Godzilla: Save the Earth
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In every city on Earth, darkness will descend, enemies will rise, and the fate of the world is in your hands.
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„
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— Promo trailer |
Godzilla: Save the Earth (ゴジラ 怪獣大乱闘 地球最終決戦 Gojira Kaijū Dairantō: Chikyū Saishū Kessen, lit. Godzilla Monster Melee: Earth Final Battle) is a fighting game for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox developed by Pipeworks and published by Atari, and a sequel to the 2002 game Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee. The PlayStation 2 version was released in North America on November 2, 2004, in the PAL region on November 9, 2004[1], and in Japan on December 10, 2004. The Xbox version was released in North America on November 16, 2004 and in the PAL region on November 19, 2004.[2]
The game was followed by another sequel, Godzilla: Unleashed, in 2007.
Description
“
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The planet is under siege...protect it from complete destruction as Godzilla, the towering titan of our time! Roam the earth battling notorious mega-monsters, an alien invasion and ongoing military attacks. Take your mammoth size and rage online to smash sworn enemies in a crushing display of melee madness. This is monumental, city-trampling action that kicks serious tail.
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„
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Features
- Rampage as SpaceGodzilla, Mothra, Jet Jaguar, and 15 other famous monsters
- Dominate online, stomping opponents and cities
- Unlock and unleash hidden monsters
- Hurl skyscrapers (and enemies) to demolish skylines with authority
- Control the fate of Tokyo, San Francisco, New York and more
- Stomp through city-crushing slug-fests, multi-monster melees and wild challenges.
Technical specifications
PlayStation 2 version
- Media Type | DVD-ROM
- Sound Capabilities | Dolby Digital
- Number of Players: Offline | 1-4 players
- Number of Players: Multitap | 1-4 players
- Number of Players: Online | 4
- Miscellaneous Attributes | Analog Controller, Ethernet Compatible, Multi-Tap, Network Adaptor, Vibration
- Notes | Memory Card - 252 kB
Xbox version
- Video Modes Supported | Progressive Scan (480p)
- Sound Capabilities | Dolby Digital
- Input Devices Supported | Communicator Headset
- Number of Players: Offline | 1-4 players
- Number of Players: System Link | 2-4 players
- Miscellaneous Attributes | System Link, Xbox 360 Compatible
- Xbox/Windows Live | Friends, Online Multiplayer, Voice Chat
Ratings
PlayStation 2 version
- ESRB Rating: Teen (Descriptors: Game Experience May Change During Online Play, Violence)
- BBFC Rating: Unknown
- IFCO Rating: Unknown
- PEGI Rating: 7 (Content Indicator: Violence)
- VET/SFB Rating: Unknown
- CERO Rating: All Ages
- USK Rating: 6
- OFLC (Australia) Rating: G8+
- OFLC (New Zealand) Rating: Unknown
- ClassInd: Unknown
- FPB Rating: Unknown
- GRB: Unknown
- CCE (IGAC) Rating: Unknown
- COIAO Rating: Unknown
- ELSPA Rating: Unknown
- aDeSe Rating: Unknown
- Kijkwijzer Rating: Unknown
- SELL Rating: Unknown
- DJCTQ Rating: Unknown
- KMRB Rating: Unknown
Xbox version
- ESRB Rating: Teen (Descriptors: Game Experience May Change During Online Play, Violence)
- BBFC Rating: Unknown
- IFCO Rating: Unknown
- PEGI Rating: 7 (Content Indicator: Violence)
- VET/SFB Rating: Unknown
- CERO Rating: Unknown
- USK Rating: 6
- OFLC (Australia) Rating: G8+
- OFLC (New Zealand) Rating: Unknown
- ClassInd: Unknown
- FPB Rating: Unknown
- GRB: Unknown
- CCE (IGAC) Rating: Unknown
- COIAO Rating: Unknown
- ELSPA Rating: Unknown
- aDeSe Rating: Unknown
- Kijkwijzer Rating: Unknown
- SELL Rating: Unknown
- DJCTQ Rating: Unknown
- KMRB Rating: Unknown
Story
After failing to conquer the Earth, the Vortaak return to Earth two years later with all of the monsters under their control, along with their ultimate weapon, SpaceGodzilla. The player assumes the role of a monster who has broken free of the control, regardless of what monster is picked.
The original story during development was much more elaborate, involving the Vortaak infiltrating human society to steal G-cells.
Game modes
Action Mode
Action Mode is the game's primary story mode. The player selects a monster to play as, and must fight their way through various stages, each of which contains an enemy monster. The player will occasionally encounter Challenges Mode stages, which provide the player with bonus points if completed, but are not necessary to progress the story. Eventually the player will reach the final stage, the Vortaak Mothership, which typically features Orga as the final opponent.
