+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | #### #### ##### ###### ###### ## ## ## | | ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## #### | | ## ## ## ## ## # ## ## ## ## ## ## | | ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ###### | | #### #### ##### ###### ###### ###### ###### ## ## | | | | M O N S T E R O F M O N S T E R S | | | +-------------------------------------------------------------+ Version 1.0 (03-12-2001) A walkthrough for the NES game by Toho Written by Corvus (kanelocke@hotmail.com) CONTENTS 0.0 Walkthrough Overview and Legal Info 1.0 Game Overview 2.0 Player-Character Monsters 3.0 Enemy Monsters 4.0 Map Hexes 5.0 Planetary Battlefields 6.0 Battle Strategies 7.0 Miscellaneous Strategies 8.0 Password Tricks 9.0 Special Thanks +---------------------------------------------+ | | | 0.0 WALKTHROUGH OVERVIEW AND LEGAL INFO | | | +---------------------------------------------+ This document is technically more a "strategy guide" than a walkthrough. It details methods and tactics for successfully completing the NES game GODZILLA: MONSTER OF MONSTERS. Included herein are a general overview of the game, information on the player-character and enemy monsters, tactics for the various types of Hex spaces and planetary battlefields, strategies for fighting each individual enemy monster, miscellaneous information and a few trick password "codes". This document is not a challenge to Toho's copyrights in any area, either for the monsters and films mentioned herein or the game itself. This document is not for profit. This document may be reposted if it is not altered in any way. The author may be reached at kanelocke@hotmail.com for all comments and questions. This document is Copyright 2001 Corvus. This paragraph has too many sentences begining with "this". +-----------------------+ | | | 1.0 GAME OVERVIEW | | | +-----------------------+ GODZILLA: MONSTER OF MONSTERS combines strategy, side-scrolling action and fighting-game brawls into one 8-bit package of mortal kaiju ("monster" in Japanese) combat. The story is simple: the aliens of Planet X have declared war on the solar system and sent their pet monsters in to wreak havoc. Godzilla and Mothra, working together, charge forth to meet the enemy -- and pound them into pieces! The game consists of eight stages: Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Pluto (which swings closer to the sun than Neptune every so often; this is not a screwup on Toho's part), Neptune and the aliens' homeworld of Planet X. Each stage is constructed of Hexes, which contain various types of battle zones that Godzilla and Mothra must cross on their journey. Enemy ground and air forces as well as strange living creatures, bullet-spraying statues, erupting volcanoes and other oddities stand ready to blow the heroes to bits. Enemy monsters appear to stop the heroes, growing stronger and more numerous with each stage. Such kaiju include Hedorah the Smog Monster, Mecha-Godzilla and the dreaded Ghidora, the three-headed "Monster Zero". The true highlight of the game is the Battle Mode, in which Godzilla or Mothra goes one-on-one with an enemy monster, kind of like Street Fighter but weighing in at fifty thousand tons or more! The object of each stage is simple: reach the teleporter base on the other side and move on. To do so the hero monsters must bash their way through the alien forces and enemy monsters. It's not required to destroy all the enemies or explore every Hex, but true kaiju fans will take every opportunity to smack the other giants around! Each of your monsters has a Level. The higher your level, the greater your Life and Power bars will become. Life goes down when you get hit; Power drops when you use your Start-button "special attack". Gaining a level automatically refills your Life and Power bars. Power regenerates, more quickly with each Level, and is also available in rare capsules with a bunch of little legs. Life does not regenerate but is available in much more common capsules with two legs on the bottom. +-----------------------------------+ | | | 2.0 PLAYER-CHARACTER MONSTERS | | | +-----------------------------------+ Taking the part of the heroes, the player has two controllable characters, Godzilla and Mothra. GODZILLA The one, the only, Big G Himself -- Gojira. Everybody's favorite city-smashing, fire-breathing, radioactive reptilian terror takes center stage here, bashing his way through the solar system and a horde of other monsters. Big G has a range of attacks: quick claw-punches, slower but stronger kicks, a nasty tail-sweep and his infamous radiation breath. His speed and agility aren't nearly as great as his companion Mothra, but he doesn't need them -- Godzilla smashes his way through anything! Range: 2 Hexes Attacks: Punch (A button), Kick (B button), Tail Swing (Down + B), Fire Breath (Start) Power: Punch - Average; Kick - Strong Average; Tail