Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee

Godzilla: Destroy all Monsters Melee is a 2002 fighting game developed by Pipeworks and published by Infogrames, released for the GameCube and Xbox. It was followed by Godzilla: Save the Earth in 2004.

Plot
The story begins when the Vortaak sends a transmission to Earth, declaring that they have taken control of all of Earth's strongest monsters. They demand that the Earth surrenders, displaying their power by using the monsters to attack various cities across the globe. But one monster breaks free of the Vortaak's mind control, escaping Monster Island and engaging in battle with the other monsters. After defeating them all, the Vortaak teleport it to their Mothership to kill it with their greatest weapon: Mechagodzilla (Mecha-King Ghidorah if the player chose Mechagodzilla). After winning, the monster is teleported back to Earth, and the Vortaak retreat, warning that they will one day return...

Gameplay
The player plays as one of several giant monsters (eleven playable characters: Anguirus, Destoroyah, Gigan, Godzilla 90s, Godzilla 2000, King Ghidorah, Mecha-King Ghidorah, Megalon, Orga, Rodan, and Mechagodzilla). Via punches, kicks, and limb attacks (usually a tail-attack), each monster can attack others and also use their surroundings. Army forces (missile and "freeze" tanks) and the monster Hedorah (which slows a monster's energy regeneration ability) are also present and sporadically attack all monsters. Extras include bonus orbs, which can provide a finishing move or summon the monster Mothra for an airstrike. Extra features include the choice of several locations, and a "destruction" mode (in which players compete to destroy buildings in a city) and a "melee" mode (in which up to four players can compete simultaneously).

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Despite being outdated nowadays, the game's graphics look beautiful.
 * 2) It has a lot of good stages.
 * 3) You can choose to play each stage on either day or night.
 * 4) It has a lot of favourite Kaijus from the Godzilla franchise.
 * 5) Lots of awesome modes.
 * 6) Awesome soundtrack.
 * 7) You can have up to four players.
 * 8) Monster AI is clever and it's smarter than the AI in Godzilla Unleashed.
 * 9) It has a lot of great power-ups.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) A PS2 version was planned but later cancelled.
 * 2) It has fewer monsters than Godzilla: Save the Earth: Godzilla: Save the Earth has 18 monsters, while Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee has 11 monsters.

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."