King of the Monsters 2

"The Best Monster Fighting Game EVER!"

I've heard some really bad things about this game (''looks like another Street Fighter wannabe'') but I guess some people just don't get it. KotM2 is about monster fighting. It's like the perfect Godzilla game. It has destroyable, throwable buildings, power-ups, cool special moves, imaginative monster, and a great instruction manual (if you can find one. If you do, please help me with the moves list in my FAQ!) The game is very cheesy sometimes, but in a way that makes you smile. It's just like an old monster movie.

Graphics: 10/10
There is no glitchiness or anything. The graphics perfectly portray the monsters and atmosphere of the game. There are a lot of neat effects like glowing red potholes where houses and buildings are missing, great explosions, detailed and beautifully colored monsters, and great animation.

Sound: 10/10
The music perfectly fits the big-monsters-destroy-cities theme. You just have to hear it to understand. It's great music.
The sound effects are flawless. The high-pitched Godzilla screams the monsters emit will remind you of the movie.

Story: 10/10
100+ meter tall aliens come to take over the Earth. As one of the ''good'' monsters your job is to stop them and take over the Earth yourself! You can also play as one of the alien monsters.
The good monsters include:
Cyber Woo: Basically a robot King Kong. Developed by Japan to combat the aliens.
Atomic Guy: A Japenese scientist who imbibed a potion to make himself gigantic.
Super Geon: A Godzilla-type monster, also from Japan.
Anyone find it suspicious that all the good monsters come from Japan?!?

Gameplay: 10/10
The game's gameplay is great. The challenge of playing on difficulty level 8 makes you really think about your strategy and forces you to think.
Walking around, crushing houses, destroying bridges to get power-ups, destroying other monsters... it just can't get any better.
The multiplayer is also well executed.
What can I say? The game is just a blast.

This game is a magnificent example of how an average arcade game can be ported to a home system and end up worlds better than its arcade version. The home version of the game does away with the incredible cheapness of the arcade version, makes all the opponent monsters playable, adds special moves which are easy to perform (a BIG advantage over most fighting games) and a superior multiplayer mode. The beginning and ending sequences are fun to watch.

KotM2 is a great game for anybody who wants to play a fighting game that breaks away from the mold. It's also a great game for monster lovers. I don't think we'll ever see a game based on Godzilla that will top this classic.

Pick this up for a couple bucks at GameStop if you have a Genesis and are looking for a fun new game.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 08/30/02, Updated 10/17/02