Swing - Strong; Fire Breath - Incredibly Strong Speed: Average Agility: Average (capable of jumping tail sweeps, rather impressive for such a big fella, but not very good at dodging) MOTHRA Super Bug to the rescue! The adult Mothra teams up with Godzilla to sweep the solar system clean of the alien invaders. Both of her primary weapons make the transition from movie screen to game: a red laser-ball shot, and deadly poison powder from her wings. Mothra can move twice as far as any other monster in the game and her airborne nature makes it quite easy for her to fly over, under and around obstacles, but her firepower leaves much to be desired. Still, she's far from useless -- players who take the time to learn her tricks will find this megabug to be a very valuable team member. Range: 4 Hexes Attacks: Eye Laser (A or B buttons), Powder (Start button) Power: Eye Laser - Average; Wing Powder - Strong Average Speed: Fast Agility: High (Mothra's wings aren't counted as targets or solid objects, which means you only have to be concerned with maneuvering her small body. A very large plus.) +------------------------+ | | | 3.0 ENEMY MONSTERS | | | +------------------------+ Standing in your way are eight of Toho's other monsters, four of which originally appeared in the Godzilla series and four which have been brought in from other films. You can check an enemy's current number of full Life boxes by placing the cursor on it and pressing A. Enemy monsters move a maximum of two Hexes. The octuplet of monstrous foes is composed of: GEZORA A giant blue cuttlefish that's definitely more bark than bite. This critter appears in the film "Yog, Monster From Space". Gezora has no special weapons and his physical attacks are negligible. This poor kaiju punching bag comes at you on every single battlefield, starting with Earth. Try not to feel too much pity for the silly thing. MOGUERA A giant saw-backed war robot built by alien invaders in the film "The Mysterians", later reused in the "heisei" 1990's-era Godzilla films as a UN anti-Godzilla robot called "M.O.G.E.R.A." This version harkens back to the original Moguera robot. Moguera sprays a somewhat nasty fire-beam from his spiral beak, but has no physical attack. Like Gezora, it appears on every battlefield. VARAN Yet another non-Godzilla monster, this spiny purple biped first appears in "Varan the Unbelievable". He also puts in an appearance in the film "Destroy All Monsters", but his contributions aren't notable. Varan first shows his ugly mug on Mars. HEDORAH (The Smog Monster) Probably the most disgusting kaiju of all time, Hedorah reared its filthy head in "Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster". This giant sludge-born monstrosity appears in its final form in this game, an upright-standing blob with twin "feeler" arms. Hedorah's physical attacks are somewhat weak, but its continual spray of "toxic bombs" can wear your monsters down. Hedorah's first appearance makes Jupiter a really nasty place to be. BARAGON Still more non-Godzilla here. Baragon is a quadrupedal monster with floppy ears that was imported from the Gamera series. Baragon has also appeared in "Frankenstein Conquers the World", and made a guest appearance in "Destroy All Monsters". His horn and fire-breath (which he must stand up to utilize) are surprisingly formidable against unwary opponents. Baragon first stalks the domes of Saturn's battlefield. GIGAN This is where life gets painful. Gigan is a killer cyborg that first appeared in "Godzilla vs. Gigan"; he makes a comeback in "Godzilla vs. Megalon". Both movies make him out to be rather weak, but his true fighting potential is realized here. A red laser, nasty hooked claw-arms and the infamous saw-blade chest make Gigan a force to be reckoned with. Fitting that he first appears amid the subspace warps of Uranus. MECHA-GODZILLA Probably the most popular of Godzilla's foes and definitely one of his most dangerous. MG appears several times throughout both the "seisei" classic series, as the tool of alien invaders, and the "heisei" 90's era series, as the UN's first anti-Godzilla robot. Mecha-Godzilla is a towering metallic terror with a dazzling aray of weaponry; in this game he's limited to punches and kicks and a laser, but that's all he needs. Look out Pluto, here comes trouble! GHIDORA The ultimate foe. Also known as Ghidrah, King Ghidora and Monster Zero, this three-headed nightmare has destroyed entire worlds. In the "seisei" series it takes Godzilla, Rodan and the caterpillar-Mothra to turn back his first assault on Earth, and some very bad storytelling as well as Godzilla and Anguilas (who is sadly absent from this game) to defeat him when he teams up with Gigan. In the "heisei" movies Ghidora appears when time-travelling American villains (how's that for sociopolitical commentary?) attempt to alter Godzilla's origins; the resulting super-powerful Godzilla makes short