The King of the Monsters has lasted for generations. He has clearly moved away from being a famous movie icon to simply an instantly recognizable, famous icon. Godzilla’s roar and silhouette is known by all. And like many icons, his story can’t be contained through one medium. He has been in his movies, of course, comic books, animated shows, and games. The movies are loved, his animated shows gave him more life, and the comics have made him fight Greek Gods all the way to the Justice League currently. His games, however, are mixed and few. In the early 2000s, Godzilla had some games that were a mixed bag. Then in 2014, his revival came in the form of a new video game, but was regarded as a poor attempt. Yet, games, particularly fighting games, have evolved, and Godzilla as a property is firmly in mainstream media. Fighting games are outdoing the previous ones in all types of ways, which makes the fighting genre a hot commodity when one comes out. And, of course, Godzilla’s popularity is perhaps at an all-time high. But Godzilla is a timeless character. A video game with him could come out at any time and it would be a perfect time. Those two factors, though, should push out a new, well-made video game.
Godzilla is a character that could stand on his own. When he does, any fight with a giant monster, alien, or robot is on an epic scale. Some stories even create in-universe myths for Godzilla and others which make his own universe that much more compelling. Factors that make any story for any medium perfect. Movies and comic books have explored and expanded this rich world. Something a video game could capitalize on with more accuracy, precision and execution. But the King of the Monsters has been reduced to DLC for OTHER games. Godzilla has been in Minecraft and Dave the Diver. The game that puts him firmly back to his roots is Gigabash, a game where original, giant monster fight each other in diverse settings. The biggest game he has been a part of is Call of Duty: Warzone, where, although not playable, a whole event revolved around him and Kong. This event had players racking up points for their teams by shooting the Titans while using equipment based off the two characters and avoiding their attacks on a tropical island. Obviously, though, even though these games loved the Godzilla franchise enough to give him a spotlight in their own game, it wasn’t his game. The silver lining in all that though is, all those guest appearances shows that there is room for Godzilla in video games and interest to put him in games. Each game used him in different ways showing that he is also adaptable for game developers. These are all pieces that reveal a well adapted Godzilla video game is quite possible.
The question then becomes, what kind of game should Godzilla be in? All the games that Godzilla has been in have been monster brawlers. Ranging from one vs one fights to a six fighters in a free-for-all to having team based match ups. There is no reason to why a new game should not follow these blueprints. But, the game obviously needs to ne updated and improved. A great aspect that Godzilla (2014) did, and in some parts Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2018) accomplished, was to capture the size, scale, and power of the monsters. In the first film, the monsters were slow but their scale was perfect. Each animal felt like a sentient, physically embodied force of nature. What the sequel offered was the power and strength of their hits. In some cases, when there was a physical collision between the monsters, large shockwaves went out. Fighting video games have captured that part at least. When certain hits or events happen in the game, the audio, the visuals, even the environment perfectly capture that force. If another fighting game for Godzilla comes out, it needs to capture that feeling, that scope. In order to capture that scale, maybe each monster will have their own ‘super move’ and when that move is triggered, the camera goes to a human point of view. Or at least offer a choice to either have that super move be on the monster perspective or human perspective. And these fights need to be brutal and animalistic. Within the Monsterverse, there have hardcore bullrushes, decapitations by fire, impalement, disembowelment, cut in half with lasers, skulls stomped, and bodily explosions. These monsters, original and from Toho, have been fierce, nasty, and tenacious in their fights. It’s perhaps safe to say if other Toho monsters got the same usage in the Monsterverse, they would do the same. That element could add another layer to the game.
With all that perhaps, Netherrealm could be a good fit for this game. Going back to Injustice: Gods Among Us and reaching Mortal Kombat 1, the physical collisions are brutal and cinematic. They have set the bar of tenacity in video games. And it doesn’t matter if they use one of their characters or a guest character, they treat each of them with the most amount of love, passion, and respect. Netherrealm has a good track record of advancing the fighting game genre with new features and great characters. They deliver on what they say. They execute on what they want to do. Perhaps they add monsters in their line up of gods, ninjas, and superheroes? And a staple of Neatherrealm are of course the guest characters. This could be the gateway for Gamera, Gypsy Danger, Kong, and perhaps Zilla to enter a Godzilla fighting game. Neatherrealm has what it takes to develop and execute a perfect Godzilla game. And since the Monsterverse and Neatherrealm are owned by Warner Bros. this could be an easy match to make.
The stars are aligning to have another Godzilla game. He is too big of a character (pun intended) to just cameo or have a special event in a video game. He needs his own. One that is up to the standards of not only modern video games, but modern games period. The future of the character has never been brighter. Movies like Godzilla: Minus One and Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire being celebrated and praised by fans. He recently fought the most iconic superhero team, the Justice League in comic books. And recently, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters has been renewed for season two among more spinoffs. It’s perfect alignment to have another fighting game for the King of the Monsters.
