Highlights

  • Video games featuring Kaiju are making a comeback with multiple hits in the genre, including Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher.
  • Kaiju-themed games offer players the chance to live out their epic monster fantasies, from strategy games like Kaiju Wars to monster-raising sims like Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher.
  • Classic games like Rampage and King of the Monsters still hold up as favorite Kaiju games, while newer titles like GigaBash and Dawn of the Monsters provide fun local co-op gameplay with giant monsters.

Video games featuring Kaiju appear to be making a comeback. Several monster games launched in the 80s and 90s, but the genre peaked with War of the Monsters in 2003. There have been other games that featured Kaiju, but most aren't AAA games. However, the Kaiju monster movie and video game are as popular as ever, with multiple hits in the genre, including Koei Tecmo's Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher on the Switch and Apple TV's Monarch series set in the King Kong x Godzilla universe.

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Thanks to movies like Godzilla vs. Kong and Pacific Rim, developers are catching on to how much fun it is to get monsters and giants to fight each other in video game form. While there have been several Kaiju-themed games, this list is focused on the best available today.

Updated January 17, 2024, by Michael Llewellyn: Thanks to the Godzilla and King Kong movies providing cinematic escapism and Monarch adding more context to the Monsterverse, Kaiju-related media in gaming and entertainment has seen a resurgence. Even the Japanese-made Godzilla Minus One is being hailed as one of the greatest monster movies in recent times. The excitement for the genre has seen fans looking toward gaming to live out their epic Kaiju fantasies. This list is updated to include more Kaiju games that fans of the genre are sure to enjoy.

10 Kaiju Wars

An Advance Wars Style Strategy Game With Monsters

kaiju wars
  • Released: 2022
  • Developer: Foolish Mortals Games
  • Platform: PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One

Players take on the role of a mayor using an out-of-its-depth military force to fight back against a Kaiju invasion. The action is tongue-in-cheek and Advance Wars-esque in style, and players must hold off an attack from Kaiju as the scientists work to create a serum that can end the invasion once and for all.

Players must keep an eye on the target buildings the monsters intend to destroy and slow them down by any means necessary. Unfortunately, even though the monsters can retreat, they will return stronger and more dangerous. So, the player must up their game and utilize more advanced methods of slowing them down.

9 Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher

A Monster Breeding RPG For Fans Of Kaiju

Raising a Kaiju in Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher
  • Released: 2022
  • Developer: Koei Tecmo
  • Platform: Switch

Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher is a monster-raising sim with an Ultraman crossover. Players raise and train their monsters according to a calendar so they can be entered and fight in tournaments. Players can send their monsters to other farms to increase specific stats and gain new abilities.

However, raising a monster takes care and consideration when extending their lives and keeping them healthy for the next contest. It's a return to form for the once-popular Monster Rancher series as it goes back to basics and returns to what made the farming sim so appealing to fans.

8 Daikaiju Daikessen: Versus

A Retro-Styled Tribute To King Of The Monsters

Dakaiju - Kaiju battling in the city
  • Released: 2020
  • Developer: One Secret Pseudo
  • Platform: PC

Released in 2020, Daikaiju Daikessen: Versus is a free-to-play arcade-style fighting game. Daikaiju is a homage to Neo Geo's King of the Monsters and is currently in early access. As a result, some balancing issues need addressing within its fighting system.

However, the combat requires some strategic thinking, and the battles between the monsters can be a lot of fun. King of Monsters remains one of the best Kaiju games of all time, and Daikaiju is a solid tribute for fans hoping for a sequel.

7 Godzilla: Save The Earth

Fight As Godzilla With Earth As The Arena

Godzilla Save the Earth Godzilla 90s v Godzilla 2000
  • Released: 2004
  • Developer: Pipeworks Software
  • Platform: PS2 and Xbox

Godzilla: Save the Earth is a 3D fighting game that features a recognizable cast of monsters from the Godzilla universe. It features variations of Godzilla, Mothra, Jet Jaguar, and more. It's a sequel to Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters and improves on it.

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The combat is faster, and the sense of scale is a perfect adaptation of the classic Godzilla movies with destructible environments and recognizable moves. The single-player lacks depth, but its couch co-op multiplayer combat will keep Godzilla fans entertained for hours.