work of our triple-headed friend, but Ghidora is turned into a cyborg in the future and sent back for one more try. The version here draws on the original Ghidora, but watch out: his lightning beams are incredibly powerful and quick to recharge, and his size limits his foes' movement options! Ghidora doesn't appear until Planet X, but that's a blessing. +-------------------+ | | | 4.0 MAP HEXES | | | +-------------------+ Each battlefield is constructed of various types of six-sides spaces, or Hexes. Each Hex features a certain type of terrain and enemy forces with their own unique characteristics. The type of symbol displayed in the Hex warns you of its content: Wilderness -- Rocks Volcano -- Volcano Jungle -- Green tentacle Domes -- Blue "bubble" Subspace -- Blue vortex City -- Gray buildings Teleport base -- Tower with "radar dish" The standard strategy for a Hex battle is simple: crush 'em. Smash, bash and trash everything in sight and grab the Life capsules as soon as you see them. Think like a kaiju. If it's in your way, destroy it. The enemy's two greatest weapons against you in Hex battles are knockback and the Flying Horseshoes Of Doom. Knockback is just what it sounds like -- your monster will be forced backward by a strike or explosion. Mothra suffers more than Godzilla in these cases -- not only is she forced backward, but downward as well. Her eye beams also cause knockback when they encounter some types of enemy lasers or bullets. The Flying Horseshoes Of Doom appear randomly. These enemy weapons can fly at you in any Hex type. You'll soon learn to recognize these nightmares -- they look like vertical crescents of red-orange fire propelled by two jets. They approach from the right edge of the screen and swoop up and down, following your movements. If they hit, they drive you back to the edge of the screen, searing away your life the entire way. Even at high levels, if you get hit by one close to the right-hand side of the screen, you could very well be killed! To deal with these things, back up and jump or fly high. When the Horseshoe flies up to strike, duck under it and move beyond it as quickly as you can. Watch out for knockback; if you get driven back into the horseshoe it drags you along and ruins your day. Godzilla *can* destroy the Horseshoes with his breath... but it's a tricky proposition requiring a good shot and nerves of steel (or brains of Jell-o, one of the two). WILDERNESS These Hexes resemble the surface of the Moon, at least in the background. The landscape is littered with stone piles that you must destroy or fly over, along with armored vehicles trying to cramp your style. Flying targets include "wedgies" launched in pairs from hatches in background rock formations. The wedgies are easy to destroy with a claw or eye beam shot, but the hatches cycle open and closed, which can be annoying. Enemy space-jets appear either singly or in formations of four. They don't do much damage but they are, again, annoying. The alien space fleet bombards you from above, outside of harm's reach (the cowards). Enemy armor includes one-shot missile launchers, laser tanks and standing dishes that fire knockback-capable lightning bolts. Launchers and laser tanks fall easily. Breath, powder and tail sweeps or several good kicks will take out the standing dishes. The primary obstacles here are the stone piles. The piles have two sections, top and bottom; occasionally one will appear without the other, but the usual is for both to appear together. Most times more than one pile will stand in your way. Powder and breath work best, but Godzilla's tail-swing is capable of pulverizing a section of a pile in one hit. Godzilla is in his element here, bashing through the enemy armed forces with nary a blink. Sweep away the rocks, kick and claw everything in your path and keep moving. Mothra shouldn't have much trouble either. Fly high and powder away formations of jets and wedgies. Don't concern yourself with stone piles unless you get forced behind them by knockback or you're feeling destructive. The screen can get pretty full of flying enemies and bullets at some points, so watch out. VOLCANO Slightly more annoying than the Wilderness Hexes, these Hexes put volcanoes, lava flows, creatures of living flame and flying saucers in your way. Life capsules are abundant, however, so these Hexes pose little true threat. Mobile flying targets include fire pinwheels which often appear in large formations, rings of flame and bullet-spitting UFOs. Large balls of fire hanging in midair turn into stationary phoenixes which breathe slow firebolts. These are especially thick in the "gray" type Volcano Hexes. Dragon-snakes rise out of rock protrusions; their fire-breath is homing, but slow. The target on these serpents is the head. Natural obstacles include volcanoes which erupt in showers of small lava balls and lava-columns which rise and fall. For the