Godzilla: Domination!

Atari Godzilla games
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Godzilla: Domination! NAEUJP Developer WayForward Technologies Publisher Atari Platforms Game Boy Advance Languages English, Japanese Genre Action, Fighting

Godzilla: Domination! (ゴジラ怪獣大乱闘アドバンス,   Gojira Kaijū Dairantō Adobansu, lit. "Godzilla Monster Melee Advance") is a 2002 video game developed by WayForward Technologies and published by Atari for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance. Marketed alongside Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee, Domination! is a fighting game as well but features a more limited roster of only six playable monsters.

Story

The mysterious Meteor X

Meteor X appears over Tokyo 2 and starts projecting magnetic waves which causes neurological damage to several monsters, causing them to go berserk. The monsters begin to attack Earth and its neighboring planets (led by Mecha-King Ghidorah). However, one monster remains unaffected by the waves, and it's up to this one to stop the others and destroy Meteor X.

Gameplay

• The eight-level Story Mode culminates in a fight against an enormous Mecha-King Ghidorah.
• Custom Mode allows play against up to three computer-controlled opponents. The player controls the monster selection, arena, difficulty level, and teams.
• In Versus Mode, 2-4 players can play against each other via Game Boy Advance Game Link Cable. The Single Pak option enables multiplayer battles with only one Godzilla: Domination! cartridge, though players can only use Godzilla.
• Six different monsters are available to play. Each character has a rating in Speed, Power, and Special.
• There are seven different arenas to play in: Tokyo 2, Glacier (2 variations), Nova (2 variations), Meteor Z, and Moon Base. Moon Base is notable for its lower gravity, allowing monsters to perform much higher jumps.
• Support for up to six different languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Japanese.
• The score after each level is determined by monsters defeated, structures destroyed, vehicles destroyed, health remaining, and time remaining. Losing a battle will significantly reduce it.

Characters

• Godzilla - The King of the Monsters himself. Godzilla is one of the slower characters and lacks range, but his attacks pack a punch.
  • Level 1 Rage: Godzilla fires his atomic breath towards the ground at a 45-degree angle. He cannot be damaged while performing this attack.
  • Level 2 Rage: Godzilla leaps into the air, curls into a ball and slams into his opponent.
  • Level 3 Rage: Godzilla activates his healing factor and regains health.
• Mechagodzilla - Godzilla's mechanical doppelganger. It is the slowest, yet most powerful playable character, with two exceptional special moves. In the North American and European versions of the game, Mechagodzilla bears its Heisei design, while it is replaced with Kiryu in the Japanese version. These differences are only cosmetic, however.
  • Level 1 Rage: Mechagodzilla deploys rocket launchers from its shoulders and fires a volley.
  • Level 2 Rage: Mechagodzilla leaps into the sky and off the screen, then lands onto the enemy with a powerful stomp.
  • Level 3 Rage: Mechagodzilla opens air vents to release steam. This damages nearby opponents and recovers health.
• King Ghidorah - Godzilla's arch-nemesis. None of his stats are particularly strong, although his R + B attack can be chained, allowing him to rain down an incredible amount of damage from the air.
  • Level 1 Rage: King Ghidorah fires from magnetic blasts from his mouth across the screen.
  • Level 2 Rage: King Ghidorah fires gravity bolts into the air.
  • Level 3 Rage: King Ghidorah leaps into the air, travels across the screen, and slams into his enemy. The A button must be pressed to perform the slam.
• Mothra - Goddess of Infant Island. Mothra has a huge variety of ranged attacks, but struggles to deal serious damage without her Level 3 Rage attack.
  • Level 1 Rage: Mothra shoots a larva from her mouth that will explode upon contact with an opponent or if she uses another Rage move.
  • Level 2 Rage: Mothra creates a cloud of toxic pollen in front of her that remains for several seconds. Can be used to trap enemies in a corner.
  • Level 3 Rage: Mothra fires lightning from her wings towards any targets below her.
• Megalon - God of the undersea kingdom of Seatopia. Megalon is relatively slow, but possesses several devastating attacks, including a lightning-fast B move.
  • Level 1 Rage: Megalon latches onto an opponent and steals some of their health.
  • Level 2 Rage: Megalon jumps into the air and fires energy blasts from his horn towards the ground.
  • Level 2 Rage: Megalon burrows underground, where he can move freely for a few seconds. If he surfaces under an opponent, which can be triggered at any time by pressing the A button, he will drive them into the air, landing repeated blows with his drills. A perfect hit can take away half of an enemy's health.
• Rodan - The giant monster of the sky. Rodan is the fastest monster in the game, yet possesses the least power.
  • Level 1 Rage: Rodan flies in a straight line across the sky, damaging any opponent he makes contact with.
  • Level 2 Rage: Rodan flies in a straight line across the stage, damaging any opponent he makes contact with.
  • Level 2 Rage: Rodan flies in a straight line across the stage. If he makes contact with an opponent, he will drive them into the air and peck them repeatedly. A perfect hit can take away half of an enemy's health.
• Mecha-King Ghidorah (unplayable) - Mecha-King Ghidorah is as tall as the screen and serves as the game's final boss in a special stage, Meteor X. He attacks with energy blasts, fireballs, and massive stomps which can only be avoided by jumping into the air. By striking his heads with an aerial attack, the player can temporarily paralyze him, allowing them to aim attacks at his chest. If the player is in range when he recovers, he will bite them and throw them into the air. Six hits are required to destroy the first head, eight hits for the second, and 16 for the third. The first two heads drop four Rage power-ups each when they explode. After eight hits land with one head remaining, Mecha-King Ghidorah will begin releasing six energy blasts at a time which are quite difficult to dodge.
• Connie Matsu - A reporter for the Godzilla Watch Newsroom, she appears on the main menu and narrates the story mode, reporting on the player monster's activities and their fate after defeating Mecha-King Ghidorah.

