Kaiju Gaming
Godzilla is around more than you think. The theme of a giant monster that can tear down skyscrapers, eat cars, and have brawls is common in a lot of games and can be found on any popular gaming platform today. Whether that is a game that has a defender to all of mankind or a pixelated avatar defying nature, these games will recreate the Kaiju movie genre through their similar monster battles, as found in Godzilla.
For those of you who don’t know, the Kaiju genre started way back with black and white films, a prime example being King Kong. It truly came into its own with the release of the first Godzilla film in 1954. Kaijus are giant monsters that have the potential to damage entire cities and avoid attacks from the army of enemies. What draws audiences to them is the magnificent battles that happen and the power that these monsters hold.
Listed are some games that will be sure to remind you of the Godzilla movies, giving you the power and control to play them for yourself!
The Games
War of the Monsters
War of the Monsters was originally released on PlayStation 2 but can now be played on PlayStation 4. It pays homage to many of the classic science fiction movies from the 1950s, consisting of alien invasions that bring to life giant monsters. When playing, you can take control of various monsters which are inspired by Kaiju cinema. Fire-breathing reptiles, huge apes, or large insect creatures. Each of these characters will fight it out with each other while destroying the city. There are options for tag-teaming, exploring the city, and more to beat these creatures.
Override: Mech City Brawl 1 & 2
The Override game franchise copies the Pacific Rim side of Kaiju. This is done through the characters looking like cockpit-controlled colorful robots. The game is single-player, and the task is that all champions of the robot fighting competition must fight against Kaiju-inspired enemies known as Xenotypes who are here to attack Earth as we know it. There are also multi-player options available, so whether you are playing on single or multi-options, you can partake in twists and turns with even 4 players being able to control the one robot. This is done by the control of the arms and legs of the robot, which makes for amazing group play.
The Earth Defense Force Franchise
This franchise is developed by Japan-based Sandlot Studio. Like the other games talked about, it follows themes of 1950s monster movies. This time, the game is told from the perspective of the soldiers who have to fight the monsters, rather than the monsters themselves. As a soldier, you have access to rocket launchers, guns, and even jet-packs which makes the fighting even more exciting. Your enemies include aliens, frog-like men, giant insects and ants, and robots. What is harrowing yet exciting about this game franchise is that it explores how terrifying this kind of invasion would be in real life. Use your best kaiju hits and flicks to defeat these invaders.
Gigabash
A successor of games similar to War of the Monsters, Gigabash uses the premise of giant monsters destroying a city but adds in fighting characteristics that can be found in the likes of Super Mario Smash Bros. The monsters can come in all shapes and sizes, like yetis, giant robots, three-eyed slugs, and more. They are hard to defeat, having moves such as blocking, dodging, and some can even mimic the other fighter as they change a move, doing them mid-jump.
When playing, players depend on a resource called Giga-energy. How this is retrieved is by damaging the other opponents or wrecking the city environment around them. When they have enough giga-energy, you have the potential to transform the enemy into whatever they want. It wouldn’t be a Kaiju video game if the city didn’t destruct. It does this through fighting in multiplayer matches. What makes this game exciting is that sometimes throughout the game, the venue can change from the city to different levels. One example is a tropical resort, where there is a volcano that can erupt at any given moment, meaning that you must fight through the lava.
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Browse images from the upcoming Godzilla vs. Kong sequel here as well as images from Apple TV’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and Toho’s Godzilla Minus One.
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