volcanoes, the target is the crater; attacking the glowing the top of the columns will shut them down. Godzilla should just stomp his way through, blasting everything in sight. Normal attacks should suffice for most enemies, though flame breath is good against the phoenixes if you don't feel like closing in to use your claws. Mothra has the advantage of being able to fly high, putting her at eye-level with the volcanoes and dragon-snakes. Her powder is very effective against the pinwheel formations and lava columns and the flying enemies will usually fall to a single eye laser shot. JUNGLE Not exactly a jungle, more of an overgrown garden from Hell, but still a wild time. Your foes include a host of biological... things, as well as -- get this -- tanks. Probably the most out-of-place targets in the entire game, these typical army tanks don't pose much of a threat. In addition to the tanks your targets include laser-dropping asparagus-like columns and rising and falling "somethings" (this Hex's version of the Volcano's lava columns) that look faintly obscene, both of which must be struck near the top, stone columns in four different sizes (tall, medium, small and none) with bullet-shooting faces that must be destroyed, and spores growing out of the "hedge row" in the background. Growing out of the ground itself are bulges that occasionally sprout tentacles and shoot at you. The enemy space fleet will harrass you from above, and small bird-like creatures will fly at you with little effect. Some Jungle Hexes feature floating spore-droppers and large blocks with bullet-spitting orifices. These aren't really any more dangerous than the other enemies, they just add to the mayhem. Godzilla shouldn't have a problem here. Kick the tanks, smash the columns of various types, and just keep moving forward. Mothra has the advantage of being able to pick her angle of attack here. Powder the ground targets and "something" columns, and blast apart the stone faces, spores and "asparagus". No problem. Mothra's eye laser is oddly reactive with the beams from the "asparagus columns", causing knockback when they touch, so be careful. DOMES These hexes resemble a combination of futuristic city and ruins. Domed buildings make up the primary background features, and UFO's rise from behind hatches. The primary obstacles here are towers and floating domes. Some fire lasers with knockback power, and others sprout spinning blades. The "buildings", large structures often topped with domes, also feature "power strips" that can be destroyed with a swift claw, kick, tail or eyebeam to release Life capsules. If it looks suspicious, take a swat at it. Flying enemies include the standard annoying bombardment from above and the previously-mentioned UFOs. With the number of Life capsules available these shouldn't be much of a problem. Godzilla's best weapon against the domes is, of course, his breath, but if his Power is still charging, use your claws against the laser domes, and try a jumping tail swing (at the top of a jump, execute a tail swing -- practice a few times, it's not too difficult) on the blade domes. Godzilla cannot touch the blade domes with his claws, so be careful. Mothra's got it pretty easy against everything but the laser domes. Once again her eye blasts seem to have some sort of explosive reaction with the lasers from these structures, knocking her back and down. Just keep pecking away, but don't try to fly under or you'll get shot in the head and pushed back. SUBSPACE Probably the most useful hexes in the entire game, Subspace Hexes come in three distinct types -- tentacle-jungles full of strange plasmic creatures, giant fungus "brains", and alien space cruisers. The most common type of Subspace Hex is the tentacle-jungle. The backdrop is a repeating pattern of strange formations resembling outlines of mutated octopi. The most common things found here are the purple and flaming plasmic creatures that, when destroyed, yield Life and Power capsules, respectively. The plasmics do not harm you. Occasionally appearing in these Hexes are strange floating "stars" that fly across the screen in a vain attempt to stop you, with very little real effect. The second most common Subspace Hex is the "brain". There is no backdrop here, only a reddish-purple ground. As you advance a large mass will come into view. This is your target, the "brain" itself. It will spawn small creatures that will attack and often yield Life capsules when destroyed. As you continue your assault the "brain" will change color and will begin spitting spiral patterns of fireballs; these fireballs have knockback potential, which can make things a bit annoying. Occasionally a brain will begin spawning Flying Horseshoes of Doom, which can change a leisurely romp into a real nightmare if you aren't careful. Eventually the brain will die and yield a nice number of points. The final Subspace Hex type is