Regional differences

Any changes to monsters are cosmetic and do not affect or change their abilities or battle stats.

• Box art - Rather than reusing Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee's box art as in the U.S. version of the game, the Japanese box features new artwork of the game's roster of kaiju drawn in a super-deformed or chibi style. As the game was released around the same time as Godzilla: Tokyo SOS, the box art prominently features Godzilla, Mothra and Kiryu, with the other monsters in the background. A special edition of the game was sold in Japan which included semitransparent versions of the Godzilla, Mothra, and Kiryu finger puppets included in Bandai's King of the Monsters Club set.
• Title - The Japanese title is ゴジラ怪獣大乱闘アドバンス (Gojira: Kaijū Dairantō Adobansu), meaning "Godzilla Monster Melee Advance." This title is identical to the Japanese title for Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee, only with "Advance" added.
• Godzilla - Instead of the bright green color chosen for Godzilla in the U.S. version, the Japanese version is patterned after his design from Godzilla: Tokyo SOS, featuring grey skin and a large scar on his chest.
• Mechagodzilla - To capitalize on the upcoming release of Godzilla: Tokyo SOS, it was decided to replace the Heisei Mechagodzilla with the Millennium version of the character, Kiryu, for the Japanese version. Kiryu is specifically based on his Modified Type-3 Kiryu design, even featuring that version's drill hand.
• Mothra - Similar to what was done with Godzilla and Mechagodzilla, Mothra's appearance more closely reflects her design in Godzilla: Tokyo SOS, while in the U.S. version, Mothra is somewhat patterned after her 2001 design. The white coloring of Mothra's wings is changed to a light earthy green. Mothra's eyes change color from the deep purple to a light blue coloring for her in-game artwork to more accurately reflect her film appearances, although they still appear purple on her sprite. In addition, her poison powder attack is changed from the vibrant purple in the U.S. version to a light earthy blue.
• Player notation - All human-controlled characters in the Japanese version have a symbol above their heads, identifying the individual players (like "P1" or "P2").
• Story options - Considered to be the most "exciting" change in the game, the Japanese Story Mode has three modes of play: Default, Survival, and Rage. In Survival, the goal is to test one's endurance and longevity in battle (the player is stripped of continues and cannot refill their health). In Rage, each monsters' rage meter refills rapidly, allowing for each monster to utilize their unique special abilities frequently and in rapid succession. This gives players using Rodan and Megalon an incredible advantage, as the attacks they can perform with a full rage meter are by far the most damaging in the game.
• Stage order - The Japanese version juggled the order of the battle configuration quite a bit. Stage two is a one-on-one match (instead of two-on-one); stage three is two-on-two (instead of one-on-one); stage four is a three monster free-for-all (instead of two-on-two); stage five is a four monster free-for-all (instead of one-on-three); stage six is a one-on-three match (instead of one-on-one); and stage seven is a one-on-two match (instead of a four monster free-for-all). In addition, the bonus stages of the U.S. release were removed, greatly reducing the time it takes to reach Mecha-King Ghidorah, and enemy/ally monsters are completely chosen at random in the Japanese version.

Moves

Basic Attacks

• A Button = High attack
• B Button = Low attack

Aerial Attacks

• R + A Buttons = Midair high attack
• R + B Button = Midair low attack

Special Moves

• Hold A until flashing, release = Special move 1
• Hold B Button until flashing, release = Special move 2

Rage Attacks

• L + R Buttons
• R then A + B Buttons
• A + B Buttons

Each monster has an attack which consumes one, two, and three bars on their rage meter. There is no correlation between button combinations and the amount of bars the attack uses. For instance, Megalon's L + R attack depletes his entire rage meter, while Godzilla's only requires one bar.

Others

• L Button = Block
• R Button = Jump
• The A button can also be used to pick up and throw heavily-damaged buildings or stunned enemies.

Gallery

Main article: Godzilla: Domination!/Gallery.

Soundtrack

Main article: Godzilla: Domination!/Soundtrack.

Videos

Main article: Godzilla: Domination!/Videos.

Trivia

• With the exception of Megalon, Godzilla: Domination!'s roster of playable monsters is composed of all of Toho's "Big Five" kaiju: Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, King Ghidorah, and Mechagodzilla.
• This game's U.S. cover art is the same as that of Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee. The European cover art for this game likewise reuses the European box art for Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee, which features images of Gigan and Anguirus, neither of whom appear in Godzilla: Domination!.
• Rodan can emit a cloud of radioactive mist from his body in this game, an ability the character has never demonstrated before or since.
• The game's soundtrack was composed by notable video game composer Jake Kaufman, later known for his work in games such as Ducktales: Remastered, the Shantae series, Red Faction: Guerrilla, Contra 4, and Shovel Knight.

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