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PRE-GAME

Godzilla is attacking the city, and he’s brought his friends along for the party. So grab a controller and jump into the mayhem with up to 4 players offline or online.

EYE-SPY

THE HOOK: Everyone’s heard of Godzilla. The giant, radioactive monster from Japan has been smashing his way through the buildings of Tokyo for 50 years now. So when presented with the opportunity to jump into Big G’s shoes and wreak a little destruction myself I jumped at the chance.

HOW IT LOOKS AND FEELS: Well, to be honest, this isn’t the best looking game ever. Not that its bad, its just no Final Fantasy or anything. The monsters themselves look pretty good. They look and move like you’d expect them too. Most monsters have unique animations all there own so that they play like there movie counterparts. The environments are pretty bland though. You can destroy most of what you see, but the textures used aren’t the best.

The game’s controls are a bit different from most fighting games, so it may take you a few minutes to get the hangs of things. After that they work well for them game. You can get by with just button mashing, but if you take the time to learn some of the more advanced combos you’ll be an unstoppable juggernaut of destruction.

HOW IT SOUNDS: The folks over at Atari sure did a good job in the sound department. All the monsters in the games sound exactly as they should. Godzilla’s trademark roar is in there, as well as all the right noises from the other monsters. The music really fits the setting as well. Some classic theme from the movies can be heard, as well as some new ones.

There’s a small bit of voice acting, but it’s not very good. So it really makes you feel like your watching a Godzilla movie.

EXTRAS: In addition to unlocking extra monsters and levels, there are several pieces of production art that you can unlock. Also, as and added bonus, there are several pictures of the monsters from Godzilla: Final Wars, the latest Godzilla movie. Celebrating his 50^th anniversary, it’s also supposed to be the last Godzilla movie for several years.

CINEMATIC EXPERIENCE: There are a few cinemas to be had here. While nothing great, it’s still a treat to see Big G and company smashing through Tokyo in full CG. Hey, its still better than the American Godzilla movie.

BEST PLAYER: I’m fond of the Ultraman like Jet Jaguar myself.

CHEAT CODE YOU NEED: Ok this one’s kind of long. From the main menu, Press and hold L2, then Circle, then R2 in that order, then let go of them starting with Circle, then R2, then L2.

CHEAT CODE YOU WANT: Well, I think this game already has all the cheat codes a person could want.

OH MAN! MOMENT: Your first Rampage mode.

GLITCH ITCH: The game froze once when I tried to start Action mode once, and I had to completely shut off my PS2 and turn it back on before it would work again.

FAN SERVICE: There is no fan service in the traditional sense. However, for the Godzilla fan, this game is practically fan service incarnate. Just having the chance to play as some of the greatest monsters from the movies is a joy unto itself, but then throwing in the production stills and artwork from the new movies is just icing on the cake.

END GAME:

Now I won’t claim to be the biggest Godzilla fan out there, but I do enjoy seeing Big G smash his way across Japan time and again. That’s why playing this game was such a big thrill for me. While not being the best game ever, it’s still a solid title that even non fans of Godzilla should still enjoy.

The game features a variety of ways to go about your destructive rampage. First and foremost is Action mode. It’s your standard arcade mode where you choose your monster of choice and play through several 1v1 bouts against other monsters. It also throws in the occasional Challenge, or mini game round, though they aren’t as fun as the fights. After each fight or successfully completed Challenge you’ll earn a number of points based on how well you did. These points can be used to purchase things from the shop in the main menu, which I’ll discuss later.

There are several different options for multiplayer in this game. That’s a big plus in my book. There’s the traditional Versus mode, where you and a friend square off against one another in a battle to the death. Then there’s Melee mode, where up to four players can participate in both Team and Free For All bouts to rack up the most points within the time limit. You have unlimited lives in this mode, and you regenerate upon KO, so you score points by hitting your opponents, executing combos, and KO’s opponents. There’s also a Destruction mode, where the goal is to destroy buildings rather than opponents, and it’s a nice alternative then straight up fighting.

Next is your standard Survival mode. Take on opponent after opponent till your out of health and see how many you can defeat before you fall. After that comes Challenges mode, where you can play the various mini games you unlock during Action mode, as well as a few new ones.

After this was the one mode I was really looking forward too; Online multiplayer. Unfortunately for me, when I went online I couldn’t find anyone else online to play with. Oh well, I can always make my friends buy it and play online with me. There’s also a network mode available for those who can make use of it.

Finally there is the shop. In here you use the points you earned in action mode to buy additional monsters and levels. You can also purchase production art and art from the movie Godzilla: Final Wars. The art won’t cost you much, but the levels and monsters will set you back quite a bit, so be prepared to spend a lot of time in Action mode unless you cheat.

Despite its shortcomings, I have had a lot of fun with this game. True, I was disappointed to find no one online to play against, but that’s something I can live with. Overall this game is a great way to pass the time and it makes for an excellent party game, though you’ll need a multi-tap on PS2 for the 4-player mode. I’d say this is worth a purchase for fans of Big G, and its defiantly worth a rental otherwise. While regular price is $40, I’ve seen it in some places (Wal-Mart) for $20, so keep that in mind.

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