Few and far between, Godzilla games are a rare find in the west, somehow only surpassed by the enormous lack of King Kong representation. Hopefully, the recent Legendary reboots of the franchises will breathe new life into the games industry with their upcoming release of Godzilla vs. Kong, but until then we have to settle with some old-school (and a couple of new-school) games.
Any fan of the kaiju genre knows just how hard it is to translate the larger-than-life monsters into a playable game, much less a good one. There have certainly been quite a few attempts, but none are quite as good as we might want, and more often than not the mechanics fall just short of exhausting and clunky. Regardless of the monstrous issues with those titles, a few gems make their way to the surface, some accumulating a dedicated fanbase regardless of their inevitable flaws. For anyone looking for an interactive kaiju fix before the biggest two collide on the silver screen, these games are worth checking out.
9 Godzilla Domination
Godzilla Domination was an early development of Wayforward games, famous for their stylistic approach to game visuals, such as Shantae, Mighty Switch Force, River City Girls.
Godzilla Domination on the Gameboy Advance follows a fighting game format, allowing up to four players on one game pak. Alongside the arena multiplayer, Domination also features a story mode in which the player takes control of one of six kaiju in an effort to stop the rest of the cast from going berserk under the manipulation of Mecha-King Ghidorah. Domination takes a much more arcade-like approach as opposed to its predecessor on the Gamecube and Xbox, Destroy All Monsters Melee.
8 Godzilla: Save The Earth
Releasing to a slight amount of disappointment after its prequel, Destroy All Monsters Melee, Godzilla: Save The Earth is another simple-concept fighting game.
This entry in the series introduced a much larger roster, featuring some of the strongest monsters in the series, but fell short critically due to worse controls and a less charming approach to its featured monsters. The plot takes place several years after Melee, following Godzilla as he, get this; saves the earth. The game released to all-around middling reviews, taking home an average of 6/10 from most sites, who cited its controls as its biggest downfall, regardless of its fun concept.
7 Godzilla: Monster Of Monsters
Godzilla: Monster of Monsters found some fame during the boom of the Creepypasta horror genre in the mid-2000s/2010s. Monster of Monsters was featured in a 2011 story titled simply "NES Godzilla Creepypasta" in which a player comes across a cursed cartridge of the game, which includes screenshots of several of the haunted kaiju that had infected the game world.
The story was creepy enough, and some players even went so far as to create a fake version of the game that includes the events of the story. In reality, Monster of Monsters is a fairly simple NES sidescroller in which Godzilla and Mothra team up to travel space and once again save the world from King Ghidorah.
6 Super Godzilla
Super Godzilla was a bit different from other entries in the series, taking a more "remote control" approach. In this story, a small group of people has created a transmitter in order to guide Godzilla through several cities as he fights other monsters and collects power-ups.
The gameplay was interesting in that it featured various ways the player must strategize before they can reach the boss. Because of this, taking a sloppy approach to any level may mean sacrificing advantage in the final fight. Super Godzilla is a great piece of Goji lore, popular most of all for featuring Bagan, a monster who had been scrapped in several films previously, and influencing the design of SpaceGodzilla in the later films.
5 Godzilla Battle Legends
Made by Hudson Soft for the famous console "Turbo Duo," Godzilla: Battle Legends is a fighting game taking Godzilla through his formative years up through the early 90s.
Battle Legends was an interesting entry if just for its visual gimmicks. Whenever Godzilla faced off against a new foe, his sprite would change to represent his growth throughout the films, featuring ten different variations to his appearance. The game also brought in ten additional monsters, some with variety sprites of their own, including Showa, Heisei, and Mecha-Ghidorah, and several Mechagodzillas (another of which may show up in the cinematic universe soon). As cool as it sounds, hardly anyone played the game on release, and reviews are scarce on the web.
4 Godzilla Smash 3
Godzilla Smash 3 appears on the surface to be a pretty same-y smartphone game, but turned out to be fairly addictive. It's audience was more than a little disappointed when it shut down in 2016.
Smash 3 is a puzzle game that deploys turn-based puzzles in sequence with cinematic CGI scenes of Legendary Godzilla destroying things and fighting the M.U.T.O. from the 2014 film. The game featured a pretty large amount of playability, with 35 Tokyo levels, 45 San Fran levels, and 40 Pacific Ocean levels. While it's no longer available on IOS, the files are available online through emulation for anyone who wants to go through the trouble.
3 MUGEN
MUGEN is one of gaming's biggest crossovers, bringing thousands of modders together to create their dream fights in classic arcade fashion. Of course, some mods are less appealing than others, there's plenty of suggestive fighters, and even more poorly executed art. MUGEN isn't for everyone, but dedicated players will find themselves enchanted with the amount of content available here.
As is to be expected with the game's ever-growing cast, how could the King of Monsters avoid drafting into this epic fight? Furthermore, several of his friends (and enemies) have also joined the fray, including his soon-to-be nemesis, King Kong. MUGEN is the biggest crossover in history, and it's an absolute blast to face off various characters and monsters against our favorite giant lizard.
2 Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee
Alongside Rampage, this is considered by many as one of the best (albeit polarizing) kaiju games ever released. Destroy All Monsters Melee is more or less the same as previously mentioned entries, specifically Save the Earth and Domination, but is more often considered the better game for its tighter controls and simplicity It's a small sacrifice considering its smaller roster.
Melee still has a fairly dedicated group of players, an anomaly that seems common among retro fighting games. In truth, regardless of its downfalls as a game, Melee remains a fun and charming party game that will provide any Godzilla fan with at least a few hours of pleasure.
1 Kyoei Toshi (City Shrouded In Shadow)
Coming after one of the biggest flops in the monster's history, Godzilla: The Game, Kyoei Toshi may have seen this as a sign to stick to an eastern audience instead of risking another failed western release.
This is unfortunate for us, seeing as this may just be the best kaiju game to release yet. From the developers of the Disaster Report series, Kyoei Toshi puts players in the shoes of a civilian on the streets during a kaiju attack. Perhaps the most intriguing part of this experience is the vast representation here, as the game boasts not only Godzilla and his fellow Toho monsters, but several EVA and Patlabor units, Gamera, and Ultraman.