thing, and I was frustrated by the lack of detail in the reviews I had seen online. I remember getting incredibly frustrated with this game, and took many notes for a review which I never finished because I just got sick of the game.
Andrew Sudomerski
These games for me are a big part of my childhood. Nothing was more satisfying than being able to lay the smackdown on an opposing monster with another giant monster, using whatever tools you had or utilizing the environment to your disposal. These were very solid 3D fighters and play very well, with a roster that only expanded with every new entry. So the thought of having high definition remasters is an incredibly exciting prospect!
Each entry holds a special place for me. Although I enjoyed the GameCube version of Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee fine, the Xbox version became my personal go-to game with its revised graphics and additional content. Playing as Kiryu (Mechagodzilla 3) on the Boxing Ring and Vortaak homeworld was one of the most cathartic experiences for younger me. Even if we didn’t have access to it at the time, being able to demolish the elusive Thrashburg stages still gives the game more to discover of what we’ve been missing on.
While I did wind up sinking most of my time playing Godzilla: Unleashed (Wii), I’d say Godzilla: Save the Earth is probably the best in the trilogy, with its refined combat system being several steps up from where G:DAMM started. Before GU hit the scene, it was definitely GSTE I played at every waking moment I could (with Super Smash Bros. Melee being the other major contender). It was always an intense game, and one I still hold good memories of. An overall better fighter than its predecessor. Even the likes of the game’s cut content–notably Biollante–kept me invested in the game after hearing from an old interview with Simon Strange so many years ago (and having had the chance to play as her, she’s a blast!).
Godzilla: Unleashed (Wii) is a title that understandably gets flack for its wonky motion controls, but it’s also the entry with the most in terms of roster size. It’s unfortunate that the game’s controls is the biggest hurdle of them all, because this is a game that has tons to offer and has memorable set pieces (like the Invasion event in the story mode). As stated, I’ve played the game for hours upon hours, playing through the entire game with absolutely everyone. Here’s to the remastered version being able to amend these faults, if that can be at all changed.
It’d be nice to chip in two cents of what we’d want to see, but first we have to wait if such a herculean task will be picked up or what direction it’ll be taken in (and if Toho gives their blessings). So let your voice be known, because I believe they are listening.