Launching alongside the SEGA Dreamcast in Japan in November '98, Godzilla Generations never saw the light of day in any other region. It was for good reason, though, as the game is so terrible even the biggest Godzilla fans will have trouble having fun with it for long. We played it anyway, though, for you as Day 42 of Eric Vs. 365. Watch gameplay and read all about Godzilla Generations in the full article.
Godzilla Generations is a game where your objective is simply to destroy everything in your path. You guide a kaiju - Heisei Godzilla, Godzilla '54, Mechagodzilla, '98 US Godzilla, and more) as they slowly trudge through cities and suburbs instantly exploding every building they touch. When you reach a required threshold of percentage of the map destroyed you can then end the level by wandering back out into the ocean from whence you came, just like in the old movies. The monsters all have various projectiles like Godzilla's atomic breath and GINO's ... whatever it is, and can bellow out their distinctive roars in order to regain health. While you're stomping around the JSDF is blasting away at you to stop you.
It kind of sounds fun on paper, but in reality Godzilla Generations is a slow grinding slog that loses its appeal pretty quickly. It is so very slow and shallow and ultimately pretty boring. Literally all you do is slowly walk around the 11 levels and destroy stuff. That's it. It's like the old Rampage games but even more shallow. You can't even control the camera as it is constantly automatically shifting to new angles to make the game look more cinematic. It's a mess.
At the same time, though, it almost gets things right. The music and monster roars are all taken from the movies and sound really good. Too bad the music is just short clips that loop endlessly. The camera is undoubtedly a problem that makes it much harder to play, but occasionally you'll get a perfect angle that matches up with the action and actually does look like a movie. The game also has a treasure trove of other Godzilla franchise goodies like video clips from 16 of the movies and a VMU game where you can unlock cute little chibi versions of dozens of monsters. In terms of pure Godzilla fanservice, Godzilla Generations is a treat.
Too bad it is such a chore to play. As a novelty for a Godzilla fan it's OK but it's hard to justify paying very much for it no matter how big of a fan you are.
