Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered Review

Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee, a fighting game based on Toho’s Godzilla franchise, originally released in 2002 for the Nintendo Gamecube as a timed exclusive as an Xbox version followed in 2003. The home console game was developed by Pipeworks Software while WayFoward Technologies developed a companion Game Boy Advance version, Godzilla: Domination! (back when Nintendo was figuring out way to use the GBA for their underrated console).

Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered’s story, and I use that term loosely, shows an alien race called the Vortaak who have invaded Earth and mind controlled the planet’s giant monsters. The Vortaak are using the creates to attack cities across the globe to cause chaos and destruction. One of them (you so to speak) breaks out of the alien’s mind control and battles the other monsters in order to drive off the Vortaak race.

Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered is an area fighting game pitting two giant monsters from the vast history of the Godzilla franchise beating the living hell out of each in the middle of a city. What ensues is chaos and destruction. The combat is surprisingly deep. Players have a few different attacks (weak, medium and strong).

Each monster can also run, block, jump and grab specific building or rocks depending on the level you’re in to throw at your enemy. You can also grab your enemy, as with any good fighting games, and cause more damage. As you cause damage to the opposition, you’ll progressively fill up a special meter to unleashed a devastating special attack. You can also pick up special items during battles such as Health refills or a Energy to refill your power meter bar.

The game offers a myriad of gameplay modes. First up is Adventure where it’s basically a monster’ “story”; you pick a fighter and go through the other monsters. Destruction mode allows players to go nuts in a city and cause as much destruction as possible within the time limit. Next up is Survival mode, which is pretty self-explanatory. No character XP is earned, but there’s double research points. And then there’s practice where you can beat up a lifeless monster to hone your skills.

Along with online battles, there’s also Custom Battle; play against friends or A.I. controlled enemies in a handful of modes. Within this mode, you can find and collect Hidden Coins to unlock Sightings. Winning battles allows your character earns XP and also Research points. The former will increase your monster’s stats whereas the latter will allow you to unlock additional characters.

The game looks great and holds up surprisingly well. While visuals of the sixth generation of consoles was impressive for the time, Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered looks like a current-gen AA game thanks to the upscaling the visuals. Even the cities, while not impressive to what we’ve seen, still look properly detailed. Each monster also has a unique look; as expected given the source material. The only addendum being the minimal differences between the different Godzillas. On the audio side of things, it’s decent. Enjoyable, albeit forgettable score while the sound bytes are enjoyable; the monsters’ screams are also well done.

There are few minor quirks. The game isn’t really pick up and play; you’ll need a bit of time in Practice mode to hone your fighting skills and a grasp of the controls; it will also help you find combos that you can use for a way to victory. Also for Destruction mode, they are push only 1 city at a time; you can’t just pick the city as it changes every day.

Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered is a great game from top to bottom. The game has a surprisingly deep combat system, a myriads of game modes and is budget priced. Sure, there are a few nuisances such as requiring a bit of practice to get a hold of the combat, position of the block button (Y), and leveraging the internet to restrain a single city at a time in Destruction mode, but once the game has its claws in you, you’re going to be hooked. And with a budget price, it’ll be one of the best investments you can do; solo or even with friends.