Super Godzilla – Underrated and Unorthodox

Godzilla has had a surprisingly storied history in video games, with many entries being vastly different from one another. Perhaps this is symptomatic of trying to translate gigantic kaiju to fitting gameplay. Even within similar series, look at the difference from Crush, Crumble, and Chomp! to Rampage to King of the Monsters to Robot Alchemic Drive. There have been so many ways to demonstrate giant monsters, and Super Godzilla definitely has its own spin.

However, with the Big G’s great deal of variety comes a lot of dubious reception. To be fair, I like most of them. I think the chibified Game Boy entry is a lot of fun, and I think Monster of Monsters is criminally underrated. A lot of people seem to have made up their mind that fighting or brawling games are the only format for Godzilla. And yeah, I’ve imported Kaijuu Dai Kessen and I’ve played loads of Destroy All Monsters Melee and Save The Earth. They’re a great fit. But I don’t believe they’re the only fit.

Super Godzilla is a divisive game, since it’s not only a different take on a Godzilla game but it’s an unorthodox game for the platform in general. It’s this unorthodox gameplay that provides the first barrier to entry.

Super Godzilla has to main gameplay styles – exploration and battle. The exploration segment has you directing Godzilla through cities or countryside as you search for the opposing monster. As you pass through tiles you may uncover tanks, artillery, and mines that will attempt to damage Godzilla, you can break through destructible terrain at the cost of some energy, and you can collect special items and energy from special tiles on the map. You are timed in every level, but you have a map of sorts that shows the general area of the opposing monster.

Fighting other kaiju is much more engaging, but also fairly unorthodox. This is the “Fighting Spirit” system and while it’s odd at first it’s surprisingly easy once you come to grips with it. Essentially, Godzilla must advance towards the enemy, land a punch on them, then pull back with Godzilla. As you pull back, various tiles will be unveiled and when they light up you can either confirm the technique, or continue to pull back to open other options. Confirming a technique will display an animation of Godzilla using a special attack against the enemy that will do significantly more damage than the standard punch.

It’s not always so simple. If you pull back farther you often open up stronger attacks, but if you’re attacked during this process you’ll lose your chance and have to land another hit. So maybe you want to hit and lock in techniques as fast as possible? If you take the first tile to appear, then you won’t have moved very far from the monster meaning you can try to follow up more quickly. But some monsters are invulnerable to certain attacks, or worse – they counter them and hurt Godzilla instead. Or their fighting spirit suddenly spikes and you want to escape the battle or pull back in a hurry to try and avoid their special attacks.

While the battle system is very simple, and the movement sections are largely similar both introduce new mechanics or goals that keep them fresh enough for the stage count. The game’s systems are solid, maybe just not made for wide or immediate appeal.

Perhaps my biggest complaint with the battles is the short reach of Godzilla’s punch. But reading the enemy’s fighting spirit, blocking when necessary, and picking your moments to advance start to feel natural. Even if I still whiff a lot.

Most of the monsters in Super Godzilla are from the Heisei era, however the Super Nintendo version has the Showa Era Mechagodzilla while Super Famicom uses Heisei Era Mechagodzilla. Either way the rogue’s gallery is mostly from this era – King Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla, Biollante, Battra, Mecha King Ghidorah. The game’s original monster – Bagan – was slated for several movies but they never came to light so Super Godzilla is an interesting piece of history in the franchise since it’s one of the few fully realized appearances of this monster. I won’t spoil the battle here, but it’s potentially the most difficult fight and makes me wish Bagan had its own film.

Godzilla himself can, under certain late game circumstances, transform into the ubiquitous Super Godzilla. This is… very strong. It even gets beyond Godzilla’s short punch in it’s own way.

I’ve heard Super Godzilla referred to as “not Godzillalike” and I couldn’t disagree more. Now, this isn’t necessarily an endorsement of the game but Godzilla being lead around, a professor working on a super weapon, aliens bringing monsters to destroy Japan and fight Godzilla. That’s so many Godzilla films. Just as Godzilla games are vastly different, Godzilla has had many different iterations and continuities. So like or loathe the game, it doesn’t make many thematic missteps.

Probably my biggest issue with the game is the variety during the exploration/movement segments. They keep things moving with random UFO encounters, or through level specific objectives though the terrain stays the same. Taking place over six levels, the same enemy weapons appear, the breakable terrain acts the same, and the water is excruciating to move through. Only the Lake level is truly different with unique terrain elements and gimmicks. While I would have loved to see many more monsters make an appearance, I don’t think the walking sections could support many more levels as they are.

Which is a bit of a shame because these sections convey the story and the collateral damage that’s sure to come in Godzilla’s wake. The characters aren’t super compelling by any measure, but they sure as hell could have been in a Godzilla movie. And these maps do have their moments – when in a certain proximity to a monster Ifukube’s Godzilla March starts to play – the leitmotif for “shit’s getting real.”

So for a fan of the Godzilla series, this can be a treat because it feels like it could be the plot to another movie. I suppose the point of contention is whether or not you can enjoy a battle system based on the pullback motors used in those Dinky cars that could drive forward three feet. It’s a strange beast because while the gameplay is divisive, the thematic beats are spot on. Even Destroy All Monsters Melee’s alien plot didn’t feel quite right. So I think the flavour is this game’s greatest merit.

That said, the gameplay isn’t bad in a mechanical sense. Everything works as intended, and when you get into the groove the monster battles can be a lot of fun and kind of tricky. But can I recommend Super Godzilla? Well, as with most games on this blog Super G isn’t for everyone. It’s a solid title, but I don’t feel it will be compelling to anyone but Godzilla fans.

And as for Godzilla fans, it depends on what you’re looking for out of a game. If the gameplay just doesn’t appeal to you – then you won’t like it regardless of the flavour. But if you want to play out a campaign that could have been its own movie, or experience what Bagan could have been – then it’s something pretty neat.

I feel like Bagan would have made for a decent movie, but there has to be a reason it’s been denied every time. There are elements of Super Godzilla and Bagan that hint at Space Godzilla and Destoroyah, so I think that Bagan has been disseminated into other Godzilla kaiju and media. I’d say Bagan actually getting to have a role for once is reason enough for Godzilla fans to at least give the game a look!

Super Godzilla provides a pretty good stage for the big bugger though, if you’re willing to delve into it.