Godzilla

From HandWiki - Reading time: 8 min

Short description: 1988 video game
Godzilla: Monster of Monsters!
Godzilla: Monster of Monsters!
North American cover art
Developer(s)Compile
Publisher(s)Toho
Composer(s)Masatomo Miyamoto
SeriesGodzilla
Platform(s)NES
Release
  • JP: December 9, 1988
  • NA: October 1989
  • EU: 1991
Genre(s)Action
Mode(s)Single-player

Godzilla: Monster of Monsters! (ゴジラ) is a Nintendo Entertainment System video game released in Japan in 1988 and in 1989 in the US by Toho Co., Ltd. The North American version removes all references to Toho Cenfile-Soft Library and Compile, crediting the game to Toho Eizo on the title screen instead.

Storyline

In the year 2XXX, the mysterious Planet X appears when Pluto and Neptune switch positions in the Solar System, and its inhabitants begin an attempt to conquer the Earth, using a legion of space monsters (though some of these creatures were in fact from Earth) as their primary attack force. The King of Monsters, Godzilla, joins forces with the guardian monster Mothra and the forces of Earth to repel the invasion forces.

Gameplay

Mothra trying to defeat Manda, a monster that emerges from the Martian volcanoes.

The game features two playable monsters, Godzilla and Mothra. The player uses both monsters in turn by selecting the desired character on a virtual gameboard, representative of the planet it is on, and moving it like a chess piece. Each space is a hexagon that represents playable, side-scrolling levels. There are rocky zones, jungle zones, city zones, and hyperspace zones. The hyperspace zones feature fights with the Matango, Dogora, and the Goten. The alien space ships resemble the design of Atragon and The War in Space.

Each board contains several monsters from the Godzilla series and some from other Toho movies and the objective is to clear each board of enemy monsters before advancing to the next board. Battles are fought when the player moves Godzilla or Mothra adjacent to an enemy monster, and are reminiscent of a match from a fighting game. The player plays a small side-scrolling level for each space advanced, and if one has moved adjacent to the monster, a battle follows the side-scrolling stages. More monsters appear on each stage until nearly every monster in the game is featured. When the player reaches Planet X, every previous monster is present along with King Ghidorah himself. The monster battles have a time limit of forty seconds but lack a countdown timer.

The monsters from the game (in order of confrontation and with their corresponding planets):

  • Earth: Gezora - A giant squid or cuttlefish-like creature (originally from the 1970 movie Space Amoeba)
  • Earth: Moguera - A giant robot (originally from the 1957 movie The Mysterians)
  • Mars: Varan - A giant gliding lizard (originally from the 1958 movie Varan the Unbelievable)
  • Jupiter: Hedorah - A giant alien creature that feeds off of pollution (from the 1971 Godzilla movie Godzilla vs. Hedorah)
  • Saturn: Baragon - A fire-breathing dinosaur (originally from the 1965 movie Frankenstein Conquers the World)
  • Uranus: Gigan - A cyborg monster with blade arms (from the 1972 Godzilla movie Godzilla vs. Gigan)
  • Pluto: Mechagodzilla - A robotic replica of Godzilla (from the 1974 Godzilla movie Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla)
  • Planet X: King Ghidorah - A giant three-headed dragon (from the 1964 Godzilla movie Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster)

The titular mushroom kaiju from the 1963 film Matango appear as mid-bosses throughout the early stages of the game. In later stages, that role goes to Gohten, the space battleship from the 1977 sci-fi film The War in Space.

In addition, Dogora from the 1964 film of the same name and the creature Manda from the 1963 film Atragon appear as common enemies throughout the game.

This game was the focus on a popular creepypasta titled "NES Godzilla Creepypasta", where a fan of the game ends up playing a twisted version of the game possessed by a vicious demonic entity called Red. He is a skeletal red monster who heavily distorts the game to hellish and unrealistic depths and has a history with the narrator's late girlfriend. The story is notable for also featuring a heavy amount of "screenshots" from the fictional version of the game. A fangame has been in development with a demo being released in 2017,[1] however it has closed down production in 2023.

Sequel

In 1992, Toho released a sequel called Godzilla 2: War of the Monsters for the NES. The player controls the Army, trying to protect Japan from the Godzilla monsters. Syracuse Herald-Journal commented that while the game is "OK" as a strategy title, a more action-oriented approach would have been preferable.[2][3]

References

  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
  • No URL found. Please specify a URL here or add one to Wikidata.

Template:Atari






Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 | Source: https://handwiki.org/wiki/Software:Godzilla:_Monster_of_Monsters
48 views | Status: cached on January 25 2026 17:10:39
↧ Download this article as ZWI file
Encyclosphere.org EncycloReader is supported by the EncyclosphereKSF