the enemy ship, which appears on a featureless gold-colored ground with no backdrop. This is the only time you will have a chance to get revenge on the space fleet that has been bombarding you from above, so make the best of it. The obvious targets on the ship are the weapons, but other hidden areas are also vulnerable to attack. Keep punching and shooting to find them -- they're located near the nose of the ship and on the hull under the control tower. The cannon atop the ship's control tower is capable of launching Horseshoes, so take it out as fast as you can. Once you've inflicted enough damage on the ship it will explode and disappear. Godzilla will have no difficulty whatsoever with any of the three Hex types. Plasmics are the best, most reliable source of Life capsules in the game, and Big G can take out swarms of them with no thought at all. "Brains" will easily fall to his breath and rapid claw strikes, and the space ships are only dangerous if the tower cannon launches Flying Horseshoes. Mothra will also have no difficulty with the plasmic stages. She can fly over most of the stars, if present, and powder the plasmics for Life and Power capsules. The "brains" are slightly problematic, but healthy doses of powder and persistent eye laser attacks can take them out; Mothra also has a bit of an advantage when the fireballs start flying, and even more of an advantage if the "brain" launches a Horseshoe. She's at a disadvantage against the ship, but if you take out the front and tower weapons first, work on the bow of the ship, then move forward to finish off the rest you should be just fine. CITY Probably the most difficult Hex type because of the sheer concentration of enemy firepower. The City Hex is actually more like an enemy fortress, with bullet-sprayers, lightning-bolt casters, missile launchers, barriers and a host of flying defenders. The air is usually thick with bullets and missiles, and the untouchable ships above really lay it on. Flying targets include the Super-X, which comes down to your level in this Hex, and missile-like jets. The danger comes more from their numbers than their firepower. As usual, watch out for the Horseshoes of Death. The most common -- and most annoying -- stationary defense here is the bullet-sprayer. When its hatch is closed it is invulnerable, even to Godzilla's flame-breath, and when the hatch opens a spread of bullets flies out. The sprayers are located at claw-level for Big G, so a couple quick swipes will take them out Only slightly less annoying are the lightning-casters, glowing orbs located at claw-level. The lightning bolts knock you back as well as do damage, which can make them hard to approach. The triple missile launghers which emerge from sliding hatches are sometimes hard to strike in the right place, but they don't do as much damage as the others. Barrier walls will also emerge to block your progress; kick them down or fly over them. Once in a while small three-barreled laser cannons will also appear. Occasionally a bullet-sprayer and a lightning-caster will appear together, linked by a power conduit. Destroy the bullet-sprayer and the caster will be destroyed as well in a chain-reaction explosion. Godzilla's got a bit of a time in store for him here. Most of the defenses seem designed around stopping him -- knockback weapons and barriers can give Big G fits. The key here is to power through and grab Life capsules when they appear. Don't be picky about your targets, and if something is being a pain, blast it with your flame breath. Mothra has a bit of an easier time, but she still has to watch out. The bullet-sprayers fire in arcs that can easily strike her, and the flying missile-like enemies can drive her backward. She can fly over the barriers, but oftentimes will be knocked back behind them. Powder is a great thing for taking out the barriers, sprayers, launchers and lightning-casters. Keep moving forward. TELEPORT BASE Each field has one special Hex, from which you can move to the next field. Your monsters must pass through this Hex's defenses before teleporting. In all other respects the Teleport Base is a City Hex. +--------------------------+ | | | 5.0 PLANETARY FIELDS | | | +--------------------------+ This section gives a general overview of each battlefield, detailing its Hex makeup and the enemy kaiju you must face. EARTH The first battlefield is primarily constructed of Wilderness Hexes. Two Volcano, two Jungle and three Subspace Hexes are also present, as well as the Teleport Base at the bottom right with its standard two accompanying City Hexes. There is one blank "hole" in the center of the field. Gezora and Moguera appear here to try to keep you from reaching the Teleport Base. Godzilla can make short work of them both; move him out in front, then wait for them to come to you. Take advantage of the Subspace Hexes for Mothra's advancement. Gezora Life: 4.0 Moguera Life: 