If the player completes Action Mode on Hard difficulty, a cutscene showing SpaceGodzilla's shoulder crystals shattering in the middle of a canyon will be played. The shattered remnants then temporarily coalesce into a miniature black hole that sucks SpaceGodzilla in immediately before the black hole fades out. Godzilla roars victoriously and the Vortaak flee Earth.
The mode's selected difficulty determines the total number of stages in the story and affects certain challenge stages. There are 10 stages on Easy, 13 on Medium, and 15 on Hard. Notably, Mothra instead faces 12 stages on Medium and 14 on Hard. The affected challenge stages are as follows:
- Battleships - Earn 5,000 points on Easy, 10,000 points on Medium, and 15,000 points on Hard to successfully clear the stage
- Demolition - Earn 15,000 points on Easy, 20,000 points on Medium, and 25,000 points on Hard to successfully clear the stage
- Monster Roundup - Pens hold monsters for 120 seconds on Easy, 105 seconds on Medium, and 90 seconds on Hard
- Osaka Crunch - Destroy 70% of the city on Easy, 80% of the city on Medium, and 90% of the city on Hard to successfully clear the stage
The sole exceptions are Rodan's & Mothra's Demolition stages requiring 5,000 less points and Mechagodzilla 2's & SpaceGodzilla's Osaka Crunch stages requiring 10% less destruction.
Each monster in Action Mode faces a unique sequence of stages. The following list details the stages encountered on hard difficulty:
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Challenges Mode
Challenges Mode is a secondary game mode that consists of special stages where the player must complete some task. Unlike Action Mode stages, these stages are not all based on defeating the enemy monster, and may feature up to four different monsters at the same time. When playing through Action Mode, the player will occasionally enter a Challenges Mode stage, which after being completed will unlock it for play in the Challenges Mode menu. If the player successfully beats a Challenges Mode stage, they will earn points to spend at the in-game store. When these stages are encountered in Action Mode, the player will control whichever monster they are using for the rest of the mode, while if they are selected individually in the Challenges Mode menu, the player will automatically play as Godzilla 2000. The only exception is the "Asteroid Field" challenge, where the player plays as MOGUERA. This game mode is notable for featuring some monsters as bosses that are not themselves playable in the game, such as Ebirah, the Millennian and SpaceGodzilla's flying form.
The various challenges and their in-game descriptions are as follows:
- Asteroid Field - "As Moguera™, patrol the asteroid field and destroy as many Alien vehicles as possible. Then defeat the boss."
- Battleships - "Destroy battleships for points. Earn 5,000 points before time is up."
- Clone Attack - "Jet Jaguar™ has been cloned! Destroy him and his clone before they destroy you."
- Demolition - "Destroy the city. Earn 15,000 destruction points before the timer runs out."
- Monster Bowling - "Knock down all of the monsters by throwing rocks at them before the timer runs out."
- Monster Roundup - "Throw 3 monsters into the 3 separate pens before time is up."
- Mothership - "Defeat Orga™'s 3 stages and escape the Alien Mothership."
- Osaka Crunch - "Destroy 70% of the city before the timer runs out."
- Replicator - "Defeat Mecha-King Ghidorah™ and his clones."
- UFO Attack - "Destroy the U.F.O.s before they destroy the Pyramid Building."
- Undersea Battle - "Swim to the bottom of the ocean to find and destroy the Vortaak's hammer sub."
- Vorillium Basketball - "Make as many baskets as you can in 3 minutes. The monster with the most points wins."
Versus Mode
Versus Mode is a gameplay mode where the player can initiate a custom 1-on-1 battle as and against the monster of their choosing. The player will have access to all monsters and stages they have unlocked prior. The time limit and number of rounds for each battle can be customized. This mode can be played against the AI or a second player.
Melee Mode
Similar to Versus Mode, Melee Mode allows the player to set up custom battles using the monsters and stages of their choosing. However, Melee Mode gives the option of including up to four monsters. The player has the option to make the match a free-for-all or team battle, and can choose between making it be decided by knockout, combat points, or destruction points. The destruction option is similar to the "Destruction Mode" from Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee, where the player competes against the other monsters to score as many points as possible. Like Versus Mode, this mode can be played with one or two players.
Survival Mode
Survival Mode is a single-player, single-stage (of the player's choice) gameplay mode in which the player must defeat as many opponents as possible before their monster's health is completely diminished. Each opponent must be defeated within a three-minute time limit or the match is automatically over. The player's score is based on how many monsters in a row are beaten and how quickly they were defeated. The player monster's health bar is partially replenished after certain matches, but the amount of health received gradually decreases the further one progresses.
