5:32
Godzilla Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered is a 3D fighting game where you can play as Godzilla 1990, throw Godzilla 2000 across a city, and then watch Anguirus kick him through a building. This is incredibly funny. That alone is enough to make me and many other Godzilla fans say, " Yes, please take my money." It's a promise the game delivers on, and it's no surprise considering it recreates the original 2002 game one-for-one. Beating up giant monsters while the city collapses around them is fun, and that fun only increases when playing with three friends in local mode.
Especially if you're playing on Nintendo Switch, where you can detach the Joy-Con, hand it to your neighbor, and laugh maniacally as you throw it into a pool of lava on Monster Island. just a shame that the simple, straightforward, arcade-like enjoyment of the game is spoiled by the hours of grueling grinding required to unlock all the monsters, levels, and modes. This grind doesn't fit the " pick up and play" concept at all, turning a fun game into a tedious routine where all you want to do is just play as Rodan. From the start, four of the 12 monsters are available to you: Godzilla 1990, Gigan,
Megalon, and Anguirus. These four starting monsters showcase a variety of types, with the exception of flying ones like King Ghidorah and Rodan. In general, monsters have similar sets of moves, but some have special features, such as Gigana's ability to teleport or Megalona's ability to burrow underground and grab an enemy upon appearance. At first, the move sets may seem the same: each has identical combos and similar effects, such as kicking an opponent's leg or simultaneously pressing " back" and "kick" to perform a jumping kick. But each monster has its own little quirks and quirks that make them unique. Like Anguirus' block: he turns his back, exposing his spiked shell to the opponent's attack, momentarily
stunning the enemy while he shakes his paws funny, like in a circus show. It's these little things that I love. While it's not a deep fighting game, there's enough variety and depth to make for interesting battles, like the ability to dash through buildings or collect power-ups that summon Mothra for an airstrike. Mothra airstrike. Thanks to this variety, no two fights feel the same. When four monsters run around the arena, shoot beams from their mouths, throw themselves off buildings, and constantly roll to avoid attacks-it's just plain fun. Playing alone may seem boring, but with friends it's real fun. And this is because the game is very accessible as a fighting game.
Even in the hours I've spent playing alone, the game still makes me laugh every now and then due to the cartoonish kaiju violence. It's just a shame that unlocking other monsters isn't as easy as in the original game. In the 2002 game, unlocking monsters simply required completing the adventure mode, which was short and arcade-like: you defeated one monster after another until you encountered MechaGodzilla, which gave you a new playable character. Instead, the remaster features three forms of progression: experience for each individual monster, research points that complete blueprints to unlock characters and levels, and rumors-tasks that must be completed to unlock blueprints.
All of these levels combine in an attempt to extend playtime and unlock favorite monsters like Rodan, and it's only for the worse. In the 11 hours of play, I spent most of the time alone, trying to discover characters, which I still haven't managed to do. Three remain: Destoroyah, MechaGodzilla, and, yes, Rodan. Each monster requires a list of conditions to unlock, such as winning 12 battles as Megalon or Gigan, which unlocks a research project that progresses through adventure modes or online and local battles. You stepped on my foot. Completing rumors and research quotas takes varying amounts of time, and sometimes completing them unlocks new rumors and quotas needed to unlock a monster.
I was misled a few times: I thought I only had to complete one research for Mecha King Ghidorah, but it turned out I had to open another project first. This "grind" also extends to adventure modes, which are locked depending on the level of an individual monster. It's exhausting. Two new adventure modes offer a nice change from the classics: the gauntlet and challenge modes. In the "trial" you face two computer opponents who become stronger with each round , while the "challenge" is an even more difficult version where the enemies start with bonuses. Again, it's a shame that to unlock them you have to level up each monster individually, which takes a lot of time.
However, there is a way to play all monsters and all levels without grinding-it's tournament mode. This mode is somehow hidden in the settings and not available in the main menu. Activating it disables all modes except free combat and stops exploration and level progression. Here you can play as any monster in 1 on 1 format against the computer or with three friends locally. Tournament mode can't be played online now, which means you'll still have to unlock characters the boring way it was intended to be. Still, this mode was a lifesaver, finally allowing me to play as Rodan and beat up Destoroyah with my friends Winner! Rodan won. I repeat,
This is a strange workaround that I only found out about after reaching out to the developers to find out if the game had its own cheat codes. Codes from the original game do not work. The grind here is more reminiscent of modern service games, and while I'm grateful that this game doesn't have microtransactions, the presence of such systems makes it inconsistent with the concept of the game being designed for pure and mindless fun. They just don't fit. Destroy All Monsters is a real explosion of emotions, and it doesn't matter whether you play with friends in the same room or online, you'll get a lot of laughs watching giant kaiju flying through the sky. So,
despite the exhausting single-player modes, the enjoyment of the game did not disappear. Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered is at its best when it mimics a child's play with kaiju figures during short sessions with friends. And it's worst when it tries to drag out a game that didn't have much depth to begin with. As a result, we got a remaster, which I'm glad to see, given the shortage of Godzilla fighting games, but with a few caveats. Not to mention the bitter realization that the original GameCube and Xbox game didn't have a forced "grind". Just let me play with my toys, please.
Hey, did you hear what happened to Zilla? He was punched in the face in about 15 seconds. Oh, are you serious?
