InfogramesIt’s been 70 years since director Ishirō Honda gave the world Godzilla, one of the most recognizable fictional characters of all time. The King of the Monsters needs no introduction, considering how often he reenters the public consciousness: there have been 33 Japanese Godzilla films, five theatrically released American movies, and countless appearances in comic books, video games, and even television shows. Not only has he built up his own terrifying pantheon of villainous creatures, but he’s also done battle with King Kong (twice) before teaming up with him in 2024, gone head-to-head with both the Avengers and the Justice League, and even survived critical and commercial lashings from Roland Emmerich’s disastrous 1998 American attempt at Big G.2026 in particular has been a great year for Godzilla, as fans are looking forward to the release of Godzilla Minus Zero, the sequel to 2023’s critically acclaimed Godzilla Minus One. Minus One took the classic monster back to his roots as an imposing allegory for the destruction caused by the atomic bomb, which came at a time when Legendary Pictures’ American Godzilla films opted for massive Saturday-morning cartoon carnage within an interconnected cinematic universe. Minus Zero looks like it’s sticking to the more serious, somber register of its predecessor, but for those craving the tokusatsu wrestling match thrills of the ‘60s and ‘70s films, there’s another piece of Godzilla media making a comeback to satisfy anyone who's ever wondered what it would be like to experience a true monster slugfest.Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee, a monster brawler originally released on GameCube back in 2002, just got a remastered version that hit consoles and PC on November 3. Developed by Pipeworks Software, Destroy All Monsters was the perfect weekend sleepover game, a chaotic free-for-all with multiplayer that supported up to four players, each taking control of a classic kaiju to wreak havoc on each other and a major metropolitan city. Like all fighting games, there’s a paper-thin story mode revolving around an alien race named the Vortaak who take control of the kaiju to invade Earth, but it mostly provides a pathway to unlocking the game’s ensemble of 12 playable monsters.Much like how the original film franchise moved away from the horrors of its nuclear allegory in favor of seismic monster-fighting spectacle, the main draw of Destroy All Monsters is its appropriately huge roster. Twelve characters might not seem like much compared to some other fighting game rosters, but the creatures make it worthwhile: you can play as Godzilla (either the ‘90s or Godzilla 2000 version), Rodan, Anguirus, Destoroyah, Gigan, Megalon, King Ghidorah, Mecha King Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla (the original or second incarnation), or Orga. Each has unique stats and abilities, which means there’s more depth to the combat than you might think, especially once you start interacting with the environment to turn the tide of battle. Destroy All Monsters Melee is the closest you’ll want to get to experiencing a real kaiju fight up close. | InfogramesGodzilla has succeeded for so long because his character works well in any tonal register. His films can be serious and foreboding, hokey and juvenile, action-packed and thrilling... there’s really no limit to what can be done. The back-to-back releases of Godzilla Minus Zero and Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered further prove how malleable and adaptable the King of the Monsters is. And how fun it is to smash buildings as a giant lizard-robot. Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, and PC.