8.0 MARS Battlefield two is constructed mostly of Volcano Hexes, with seven Subspace Hexes and the Base/City trio on the far right. Godzilla and Mothra are placed behind a large "hole" which they must move around to face Gezora, Moguera and Varan. The Volcano Hexes get more difficult near the Base, with an abundance of the dangerous "gray-type". After defeating Gezora and Moguera again and whooping on Varan, however, your monsters should be at sufficient levels to blast their way through this obstacle. Gezora Life: 6.0 Moguera Life: 9.0 Varan Life: 12.0 JUPITER Welcome to the Jungle! This board is primarily constructed of Jungle Hexes, with two Wilderness and two Subspace Hexes. The Base on the far right is guarded by five City Hexes, and this field marks the first appearance of Domes -- four of them. Gezora, Moguera and Varan are joined by Hedorah (yuck!) here. Godzilla and Mothra appear on the far left (again), on a small "peninsula" joined to the main field with a narrow isthmus. Let the enemy come to you and pick your targets as they cross this strip. Gezora Life: 7.0 Moguera Life: 10.0 Varan Life: 13.0 Hedorah Life: 15.0 SATURN Primarily constructed of Domes, Saturn's field also features two large sections of Wilderness and a wedge three Subspace Hexes. The Teleport Base is guarded by four City Hexes, and a large gap separates the area in which Godzilla and Mothra appear on the left from the peninsula on the right where the Base lies. This field is defended by Gezora, Moguera, Varan, Hedorah and Baragon in his first appearance. Gezora Life: 8.0 Moguera Life: 11.0 Varan Life: 14.0 Hedorah Life: 16.0 Baragon Life: 14.0 URANUS This is the smallest of all the battlefields. On this cramped hexagon constructed almost entirely of Subspace Hexes, Godzilla and Mothra must take down Gezora, Moguera, Varan, Hedorah, Baragon and the newly-arrived Gigan in their effort to get from the bottom of the field to the Base at the top. A hole in the center of the field makes tactical movement quite interesting. Gezora Life: 9.0 Moguera Life: 12.0 Varan Life: 15.0 Hedorah Life: 17.0 Baragon Life: 15.0 Gigan Life: 17.0 PLUTO Large gaps in the field make this a tactical mess. Godzilla and Mothra appear on the left and must battle their way through a field constructed of a near-even mix of all Hex types on their way to the Base. The Base lies on a peninsula near the center of the board that can only be reached from the right-hand side. Two narrow bridges join the left and right halves of the field. Mecha-Godzilla arrives to join Gezora, Moguera, Varan, Hedorah, Baragon and Gigan. Gezora Life: 11.0 Moguera Life: 13.0 Varan Life: 16.0 Hedorah Life: 18.0 Baragon Life: 16.0 Gigan Life: 18.0 Mecha-Godzilla Life: 21.0 NEPTUNE Perhaps this planet's battlefield should have been called "PLANET PAIN". The same seven kaiju from Pluto's field reappear to harrass Godzilla and Mothra as they wade through a battle zone constructed entirely of City Hexes. There are only two holes, allowing the enemy free movement to close in on the heroes, who are split up at the start -- Godzilla in the top left corner, and Mothra in the bottom left. The Base is on the far right. Gezora Life: 12.0 Moguera Life: 14.0 Varan Life: 17.0 Hedorah Life: 19.0 Baragon Life: 17.0 Gigan Life: 19.0 Mecha-Godzilla Life: 22.0 PLANET X The final battlefield. This field is a single row of Hexes, alternating two, then one, then two. Each segment of two Hexes is made of City Hexes, and the single Hexes in between are representatives of the other types. Godzilla and Mothra appear on the far right, and the eight enemy kaiju -- Gezora, Moguera, Varan, Hedorah, Baragon, Gigan, Mecha-Godzilla and Ghidora -- are grouped on the far right. Gezora Life: 13.0 Moguera Life: 15.0 Varan Life: 18.0 Hedorah Life: 20.0 Baragon Life: 18.0 Gigan Life: 20.0 Mecha-Godzilla Life: 23.0 Ghidora Life: 23.0 +---------------------------+ | | | 6.0 BATTLE STRATEGIES | | | +---------------------------+ The following sections detail methods for pounding your opponents into kaiju pulp. A general overview of each monster's fighting tactics is given, followed by specific tips for using Godzilla and Mothra against it. A special note: continually pounding on an enemy monster might cause it to retreat, removing it from the current battlefield. For example, after three clashes in a row with Mothra in which the giant insect tore its life from 15 to 2 without taking a single hit in return, Hedorah retreated from Jupiter to lick its wounds (a disgusting prospect) and returned at full strength on Saturn. GEZORA Remember what I said about pity? This poor pathetic excuse for a monster barely does any damage whatsoever. He looks sort of neat, jumping around on those tentacles of his, and he can pin you in a corner making you waste valuable time, but he's hardly dangerous. - Godzilla: Shoot first, ask no questions. Come in breathing flame, and smack