Each monster in Survival Mode faces its opponents in a different order and they are as follows:
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Purchase items
This menu allows the player to use store and spend points they have earned in the other game modes to purchase new playable monsters, stages for Versus and Melee Modes, gallery items, or stills and concept art for Godzilla Final Wars. This menu includes a variety of items bundled in packages with question mark icons that are found in green, yellow, and red colors. Purchasing a pack will award the player a single preselected character or stage and will give them the option to purchase others in the pack at an additional cost.
The items that can be purchased in this menu, as well the requirements and cost for buying them, are as follows:
Monsters
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Cities
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Gallery
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Godzilla Final Wars
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Gallery
The Gallery is a collection of concept art and production images for Godzilla: Save the Earth. Gallery items can be purchased from the in-game store using points earned from other game modes.
Godzilla Final Wars
Similar to the Gallery, this menu consists of concept art and stills from the then-upcoming Godzilla film Godzilla Final Wars. They can be purchased in the in-game store using points earned from other game modes.
Appearances
Monsters
Playable
Godzilla: Save the Earth features a total of 19 playable monsters; six that are available from the beginning and 13 that must be unlocked by purchasing Monster Packages.
The underlines denote unlockable monsters.
- Anguirus
- Baragon
- Destoroyah
- Gigan
- Godzilla 2000
- Godzilla 90's
- Jet Jaguar
- King Ghidorah
- Mecha-King Ghidorah
- Mechagodzilla 2
- Mechagodzilla 3
- Megaguirus
- Megalon
- MOGUERA 2
- Mothra
- Orga
- Rodan
- SpaceGodzilla
Mothra Larva
Alternate colors
Each playable monster has four alternate colors associated with them. These can be seen only in Melee Mode when multiple players select the same character. Player 1 will be colored blue, Player 2 will be colored green, Player 3 will colored orange, and Player 4 will be colored red.
Anguirus
Baragon
Destoroyah
Gigan
Godzilla 90's
Godzilla 2000
Jet Jaguar
King Ghidorah
Mechagodzilla 2
Mechagodzilla 3
Mecha-King Ghidorah
Megaguirus
Megalon
MOGUERA 2
Mothra Larva
Mothra
Orga
Rodan
SpaceGodzilla
Unplayable
- Battra (airstrike)
- Biollante (files are present in the game's code, but unobtainable in the base game)
- Ebirah (boss in the Challenges Mode rail shooter level "Undersea Battle")
- Meganula (Megaguirus' rage attack)
- Millennian (boss in the Challenges Mode level "Mothership")
- SpaceGodzilla (Flying Form) [boss in the Challenges Mode rail shooter level "Asteroid Field"]
Battra's Imago Form as an airstrike
SpaceGodzilla (Flying Form)
Unused
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[citation(s) needed] — This section is missing references. Please improve this section by including relevant citations. As a reader, exercise caution when encountering unsourced statements. |
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- Battra was to be made playable after the Super X3 was added, but ultimately ended up as an airstrike like the latter.[3] Battra became playable in the PS2 version of this game's sequel, Godzilla: Unleashed.
- Biollante was behind schedule, and as a result Atari was not able to get the license in time; despite being eventually completed and still being present in the game's code. Biollante is the only monster in any of the Atari/Pipeworks Godzilla games to be fully completed but scrapped from the finished game.[4][5] In 2014, hackers utilizing the PlayStation 2 emulator PCSX2 managed to access Biollante's data and render her playable. She was later included as a playable character in the Wii version of Godzilla: Unleashed.
- Star Falcon was planned to be included as an alternate mode for MOGUERA 2 to transform into. Although not playable, its model can still be accessed through hacking.[6] It is unknown if Land Moguera would have been featured as well, or how the vehicle would have been controlled.
- Godzilla 1954 was set to be a secret character but did not make the cut due to the presence of two other versions of Godzilla.[7] He was later included as a playable character in the Wii version of Godzilla: Unleashed.
- Hedorah was strongly considered but was not included due to the limitations of the consoles.[7][3]
- Showa Mechagodzilla was set to be a secret character but did not make the cut due to the presence of two other versions of Mechagodzilla.[7] Like many of the other unused fighters from Godzilla: Save the Earth, it was later included as a playable character in the Wii version of Godzilla: Unleashed.
- Rainbow Mothra is depicted on the game's box art, but this is likely just an art error. During an interview for Godzilla: Unleashed, Simon Strange mentioned that Rebirth of Mothra characters would not be allowed due to Toho considering it a separate series.[citation needed]
- Super Mechagodzilla was considered, according to Simon Strange.[3]
- Titanosaurus was included in some concept art for the game[8] and, at least according to Simon Strange, was considered to be a fighter.[7][4][9] He was later included as a playable character in the Wii version of Godzilla: Unleashed.
- Varan was not directly considered but, according to Simon Strange, he would have been "their next choice".[7] He later became playable in the Wii version of Godzilla: Unleashed.
