Ludography
Godzilla: Domination! cover

2002 · WayForward Technologies · Fighting

Godzilla: Domination!

Nintendo exclusive

Six monsters battle through seven destructive locations in an attempt to prove themselves as the greatest monster to walk the Earth. Each monster has a personal set of punches, kicks and special moves to Dominate over the competition.

Released
11 November 2002
Platforms
Game Boy Advance
Genres
Fighting
Developers
WayForward TechnologiesInfogrames
Publishers
Infogrames
Modes
MultiplayerSingle-player
Perspective
Side view
Themes
ActionScience fiction
Age ratings
ESRB E

About

Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee is a fighting game based on Toho's Godzilla franchise. It was developed by Pipeworks Software and published by Infogrames under the Atari brand for GameCube in 2002.

A companion game developed by WayForward Technologies for Game Boy Advance, Godzilla: Domination!, was released in November of the same year. Destroy All Monsters Melee was later released for Xbox in 2003, featuring additional content and enhanced graphics. It was followed by two sequels, Godzilla: Save the Earth (2004) and Godzilla: Unleashed (2007).

›Story

Meteor X appears over Tokyo 2 and starts projecting magnetic waves which causes neurological damage to several monsters, causing them to go berserk. The monsters begin to attack Earth and its neighboring planets (led by Mecha-King Ghidorah), however, one monster remains unaffected by the waves and it's up to it to stop the others and destroy Meteor X.

Keywords

  • kaiju
  • licensed game
  • comic book character
  • tie-in

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

In Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee, players control one of several giant monsters and fight across large, destructible city environments. The game presents a scenario in which aliens have unleashed mutated creatures on Earth, prompting battles between monsters in populated urban areas. Players choose a monster and engage others using hand‑to‑hand attacks, close‑range strikes, special moves, and projectile abilities, all while navigating cityscapes filled with buildings that can be damaged or destroyed during combat. The game offers multiple modes.

Adventure Mode serves as the primary single‑player progression, where players fight through a sequence of opponents across different cities. Destruction Mode focuses on causing as much structural damage as possible for points. Melee Mode supports two to four players in battles where monsters respawn, and the winner is determined by score. Survival Mode challenges players to defeat as many monsters as possible using a single health bar.

Story

The plot involves an alien race known as the Vortaak invading the Earth and assuming control of the planet's giant monsters, sending them to attack cities across the globe. One monster (the player's character) breaks free from the Vortaak's control, and battles the other monsters in order to drive off the Vortaak.

Development

The game was announced by Infogrames on March 25, 2002, as a GameCube-exclusive, with Pipeworks Software announced as the developer and a release date within the fall of 2002. It was later shown off at E3 2002 and at Infogrames' press event in August.

In January 2003, Infogrames announced that the game would be released for the Xbox with the addition of MechaGodzilla 3 as a new playable character, two new stages, a Destruction Mode for single-player, and graphical upgrades.

Reception

The game received "mixed or average reviews" on all platforms according to video game review aggregator Metacritic.

Entertainment Weekly gave the GameCube version a B and stated that the game's biggest blunder "is that it just isn't campy enough." However, The Cincinnati Enquirer gave the same version three-and-a-half stars out of five and stated that "while the game has a variety of game-play modes, they aren't very deep once you've mastered the basics." The Village Voice also gave the Xbox version a score of 7 out of 10 and stated that "When buildings light up—Big Ben, say—you can let your opponents know what time it is by picking up the structure and hurling it at them." During the 6th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Godzilla for "Console Fighting Game of the Year", which it ultimately lost to Tekken 4.

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
Game Boy Advance11 November 2002North America · Europe 15 November 2002

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Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.