Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee

"Not the best game ever, but not bad at all"

Godzilla: Destroy all Monsters Melee is a fighting game starring Godzilla and other monsters from Godzilla movies for the Nintedo Gamecube. But is it any good? Is it worth your time and money? That's what this review is for!

Graphics: 7/10
The graphics are some of the best and worst I have seen on the Gamecube. The texturing is simply awesome, as you can see every scale on Godzila and King Ghidorah's bodies, detailed patterns on Megalon's wings, and every plate of metal on Mecha-Ghidorah and Mecha Godzilla. I could go on for hours about how good the texturing is. The character models look extremely good as well, with no jagged lines visible polygons to be seen. However, the environments look pretty generic, with many buildings looking almost exactly the same. The only good looking environment is Monster island which looks like a both beautiful and deadly island. However, The military vehicles that shoot at you look they were taken from a game from the original Playstation, which means that they look terrible, and the beams your monster shoots out all look terrible with the possible exception of Megalon's lightning horn. The dust effects in this game are pretty poor too, with the same effect being used over and over and over again. the graphics are definetly not the games strong point, but they still have that cheesy B-movie Godzilla ''Feel''. Now lets move onto,

Sound: 6/10
The sound is okay. The monster roars are entertaining, although sometimes they sound so similar and the sound effects of them walking around are decent enough. However, the announcer sounds bland and dull, and a generic ''whump'' sound effect is used pretty much every time a monster gets hit, which subtracts from the overall experience somewhat. The music is pretty bland as well, and the fact that you can't choose what song plays when a level starts is pretty bad. The games sound is mediocre at best, so lets move onto,

Story: 4/10
The plot is like that of a Godzilla movie, which unfortunately are not known for having the best plots ever. Basically, aliens are trying to take over the world using monsters and the monster that you choose at the beginning of adventure mode breaks free of their control and must stop them. It is a boring and cliche storyline that has been used many times before. And now for the big one...

Gameplay: 10/10
The gameplay is extremely fun. Monsters can punch with the A button, kick with the B button, or do a special attack with the X button. They can do a 3 hit combo by pressing the A, B, and X button in any order, or a single strong attack by tilting the control stick and pressing the A, B, or X buttons. They can use a beam attack like Godzillas radioactive breath or Mechagodzilla's eye lasers by pressing and holding Z, or they can do a short range projectile like Gigan's Eye pulses or Mecha-Ghidorahs Taser by tapping Z. They can grab buildings and throw them at their opponents, grab and throw their opponents, or jump and do an air attack. They can also block or duck to dodge attacks, or move fast by holding the L button as they move around. There are several different modes of play: Versus mode, which is a simple 1 on 1 match against the computer or a human opponent, Adventure, where you have to battle your way past tough computer opponents, Melee, which is basically a 3 to 4 way free for all, Survival, which is basically Adventure with only 1 life and no health power ups, Team Battle, where 3 to 4 players can form teams and beat up on each other, and last but not least, Destruction, where you have to destroy more buildings than your opponent. The gameplay is easily this games strongest feature, so lets go to...

Replay Value: 9/10
This game almost never gets old! It has extremely fun multiplayer, my favorite being Destruction and Melee, and the single player mode is very very fun too. Part of the fun of the single player mode is the:

Difficulty: 8/10
This game is hard, not so hard that it's impossible, just very very challenging. The enemy monsters are relentless in attacking you, they block and dodge your attacks often, and they do cheap stuff like jumping to get every power up that you can't reach. The difficulty is part of what makes this awesome game very fun so its time for the...

Conclusion:
Godzilla: Destroy all monsters melee is an awesome game. It would have been a contender for one of the best games ever if it wasn't for graphics and sound that can best be described as mediocre, as well as a difficulty level that might turn off younger gamers. It is still a very fun video game that is definitely worth your 20 dollars.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/02/04