Vehicles
- Battleships
- Helicopters
- Submarines
- Super X3 (airstrike)
- Tanks
Arenas
Fighting stages
Godzilla: Save the Earth features a total of 16 different fighting stages, including nine standard sized arenas and seven smaller, sub-arena variations. Most of the stages in the game have options for switching between day and night settings.
- Boston (with Fenway Park)
- Boston East
- Boxing Ring (nearly identical to the arena from the Xbox version of Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee, only with the Godzilla: Save the Earth logo this time)
- Los Angeles
- L.A. South
- Seattle
- Seattle North
- London
- London East
- Monster Island
- Monster Island Bay
- Mothership (does not have day or night settings)
- New York
- Manhattan
- Osaka
- Osaka North
- San Francisco (with AT&T Park)
- Tokyo
Challenges
- Asteroid Field ("Asteroid Field" MOGUERA 2 rail shooter)
- Ocean ("Undersea Battle" Godzilla 2000 rail shooter)
Boston
Boston East
Boxing Ring
London
London East
Los Angeles
L.A. South
Monster Island
Monster Island Bay
Mothership
New York
Manhattan
San Francisco
Golden Gate
Tokyo
Tokyo Bay
Scrapped
- An ice level set in Antarctica is shown in two pieces of concept art, the first one consisting of Titanosaurus and other monsters battling it out. The second one includes a description of gameplay in the level. It is a picture of Godzilla 2000 falling into an ice flow with Mechagodzilla 3 watching. It reads "Monsters can fall through ice flow hazards. They will re-emerge in the ocean section of the arena."
- Las Vegas is seen in concept art for the game. The art shows Godzilla 90's holding the Hard Rock Hotel's guitar, prepared to use it against Mecha-King Ghidorah.
- A Rodan Challenges Mode rail shooter level was seen only in concept art. It was to function similarly to the Godzilla 2000 and MOGUERA 2 ones, only this time being set in a desert.
- The Statue Level was briefly described in an interview and seen in concept art that would have involved fighting Destoroyah while trying to activate a statue of Jet Jaguar.
- A Mt. Fuji stage was planned to serve as the last arena for Story Mode, where the player would fight several monsters before a final showdown with SpaceGodzilla.
Miscellaneous scrapped elements
Many of the game's proposed elements were abandoned during production, due to a combination of time constraints and licensing issues. This was possibly due to Atari rushing the game in order to coincide with the release of Godzilla Final Wars in 2004. Biollante was scrapped prior to release despite being fully completed and the majority of the game's story was cut, including a boss fight with Ebirah, even though a considerable amount of time had been spent on it.[10] Simon Strange stated that it was not the "feel good" project that Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee was. There was originally going to be a robust tokens system, but it was eventually cut. Most of the cut scenes were deleted along with the story, and the special effects for Anguirus's roar were changed.[11]
Gallery
- Main article: Godzilla: Save the Earth/Gallery.
Videos
- Main article: Godzilla: Save the Earth/Videos.
Trivia
- The Japanese box art for this game features the designs for King Ghidorah and Mothra from Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, while the North American box art features Rainbow Mothra and Mecha-King Ghidorah with his organic heads resembling those of the Showa King Ghidorah. Within the game itself, King Ghidorah bears his design from Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, while Mothra is based on her appearance from Godzilla vs. Mothra.
- The monster bios in the Japanese manual for the game feature photographs from the films. While the majority of these photos reflect the designs for the monsters used within the game, Baragon is represented by a still from Frankenstein vs. Baragon while in the game he is patterned after his GMK incarnation, and Mothra's photograph shows Mothra carrying the larval Mothra Leo from Rebirth of Mothra despite her being patterned after her Godzilla vs. Mothra incarnation.
- These bios also spell the monsters' names in both Japanese and English. While these names are mostly identical to those used in the English version of the game, there are some exceptions. Godzilla 90's is called "Godzilla 90" in Japanese and just "Godzilla" in English, Mechagodzilla 3 is called "Mechagodzilla 3 (Kiryu)" in Japanese and just "Kiryu" in English, SpaceGodzilla is called "Spacegodzilla" in English, and MOGUERA's name is not represented as an acronym in either Japanese or English.
- Anguirus' roar originally had some sort of "shockwave" effect when it was used at full charge. The waves were not correctly drawn at all angles, so they were cut.
- Via backwards compatibility, the Xbox version of this game is playable on the Xbox 360.
External links
- Game manual for the North American Xbox version
- Game manual for the Japanese PlayStation 2 version
- Toho Kingdom archived news log of reports over the course of the game's development
- Toho Kingdom archived E3 videos
- Toho Kingdom interview between Chris Mirjahangir and Simon Strange
- WayBack Machine archive of the opening page for Godzilla.com "The Official Godzilla Website"
References
This is a list of references for Godzilla: Save the Earth. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
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