6 Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain

Battle Gigantic Kaiju In Single Player And Co-Op Action

EDF Iron Rain fighting the Raznid
Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain

Platform(s)
PS4
Developer(s)
Yuke's
Genre(s)
Third-Person Shooter

Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain is the first game in the series to be developed by Yuke's. It adopted a more serious tone than its campy predecessors but maintained the monster B-movie aesthetic fans have grown to love. The series began with fighting hordes of giant alien bugs until the Kaiju got introduced as an enemy from Earth Defense 4.1.

Iron Rain features the largest Kaiju featured in the Earth Defense Force series, with the Raznid standing 300 meters tall. Monster movie fans will get a kick out of the EDF series from Earth Defence Force 4.1 onwards. From there, the series started to include Kaiju and giant mechs in tribute to both the Godzilla and the Pacific Rim series. The games are great fun in single-player but hilarious in offline co-op multiplayer.

5 Rampage

An Arcade Classic Beat-Em-Up That Stands The Test Of Time

Rampage 1986 George and Lizzie breaking the fourth wall
  • Released: 1986
  • Developer: Midway Games
  • Platform: Arcade, Amiga, Amstrad CF, Atari ST, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Commodore 64, IBM PC, Lynx, NES, Sega Master System, and ZX Spectrum

Rampage is a side-scrolling beat-em-up featuring giant monsters and was a huge hit in arcades during the 1980s. The game's sequels weren't as well-received, but the original remains a favorite among Kaiju fans more than 30 years later.

It was adapted into a surprisingly fun big-budget Hollywood movie starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in 2018. On a visual level, Rampage has aged, but as a multiplayer game, it remains timeless.

4 GigaBash

Fun Local Co-Op Combat With Monsters

GigaBash Rawa is pure Godzilla fantasy fulfillment
GigaBash

Platform(s)
PC , PS4 , PS5 , Switch , Xbox One , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S
Released
August 5, 2022
Developer(s)
Passion Republic Games
Genre(s)
Action , Fighting

GigaBash is an isometric action brawler with Kaiju and gameplay similar to Capcom's Powerstone series. One can play GigaBash as a single-player game or multiplayer, but its main strength is in the local versus modes.

GigaBash's single-player campaigns feature four different playable Kaiju to choose from and serve as a tutorial of sorts on gameplay mechanics. There is also online play, but the most fun is playing locally with friends and family in chaotic team battles.

3 King Of The Monsters

Classic Fighting With Monsters Inspired By Godzilla And Ultraman

King of the Monsters combat
  • Released: 1991
  • Developer: SNK
  • Platform: Neo Geo. Released in the SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 bundle for the PSP, PS2, and Wii.

Developed by SNK, the studio behind the King of Fighters and Samurai Shodown series, King of Monsters is an entertaining fighting game featuring Kaiju. The characters take inspiration from Godzilla, King Kong, and Ultraman.

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The fighting system is easy to pick up, and the character designs are fantastic. The original game remains the best port of the arcade classic by featuring six monsters instead of the sequel's three.

2 War Of The Monsters

B-Movie-Style 3D Fighting Game With Monsters And Local Multiplayer

War of the Monsters split sceen versus
War of the Monsters

Platform(s)
PS2
Released
January 14, 2003
Developer
Incognito Entertainment
Genre(s)
Fighting

War of the Monsters is a Kaiju fighting game inspired by 1950s horror movies and Godzilla. The game's story is also presented as a B-movie from the 50s, and while its story isn't deep, it's challenging, and War of the Monsters offers a good balance between single multiplayer carnage.

The 3D arenas are fully explorable and destructive. The game also supports up to four players for local co-op. Couch co-op is the best way to experience War of the Monsters, with a surprisingly deep and fluid combat system.

1 Dawn Of The Monsters

Streets Of Rage-Style Beat-Em-Up WIth Monsters

Fighting enemies in in Dawn of the Monsters
  • Released: 2022
  • Developer: 13 AM Games
  • Platform: PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S

Dawn of the Monsters is a 2.5D side-scrolling beat-em-up that supports up to four players. Think Streets of Rage with giant monsters that share a resemblance with the creatures from Godzilla and Ultraman.

The players are required to fight waves of monsters called the Nephilim. One can enjoy Dawn of the Monsters as a single-player or a multiplayer game. Visually, the game implements a cell-shaded manga comic book style that taps into the classic Japanese monster movie feel.

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