Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee

by Atari

Product Features

• 6 Real Worlds Cities and Monsters Island!
• 6 modes of play

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00006IJJC
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches ; 4.8 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: October 29, 2002
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (78 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,672 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Amazon.com E3 2002 Preview

If you're older than 30 and you enjoyed playing Super Smash Bros. Melee, this game may be at the top of your list. Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee really does import a lot of inspiration from SSBM, at least in terms of how the game is played and displayed, but it adds some really valuable elements of its own. For one, there are the faithful reproductions of Godzilla and 10 other monsters that were created by Toho Studios of Japan starting in the 1950s. Also, players can destroy buildings, or even pick them up and throw them at opponents. However, it's important to note that army tanks and helicopters will focus their attack (you don't expect them to stand by and watch you destroy their city, do you?) on the monster doing the most public damage. Players should use this to their advantage, directing the military's heat at their opponents. The bouts take place in eight real-world cities such as Seattle (yes!), San Francisco, and Tokyo, and, of course, other environments such as Monster Island. Godzilla can't match SSBM's frantic pace--these are gigantic monsters, and they move like it--but it's already a great four-player game, and more development time will only make it better. --Porter B. Hall

Product Description

Legendary Monsters! Epic Battles! Melee versus survival adventure, team battle destruction!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Godzilla is back!, October 23, 2002

By 

Keith Doyle (Panama City, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee (Video Game)

Finally, a game that does the king of the monsters justice! Godzilla - Destroy All Monsters Melee is a blast to play, pun intended.

I was impressed with the 20 arena locations available to fight in...all of which have a DAY or NIGHT option. Slightly less impressive is the number of monsters to choose from; eleven. That's acceptable, but I would have preferred more. Not all of Godzilla's movie adversaries are in the game...only the best ones.

A larger problem is the story. The adventure mode is the only source of a plot to this game, and it is lacking. There's just not enough of it in Godzilla to make the story anywhere close to compelling. A deeper plot would have put some well-deserved meat on the bones of the game.

But gamers aren't going to buy this game for it's plot. They're going to buy it for it's fantastic-looking action. Have I mentioned the visuals yet? They are SWEET. Destroying cities has never looked so convincing. The animation is topnotch and the graphics are realistic. I'd say these monsters look even better in the game than they did in the movies!

And the sound...! That's where the Godzilla authenticity really shines through. Every noise the monsters make has been faithfully reproduced from the original Godzilla movies. It's not just perfect, it's nostalgic. I particularly like the sound of the beasts' feet as they walk. The use of brief but heavy bass is a great touch.

You know what? Playing Godzilla DAMM makes me want to watch the original films, as dated as they are. A game that can do that has something going for it.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Gamecube Game Ever, September 6, 2005

By 

The Cool Guy (The City, USA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee (Video Game)

This is the best Gamecube game ever. But it is much more than that. It is quite possibly the GREATEST SINGLE GAME EVER CREATED IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND.

I do not exagerrate. This game alone is worth the cost of a Nintendo Gamecube, or Xbox or whatever. The sheer amount of raw, unadulterated FUN that this game packs is unprecedented.

The game can be played in several modes:

ADVENTURE (1-Player)
SURVIVAL (1-Player)
VERSUS (1-2 Players)
MELEE (2-4 Players)
DESTRUCTION (2-4 Players)
TEAM BATTLE (2-4 Players)

The game is plenty fun on its own, but really shines in multiplayer. There's nothing quite like getting a handful of friends together to totally trash a city and each other. This game is basically a wrestling game using giant monsters. There's nothing quite as satisfying as picking up a building, hurling it through the air, having it whack your opponent in the head like a sack of bricks, and sending him to the ground.

Adventure Mode (the single-player mode) is very fun. It is hard at first, but gets better and better. Every time you beat it, you unlock a monster. When you beat it with the new monster, you unlock another monster, and so on and so forth.

The graphics in the game are fantastic. The small details of cars and trucks exploding at the monsters' feet are wonderful. The game also features a lot of nice touches, such as planes and helicopters shooting missles at the monsters, tanks shooting freeze weapons, and UFO's flying through the air. The humans usually aim for whichever monster is doing the most city destruction.

Each monster in the game has its own strenths, weaknesses, and quirks. And I've been playing this game for over a year and still haven't found all the quirks.

1. GODZILLA 90's - One of the best monsters overall. Average speed, good strength, good range, and the longest-range breath weapon.

2. GODZILLA 2000 - Not a lot of difference over the other Godzilla, if you ask me. Looks a little cooler.

3. ANGUIRUS - Cool little spiky guy who runs on all fours and can roll around. Very fast, good brawler. Can dodge breath weapons well, but has poor range for his own breath weapon.

4. MEGALON - Has a few cool tricks up his sleeve. A very good fighter. Not the best ranged weapons, but can dig which more than makes up for it.

5. GIGAN - Is fast and agile. Can teleport. Also has very long range eye-beam weapon. Not the greatest brawler, but not bad either.

6. RODAN - Rodan is my personal favorite. Can fly, swooping back and forth all over the flippin' map. Can do some great air attacks. Is very fast and regenerates energy quickly.

7. DESTROYAH - Extremely good brawler. Very strong. (You'd best get away :) His breath weapon has poor range.

8. KING GHIDORAH - Can fly a bit. Has good range for his weapon. Is a good brawler, but is a bit slow.

9. MECHA-KING GHIDORAH - Same as King Ghidorah, but also features stun missles. Don't forget to use 'em!

10. MECHA-GODZILLA - Awesome monster. Can fly. Has powerful ranged attacks and is a very powerful brawler. Only has 2 slight weaknesses. One is that his fighting range is not always the greatest (Godzilla's tail is longer, for instance.) Another is that he is very reliant on energy. It regenerates quickly, but if you are ever totally out, in a pinch you may find yourself sunk.