Gezora around until your Power recharges. Repeat. Seafood in seconds. - Mothra: This is a bit more problematic. Gezora likes to close on Mothra and pin her in the lower left-hand corner. Shoot as much as you can, and if possible fly high and dump powder on Gezora's head. Try spraying powder and backing up to lead Gezora into it. MOGUERA Come on, the Japanese Self-Defense Forces beat this one. It should be no problem for a couple of experienced fighters. The repeated heat-beam blasts are annoying, whittling away at your Life and driving you back, but it's nothing that can't be overcome. - Godzilla: Moguera likes to fry your snout when you close in. If you don't mind, use the standard "Flame-and-smack" tactic described in the Gezora section. If you do mind, use tail sweeps, but make sure your tail is connecting -- if you're too close your tail "misses" and does no damage. - Mothra: Mothra can dodge the heat-beam rather easily, but she gets driven back farther when she does get hit. Luckily Moguera's not very aggressive or intelligent. Try coming in right at his feet and blowing his legs off piece by piece. Alternately, try the "powder-and-lure" strategy. VARAN Hardly a step up from the previous two, Varan is slightly more aggressive, making repeated claw attacks. If you keep up your assault on this purple people eater you'll see something funny: he'll throw his head back and scream in pain, and occasionally rear back and fling one arm out, one foot hanging in the air, and his head all the way back with a comic "pain!" indicator over him. Rather amusing. - Godzilla: Don't be afraid to mix it up. Your breath is always nice, but physical abuse also works wonders on Varan. He wants to box; show him how it's done. - Mothra: Sit back and pick Varan to pieces, come in low and make his knees and ankles regret your birth, or lure him into powder sprays. HEDORAH Ew. Yuck. Ick. Gross! If you're not afraid to close in on this horror, you're in for a nasty time. Hedorah reaches out and touches someone -- like you -- with its long, branching "arms" and throws out a continuous arcing barrage of toxic smog-sludge bombs. On an interesting side-note, Hedorah's smog bombs are dark gray when facing Mothra, but white with red and blue highlights when fighting Godzilla. - Godzilla: Big G's at a disadvantage here. His size makes him vulnerable to Hedorah's physical attack and the smog bombs are hard to avoid. Keep the Smog Monster pinned down with fire breath and don't let him drive you back. Don't be afraid to take some damage; trying to dodge will only get you hurt more. - Mothra: This is where the big bug's strengths begin to come into play. Come in as low as you can and you'll get under Hedorah's "arms". Close in as much as possible without touching this disgusting blob and you'll be inside the arc of the smog bombs. Keep shooting until it dies! BARAGON More aggressive than Varan, making leaping horn attacks, and sporting a heat beam much like Moguera's (heck, they even have the same battle theme), Baragon can be quite the annoyance, especially if he starts wearing you down for another enemy monster. His four-legged stance limits your movement options, since Mothra's not permitted to fly directly over enemies, and when he stands up there's a heat beam coming your way! Every so often Baragon turns his head from side to side, then looks out of the screen at you with his head tilted and a quizzical expression on his face, as if to ask you what he's doing there. More humor from Toho :) - Godzilla: Time to play "Kick the Puppy!" Kicks and tail sweeps are your most effective attack modes. Punch Baragon in the snout when he stands up. Dodge? What's that? Fire beams are going to hit you. So just pour it on. - Mothra: This is a bad time for the giant moth. You have to get down and dirty to hit this one with your eye beam and when you do, Baragon will pounce. Baragon's heat beam will send Mothra reeling. Pick away at him and use his aggressive nature against him with the "powder-lure" strategy. GIGAN Oh, pain, pain and more pain. Member three the Terrible Trio that makes life as a heroic defender of the solar system such a chore, Gigan will come at you with his massive hooks, burn you with his eye laser and make julienne fries out of you with his saw-blade chest. He'll try to pin you in the corner; sometimes you can hold him back, but many times he'll succeed and your Life bar will start to drop. Fast. Even more humor from Toho -- hit Gigan in the *ahem* area and watch him wince! Note that this "low blow" does no Life damage, though. - Godzilla: Hit him hard, hit him repeatedly, and if you value your reptilian existance don't let up. Flame Gigan as much as you can, punch him in the head over and over and occasionally make his world tilt with a well-placed kick or tail-swipe. - Mothra: You've got a bit of room here, "little" lady. Gigan seems somewhat less physically aggressive