Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash
Score: 75% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Atari Developer: Santa Cruz Games Media: Cartridge/1 Players: 1 - 2 Genre: Fighting/ Action/ Themed
Graphics & Sound: Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash could be called Godzilla Unleashed: Final Fight. It's a side-scrolling, button-mashing game that pits Godzilla and the other monsters from the Godzilla universe against... more monsters from the Godzilla universe. The design style of the game is something like 2.5D, leaning more toward a bold, graphic 2D look. It's a shame that a true 2.5D perspective wasn't used to allow for more motion and depth in each level. The side-to-side motion gets old after a few levels. Background art and the various enemies that come at you are the only items of interest throughout the game. They are enough to maintain interest early into Godzilla Unleashed but they lose their luster over time. The monsters, including Godzilla, are shown as simplified, comic-book versions of their more realistic movie selves. This is a bonus for kids that might be a bit freaked out by more realism but it marks Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash as a game for younger gamers. The gameplay mostly supports this assumption. The sound of Godzilla's roar is distinctive. The other sounds from the classic movies are all faithfully translated to this portable game, which is excellent. The incidental visual and sound effects are done well, including the special attacks that these monsters can unleash on their enemies. Cut-scenes are shown between the major levels and don't look especially strong. Instead of using the graphic style of the game, the cut-scenes look like poorly drawn cartoons. The story being advanced from level-to-level doesn't make much sense, but that's in keeping with the source material, I suppose. The major impression you'll take from the game is that the developers succeeded in using the DS hardware effectively to portray Godzilla and his cohorts in a bright, graphic style that will appeal to younger gamers rather than freak them out. Parents will appreciate the bloodless gameplay and lack of destruction, unless you count destroying some sprites in the shape of planes and tanks as destruction.
Gameplay: The best thing to say about Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash is that it will fulfill the dreams of monster fans everywhere and offer some great play with a buddy. Picking faults with almost any game is easy, but let's focus first on what is done well here. The multiplayer action is where things are implemented best, with easy options to host or join a new game. Playing with only one card is pretty much the de facto option, although there is an available two-card mode for multiplayer. The difference between the two isn't clear other than the fact that at the end of the single-card play session, someone will take home the cartridge. Kind of ruins the fun for the other guy, eh? The split-screen play is well adapted to multiplayer, and the idea to install flying monsters on the top screen while ground monsters rule the bottom is inspired. The gameplay is smash, smash, smash. Each monster in multiplayer is expected to keep up his end of the bargain (Mothra may be a girl, actually... she did have those babies) and destroy as many enemies as possible. Various breaks in each stage on the way to a boss will require some timed button presses to unleash monster combos and destroy specific targets. At the end of a stage you'll battle a boss - very impressive to look at, but not very strategic. The oddest thing about Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash is that the bosses aren't unlockable for play at any point, even though they are drawn from the Godzilla universe. The other strange thing is that the box shows about 15-20 characters from the Godzilla universe, but only 10 are playable in the game. Talk about a bait-and-switch... The single-player game, in Story Mode, plays exactly like the multiplayer. This tips you off to the fact that Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash is much more fun and rewarding with two players. If you can have someone helping you, why not seize the opportunity? Trying to play both characters wouldn't work, so you end up controlling one and having about half as much fun. You can tag in a second character for no particular reason other than the fact that some monsters have an edge in boss battles. The distinction between the two Story Mode settings, Endurance and Survival, is pretty ephemeral. In both you try to defeat enemies and stay alive long enough to unlock a new character and reach the end of each stage. The timed button-press challenges are cute the first two or three times but get old after a while, especially once you realize that the combos aren't just a quicker way to destroy your target but the only way. Bosses usually have a similar one-sidedness about them and just require the right placement for your character or timing for your special attacks. If the battling and destruction is too much for you to handle and you need a break, there are some nice extras for your viewing pleasure. Listening to music from the game is fine, but looking at biographies of each monster is a definite perk for fans. This and the gallery of characters from the game that you can manipulate and view from different angles is a blast. Cheat codes have their own section filed under "Extras" as is the rage today.
Difficulty: A true challenge really isn't present other than odd quirks that prevent Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash from feeling like a complete game. It's not that the monsters lack an arsenal of moves to deal with oncoming enemies. It also isn't the case that controls are poorly implemented or awkward. The real problem is that the distribution of enemies and their actions on-screen is either too hard or too easy. A well-balanced game this is not. Enemies come in huge waves at times that are impossible to avoid. Trying is a waste of time so you develop strategies for jumping all over the place to avoid enemies. The jumping itself is fine as a strategic maneuver, but what loses its luster is finding that jumping on some enemies will destroy them while jumping on others just damages your monster. The monsters have some incredible stamina that makes it easy to wend your way through each level to reach the boss. In this way the game is fairly easy but the victory is hollow because the implementation of the battle system is so seemingly random. Timing attacks is important but it is so easy to do huge damage that true strategy is rarely needed outside of boss battles.
Game Mechanics: All buttons on the DS are used to full advantage in Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash. Most of the fighting action happens when you hit simple button combos. The touch-screen control that you'll use during battle is to tap the screen and launch a special attack. Attacks of similar power can also be initiated on the (X) button, so there's very little incentive to mess with the lower screen. With so much action happening across both screens there aren't special gestures or controls that tie into the touch function. It's a shame this wasn't leveraged more as a way to blow out special attacks or combos. The act of tapping the lower screen to launch a special combo is fine, and it even responds differently when two characters launch a combo like this simultaneously. The problem is that Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash doesn't really utilize much of the DS. This could be any smash-em-up fighting game on any platform, really. Taking into account the less-than-innovative gameplay and the average controls, Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash doesn't feel like a popular title. The irony is that is will have plenty of cool-appeal for kids. The graphics are nice enough to create some interest and may be more than enough for less discerning gamers to keep at it until all the characters and stages are unlocked. The fact that many of the monsters from the Godzilla universe aren't represented in the game means that some core fans will be let down. This is mostly a bogus complaint though, because many classics are here. Mothra, Battra, King Ghidorah, Anguirus, Gigan, and Megalon all make appearances to fight alongside Godzilla. It's confusing as to whether the monsters are good or bad in this game, but we hope they are good since we're controlling them... The end product is a confused and pretty shapeless tribute to a great license that just didn't get its day in court with this title. Steer clear of Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash unless you just have to have a Godzilla fix, and wait for something better to come along.
-Fridtjof, GameVortex Communications AKA Matt Paddock
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