11. ??? - (Mystery Monster)


The game also features:

Mothra: The "Mothra Airstrike!" Powerup is quite cool. Mothra comes in and starts zapping you or your opponent. Some reviewers have complained that you can't play as Mothra. I think this complaint is unjustified. This is a wrestling melee game. Mothra doesn't even have any arms and legs, for crying out loud! Any attempt to make her a playable character sounds pretty ill-advised to me. Sorry, but I just can't see her laying the smack down and doing The People's Eyebrow.

Hedorah - The Smog Monster: This guy does make an appearance. He floats through the air at random occasionally and, for lack of a better word, passes gas above the heads of the monsters. If a monster touches the gas, his energy regeneration is worsened.


Besides the monsters, the game has other unlockables such as arenas featuring Monster Island and the Alien Mothership, as well as a huge artwork image Gallery. (Sorry folks, but in spite of what some have said there is no "Godzilla 80's" to unlock. I've read every FAQ on the net, and there is no "Godzilla 80's" cheat.)

There are some special moves that you should know about, as well as a few tips:

1. Megalon's digging. This is a very powerful trick. The goal of this is to use the digging to tunnel right under an opponent, then hit A+B to pick him up and throw him. To dig, hit A+Y. That will send you underground.

2. Gigan's teleporting. To teleport behind your opponent, hit L+R together. Alternatively, you can hit A+Y.

3. Rodan's air swoop. There is a nice aerial attack that Rodan can do. Fly over an opponent, and then hit X while you are still in the air. You will do a flip and slam him.

4. Grabbing tanks and trains. Don't forget to pick them up and throw them.

5. Leg Whack. If you've been knocked down, don't forget to hit X to slam into your opponent as you get up. You will be surprised at how often your friends will fall for this dirty little trick.

6. Survival Mode. The best arena for survival mode is London. The reason is because it has so much stuff to throw, and you will need it all to survive if the arena is not set to regenerate. You can throw Big Ben at your opponent, and that side has lots of walls to throw. On the other side, there is a train station with lots of train cars to throw.

I only have 3 complaints about this game:

1. Jet Jaguar is not in it. (He is in Godzilla vs. Megalon - the best Godzilla movie ever).

2. Ebirah is not in it. (The giant lobster from Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster).

3. There is no AI available to fight alongside you in Team Battles. There are codes for this on the Xbox version, but not on the Gamecube. It would have been really nice to have an AI partner, since my so-called "friends" tend to all gang up on me every time we play this game :)

----------------

Now to vent a little:

Some reviewer, "Paul Thiem", called this game "flawed" and gave it 1 Star. 1 Freakin' Star! Give me a break.

He complained about the camera angle, which is pretty trite. I'm getting sick of people complaining about camera angles in every other review they give. It doesn't matter how good the game is, SOMEBODY has to complain about the camera angle. Well let me just say that the camera angle in this game is WORKS GREAT and you've got NOTHING TO COMPLAIN ABOUT. Get a life, people.

He also complains about transparent buildings. But if the buildings weren't transparent when you were right up beside them, you wouldn't be able to see your monster. Don't you know he would be complaining if that were the case? For sure. You can't have it both ways, pal.

Then he complains about Adventure mode sometimes not always putting you in the most advantageous of starting positions. This just sounds like plain old whining to me.

Then he whines that Godzilla is a "Priveleged Monster" who won't let you pick him up. Well, give me a break! So the computer AI is pretty darn smart. Well isn't that we all WANT in a game?

He complains that the Gallery doesn't do anything and you can't view any of the pictures. That's because you haven't unlocked them yet!!! You are not yet worthy of viewing them. And yes, this IS mentioned in the instruction manual where it says to be sure to collect the Atari icons hidden in the game to unlock special features. I've unlocked about half of the Gallery items myself. It requires patience and persistence, but not even that much. It's called "Replay Value."

He complains that you can't save in the middle of adventure mode. Huh? A good player can beat Adventure Mode in less than half an hour. Why would somebody ever need to save in the middle? Unless they are just lousy at the game, don't want to learn it, and need a save crutch to get by.

He then complains that you can't see the high scores menu. Just go to "Options" and select the high scores menu. Was that really so difficult? I can't believe that because this guy can't figure out how to get to the high scores menu, he wants to give this game 1 star.

Apparently it is true that you can't please everybody. Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee is one of the best games, if not the best game ever. At least I know that 99% of the other reviewers here appreciate how truly great this game is! This game is LOTS of fun and has a VERY HIGH replay value, especially in multiplayer games. Highly Recommended.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Crush! Kill! Destroy!, October 16, 2002

By 

Maine Writer "David" (Maine, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee (Video Game)

Oops. Wrong franchise. No matter. There is a certain guilty pleasure associated with the horribly wonderful Godzilla movies. It's those utterly unbelievable, but truly cool monsters--whipping tails, atomic bad breath, electric radiation beams, and all. This game captures that spirit in a highly realistic, totally engaging atmosphere. These monsters--and there are many to play--can pick up buildings, trains, and trucks to throw at each other, engage in aerial spin manuevers, go beserk, and essentially recreate the powers they possess in the movies and more. Sure, the fighting action is relatively simple to master, with no fancy finishing moves or unintelligibly difficult button and trigger combinations that give other fighting games unplumbed depth. But that's not what this game is all about. You learn the moves quickly, with a few great tricks that are moderately difficult, but ultimately manageable. The simply controls enhance the combat between the giants. This is as good a video game as I've played in years, and I highly recommend it.