I can barely contain my excitement for Guillermo del Toro's giant monster love letter film Pacific Rim. A lifelong Godzilla and Kaiju fan in general, this movie couldn't be a more perfect fit for me. It also helps that if current reviews are anything to go by, it might just be the most fun to be had at the movies this summer.
While there is a Pacific Rim video game coming down the pipe, it's quality is looking to be questionable. Luckily, there are plenty of other giant robot/monster games to get you in the mood for Friday's rocket punching madness and to satisfy your need for more Kaiju on Mecha action after you see the film and the credits roll.
RAMPAGE
One of the first and most well-known giant monster video games, Rampage and its many sequels are still fun to play today and constantly parodied. Climb buildings. Punch windows. Eat people. Crush military. Rack up huge scores. Simple, yet satisfying. Nobody likes that giant wolf guy though. He is lame.
KING OF THE MONSTERS
I recently bought a SNES copy of this game for a few bucks at a used game store. With a name like "King of the Monsters" my inner Kaiju fan couldn't resist. While the game definitely has giant monsters, I'm not sure it has much of anything else going for it. After playing for about 30 minutes I still couldn't figure out how to even properly play the darn thing. Rather than the monsters actually fighting, the game is more like a Monster pro-wrestling match. In order to defeat your opponent you must first knock them on the ground and then attempt to pin them - something I failed to understand how to do no matter how hard I tried. The cities that make up the monster battlegrounds are even sectioned off with laser beams that mimic elastic ropes, and can be used to bounce off and close-line opponents. Okay, that is something this game has going for it.
WAR OF THE MONSTERS
A first party fighting game published Sony Computer Entertainment of America and developed by Incgonito Entertainment, War of the Monsters is essentially a love letter to the giant monster B movies of the 1950s and 60s. Players can pick from a variety of six story tall monsters, from a King Kong and Godzilla look alike to giant robots or freakishly large insects then throwdown with other monsters in large open world battle arenas. Each monster has a great distinct look, and the music captured the cheesy B movie monster flick theme of the game perfectly. Presentation wise the game is top notch, but great gameplay doesn't hurt either. Big, free roam arenas with buildings that could be climbed and destroyed allowed for players to use the environment to their advantage. Diesel trucks became toss-able bombs, building debris could become a deadly spear. Throw in a few basic combos and a special attack for each monster and you have an excellent multiplayer brawler in the same vein of Super Smash Bros.
PRIMAL RAGE
The concept of Primal Rage is brilliantly simple. Take the popularity of Mortal Kombat, and replace ninjas with giant dinosaurs and apes that fight for control of a post-apocalyptic Earth. I'm sold. Primal Rage plays similar to many other 2D fighters at the time, with a variety of special moves, jump attacks and juggles at your disposal to dish out the pain. Staying true to its Mortal Kombat inspirations, the game also features some absolutely brutal (and bizarre) dinosaur fatalities. Really, that is worth the price of admission alone.
ROBOT ALCHEMIC DRIVE (RAD)
This is probably the most obscure game on this list, but it is also probably the closest you will get to a Pacific Rim, or giant robot in general, simulator. Robot Alchemic Drive (RAD) is a quirky Japanese title for the PS2 that somehow made it over to the states. The only reason I know about it is because I played it on a PS2 demo disc, where I fumbled with the controls for probably about 2 hours but refused to surrender. You see, I wasn't joking when I called RAD a simulator. You have to control each body part of the massive robot separately. FROM THE GROUND. You play as a little human, who has a remote-control he uses to pilot the robot. So not only do you have to struggle to make a giant robot walk, punch, and emerge victorious, you also have to avoid getting your puny human being squashed by debris or obliterated by a laser beam. It is extremely chaotic, difficult, stressful, and despite all that, immensely satisfying. If you are willing to spend an hour learning how to walk that is.
GODZILLA: DESTROY ALL MONSTERS MELEE
You knew a Godzilla game was going to make this list. There are plenty of them to choose from, ranging from good, to decent, to downright horrible (I'm looking at you Super Godzilla). While some find Godzilla: Save the Earth to be the superior Godzilla title in recent years, the first modern zilla game, originally a Gamecube exclusive, has to be my favorite. Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee has a title that is essentially ripped straight out of a classic Godzilla film, and the action it delivers is top notch. Similar to War of the Monsters, Melee is a multiplayer party brawler. It's not made to be taken seriously, and if you can realize that fact there is a lot of fun to be had. All of your favorite classic Godzilla monsters are here, each lumbering about recreations of iconic Earth cities. Entire buildings can be tossed at your enemies. Atomic breath will melt your foes. Power ups litter the battlefield, my personal favorite being the Mothra Air Strike. Yes, that is a power up. Yes, it is awesome.
There are still tons of other Mech/Kaiju games out there that I haven't listed, these are just a few I personally have enjoyed and played over the years. America sadly doesn't see much Kaiju/Mecha action, but now that a big name western director is resurrecting the genre, and with a reboot of Godzilla coming next year, we may slowly but surely see more great Kaiju fighters like these above. What are some of your favorite giant monster brawlers?