Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee

"Fighting game goodness, with some wanton destruction too."

Well, I'm a Godzilla fan, so I may be slightly biased on this game, but I've also got some nitpicks to balance it out. G:DAMM is certainly among the big green one's better showings in the realm of video games, but how does it compare to conventional games?

Graphics-8/10
Well, it's the most impressive game ever, but it does look good. The monster are well rendered, and all of them stay true to their classic look. The two incarnations of Godzilla, 2000 and 90's (not the American one) are done well enough that you can tell them apart easily. Less known monster like Megalon and Gigan also make appearances. Monsters move with some degree of realism, it's hard to really dictate what a giant monster should move like, but they're believable enough. My one nitpick about this category is that Destroyah, one of the most wicked monsters of all time, looks chubby in the game.

The graphics do have some flaws though. Collision physics among them. At times, chucking a monster into a building result in a shower of rubble, a chunk knocked out of the building, and then the structures collapse. But other times they sort of stick on top, slide through the building, and then it just collapses. While this is excusable to some extent, it detracts from the fun of destroying cities.

Speaking of destruction, there are some nice little touches that add to the fun of destroying stuff. Cars drive along the road, swerve away from your feet, and can even be crushed. The buildings show signs of damage when they're hit by falling monsters, missed blows, or thrown weapons. Sometimes even walking into a building can sometimes damage it. The lights flicker out when buildings are struck debris flake off and there's visible damage left on the structure itself. All in all it's very fun and convincing, so that's about all I have to say on that.

Sound-6.9/10
Well, it's sub-par at best. Monster roars are well done, usually lifted straight out of the movies, but that's about all. The music contains almost no classic Godzilla music, and what little it has can only be heard in the menu screens. The music in the game is forgettable at best. The sound of impacts is corny. The announcer is cool at first, but gets annoying in due time. All in all, it's bad. The monster roars are the only sounds worth listening to.

Story-4/10
Well, it has a story. The story is exactly the same as Godzilla vs. Monster Zero and Destroy All Monsters: Aliens invade earth, take over Earth's monsters, Godzilla stops them. The only difference is that Godzilla is not the only monster you can play as. I give it one point just for having a story, one for being comical, and two for the memories is brought up, ahhh...Monster Zero.

Gameplay-9/10
Not exactly perfect, but I don't expect it to be. G:DAMM is a simple but fun fighting game, something I'd put in the category of Powerstone or Tech Romancer. There's not a whole ton of options, the 1 vs. 1 mode and adventure mode are the only ones available in single player. In adventure mode you face the same general set of monsters in the same places, which is very annoying. The gameplay itself is pretty fun though, giving it good replay value despite that shortcoming. I haven't been able to use the multi-player modes yet, since there's nobody for me to play against, but they include team battle, free-for-all, and a destruction mode.

The game is pretty slow paced. You can run, but you're still not very fast. Moves are simple: A for punches, B for kicks, X for fierce attacks. You use special moves by using those buttons and different directions, which range from uppercuts to tail whips to an energy blade.

You can also use your monster's beam attack by pressing the Z button. Beams drain off an energy bar, which replenishes over a short time. Some monsters also use energy for other attacks though. Rodan uses energy to fly, Megalon to burrow Destroyah,for his blade attack, Mecha-Ghidorah for his energy shield, etc. Having to budget your energy like this adds some depth to the game.

There's still more ways to attack though. A and B together perform throw moves, which can be used either to throw your opponent around the stage or to throw buildings at your opponent. Destroying the city in this manner is key to the gameplay, as the army attacks whoever destroys more. When you smash a building on your opponent or smash your opponent on a building (I find the latter more fun), the game interprets them destroying the building and attacks them as such. You can also just smash your opponent into a building with a special attack or beam, but it's generally pretty difficult.

The levels you fight in have quite some variety. Monster Island is a wide-open battlefield, with few obstructions and only a couple of boulders to throw. Meanwhile, Tokyo is a dense city with many tall buildings that you can smash your opponent into. Further still, there's London, where the buildings are considerably smaller and a whole lot of them can be thrown. The most annoying level of all, I my opinion, is the Alien Mothership, which starts in a small ring that won't open until you've destroyed one of the pillars on the outskirts of it.

The monsters have just as much variety. Some can fly, one can dig underground, and some have very effective special attacks. At first some of their abilities, like Megalon's burrow and Mecha-King Ghidorah's energy shield can seem somewhat unfair, but once you get the hang of the game they won't seem so bad.

Overall: 8/10

The lack of play options and multiplayer AI prevents G:DAMM to becoming the equal of Super Smash Brothers: Melee, but in no way prevents it from being a fun game. Say what you like, but it's a fun game and will maintain a place next to Powerstone for quite some time to come.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/13/02, Updated 10/13/02