Sometimes you get a game that just doesn’t feel like everything meshes. Godzilla on the Game Boy is such a game. I can’t help but wonder – was this meant to be a Godzilla game, originally? Apparently this is adapted from an MSX game which appears to match the aesthetic and mechanics. But I can’t help but feel like this is meant to be different, and I think that’s where this game gets a lot of undue negativity.
See, the game has cute versions of Godzilla and many of the other kaiju in the series. However, it’s an action puzzle game where you control Godzilla trying to find Minilla/Minya in a labyrinth. I think the difference between boxart and the actual game is pretty jarring, but it shouldn’t stop you from enjoying this game.
When I thought about it, really this game seems to be based on Showa period Godzilla. This of course refers to the Showa era in daikaiju film. If you’ve watched some late Showa era daikaiju eiga films you will notice that they started to trend towards heroic monsters to appeal to kids, Godzilla included. So while this game is still out of place for a Godzilla game, I can see its Showa roots in the heroic story, the monster designs, and the the more comic appearance to appeal to kids.
This game absolutely deserves a chance. It’s a game where you control Godzilla and punch boulders. These boulder can be used to destroy enemies, and as platforms to cross gaps. The [Little] Big G cannot jump, only climb vines and ladders so you must punch rocks carefully so that he doesn’t block himself off from a goal prematurely.
Ultimately you will want to break every single rock onscreen. This will cause the goal (or goals) to appear. A goal will have a directional arrow displayed on it. This indicates the direction this goal will take you through the labyrinth. You need to navigate through the labyrinth until you find the room in which Minilla is being held captive.
Godzilla can climb vines, and his sprite can hang from them. Often he has to hang from a vine to hit a rock below him and to the side, or step partway onto a gap to punch a rock one space ahead. Sort of the same kind of ‘mechanics voodoo’ Lolo requires you to know to pass certain levels.
Monsters populate many of the rooms of the labyrinth. They spawn from gates. Godzilla can punch most of them, except for Hedorah and Ghidora. Hedorah requires an item to be destroyed, or to be crushed with a boulder. Ghidora is invincible and appears if you are taking too long in a level. Many of the other monsters have unique attributes as well. For instance, Rodan can fly straight towards you and Anguirus can run really fast on the horizontal when he lines up with you. Monsters you destroy eventually respawn.
At certain points in the labyrinth you will see a digitized picture of one of the kaiju and they will either taunt you or give you advice. So it’s a bit of flavour, but maybe a bit too sparse and repeated every time you hit that room.
Godzilla can pause the action and scroll the screen left or right to get a feeling for his surroundings. He can also bring up a subscreen which can allow him to restart a level, receive a password, or check his uncovered rooms. Speaking of passwords, the game provides a 4-character password and an 18-character password. The 4-character password is for labyrinth position only. The 18-character is for position plus it records your map progress, so it’s more useful to have that one so you can see where you’ve been.
On the downside, this game is pretty easy and repetitive. Sure, there are some puzzles that will be trickier than others. But they are generally quite straight forward and easy. I think there is a reason for this – the labyrinthine map system. Basically, unless you are already familiar with the map you are bound to be put back into rooms you have already completed because paths force you to certain spots.
Basically, if you want to see every room once then you will see some rooms 4 or 5+ times on your first time through this game. And the rooms reset so you have to resolve them. They are typically only a 30-60 affair on your repeat visits but it just gets redundant. I would have much preferred to see the stages in sequential order and made more difficult or more involved. I think they are so easy and straightforward to accommodate all of this backtracking! That’s my theory, anyhow.
But besides this gripe, and a few control issues I really don’t have much negative to say about this game. If I were playing as any character other than Godzilla I would still recommend it. So my advice would be to just chill out insofar as relevancy is concerned and earnestly try the game. It’s rough around the edges, but definitely worth a look.
Good review 🙂 I’m sure you’ll agree that the GB is full of this sort of fare from originals like Boxxle and Kwirk to other mysteriously applied licenses like Snoopy’s Magic Show (one I know to be special to yourself!). Each one has their quirks, foibles, charms, and gameplay hooks. GB is vastly underrated as a console – it provides a greater number of NES-like experiences than anything else that followed – so it’s nice to see material on its games, or hot HOT stereo sound 😉
Since coming to EU my collecting focus has been on SMS and GB, I don’t know why but a wider variety of carts seems to have survived the years over here, at least for decent asking prices 😛 Is it because the EU peeps took better care of their carts and didn’t e.g. play with them outside? 😉 teehee. A lack of rental outlets, seemingly poor distribution, and lack of shelf space for GB among the NES and Genesis carts kept us from sampling some of these lil treats until years later. It can be very rewarding indeed. And a title like Godzilla is most def better enjoyed for a fiver than for the cost of forty bucks, or more significantly, cost of opportunity to acquire a more solid game in its stead. Cos lets face it, we all had to choose (give or take the odd lucky dip surprise)!
Sadly I’ve never beaten Snoopy’s Magic Show, but I’ve been eying it recently. There’s a point that it always seems to freeze. So I may get to that point again, then get a password to proceed past it. I’ll figure that out.
I’ve also found it difficult to collect for Game Boy. Even going online they are sometimes a little overpriced. And not to disparage the Game Boy, sometimes they aren’t worth the price of admission. But when it’s done well, it’s done bloody well excellent. There’s bound to be gems I haven’t unearthed on the platform, and great games I still want like Gargoyle’s Quest.
I agree that this is definitely not a title to spend a lot on. But you know, this is probably something I would have received as a kid if it were available at a retail outlet. Since the folks were a major factor in choosing awesome stuff for my Game Boy, they would likely have picked this up for me because hey – I really liked Godzilla.
And even if I probably would have been taken aback a little at that age, I think I still would have dug it, and mapped it out and kept a notebook.
Hehe… Godzilla’s sprite for the game looks like a gummy candy or one of those “pour water on to grow” toys. Delicious and/or mind blowing!
Actually, moving around rocks is reminiscent of the gameplay in Mole Mania. Of course, moving objects is pretty much the catalyst to beating all action puzzle games.
Sounds alright, though. You already know what I think of the genre, but I’m open to trying it (Mostly because you made the effort to blog it.) For these type though, something like great backgrounds, a charming aesthetic and/or great music (mostly the latter) compels me to go the whole way through it. On the other hand, over recycling kills the enjoyment.
I should have mentioned it in the actual article but there are a couple of different looking environments (same thing with different graphics) and the music changes up now and then. HOWEVER, it seems to only be around for one or two rooms at a time and as you can see the map is substantial enough for a Game Boy game. So it is kind of sameish.
I think in a way it being Godzilla definitely helped keep me enthusiastic through the whole game.
I used to love those growing toys. Wow man, brings me back. iirc I picked one up going around the Trail. It was a green crocodile.
By the way I scored Mole Mania really cheap. It’s on its way with Wario Blast, so I’m hoping this transaction goes well!
I see.
Yeah, those toys are the best. 🙂 Slimy and slippery buggers.
Nice! I’m sure you’ll like it quite a bit. More than I do, anyway. :p