against Mothra, not closing in as much even with his saw fully extended. Of course he just picks up the pace with his eye-beam... Dodge and strike, powder Gigan's nose, and hold him off for Big G to deal with. MECHA-GODZILLA Terrible Trio member number two. A beam just like Gigan's and killer physical strikes make MG just plain scary. Highly aggressive but prone to frustration, MG has a weakness that can be exploited by a certain insect... - Godzilla: Same strategy as Gigan. Flame as often as you can and don't stop striking. Mecha-Godzilla isn't going to let up on you if you give him half a chance. Best to let Mothra handle this one. Stop laughing, it's the truth, and here's why... - Mothra: So easy it's not even funny. Position Mothra so that the red spot on her wings is in line with the "A" in "Mecha" on the top section of the screen, and level her eyes on the spot where Mecha-Godzilla's neck and chest meet. Start shooting and don't stop. MG's laser will fly over your head or past your mandibles, missing you completely, and the giant robot won't be able to close on you. If the beam does hit you, fly back up and adjust your position slightly. You'll get the "sweet spot" down soon enough. Congratulations Mothra, this is your shining moment of glory. GHIDORA The final, greatest challenge, El Numero Uno member of the Terrible Trio. Ghidora's three heads will maul anything they get near, his lightning beams will char his enemies and his physical bulk can shove anything around. Ghidora's Life bar covers the width of the screen, which makes this a very long fight, and so does his Power bar, which means his supply of lightning never runs out. - Godzilla: Go for it, Big G. Unload with everything you have. Flame as much as possible, smack Ghidora in the heads with your claws like you've gone insane, and keep up the pressure. Ghidora will shove you back and pin you, gnawing away at your life, but if you continually strike you should wear the three-headed ugly down. - Mothra: Mothra is woefully inadequate for this battle and should not attempt to take on Ghidora unless Godzilla is defeated. Blast, blast and blast again, powder as much as possible, and pray. +----------------------------------+ | | | 7.0 MISCELLANEOUS STRATEGIES | | | +----------------------------------+ A few helpful general tricks. - Make the enemy come to you. Move forward to a defensible position and wait, especially if enemies who can easily defeat Mothra are present. Let them come to you. - Godzilla is your primary monster-killer, with five monsters on his hit list as opposed to Mothra's three; have him take out such nuisances as Varan, Baragon and Moguera and let Mothra handle Hedorah, Gigan and Mecha-Godzilla. Gezora is easy prey for either of your monsters, but Godzilla can make much shorter work of him. Ghidora has a big "I Eat Bugs" sign around one of his necks; keep that in mind. - In some of your later battles, as the enemy monsters get longer life bars, you will run out of time. Against Gezora, Moguera, Varan, and Baragon, press the attack immediately. Against Hedorah, Gigan and Mecha-Godzilla, press the attack unless you have a Hex nearby that you know has a lot of life capsules for you to recharge. Against Ghidora, never press; he doesn't move, making it easy for you to get away if you survive an encounter with him. Always back away, recharge your life, come back in and refuse to attack him. Make Ghidora use his turn to attack you. If he still isn't dead, back off again. Keep repeating this until you win. - For normal Hexes, smash your way through, causing as much havoc and destruction as you can. Blow up EVERYTHING. More points means higher levels, and more Life and Power capsules will emerge for you to collect. - BEWARE THE FLYING HORSESHOES OF DOOM! These are by far the deadliest opponent in the entire game, even more so than Ghidora himself. If you're using NESticle and a ROM, pause as soon as you see one and save your state by pressing F5. If you make a mistake, try again. You'll be happier than ever for the State Save. If you're playing the actual NES cart, good luck -- you're gonna need it! - Subspace Hexes are your friends! These Hexes are full of Life an Power capsules. The Hexes with the giant "brains" are great sources for points and possible levels. - Go sightseeing. Take a cruise around the board for more points to boost your monsters' levels once you've eliminated the enemy kaiju. - Stand and fight! Enemy monsters are the single greatest source of points and levels. Don't bother moving from a battlefield until you've mopped up all your opponents. +-------------------------+ | | | 8.0 PASSWORD TRICKS | | | +-------------------------+ The following are special passwords that can be entered on the "PASS WORD GAME" screen. In all cases the figure 0 is a zero and the figure 1 is a one, which are used for "o" and "i" respectively; there are no capital letters "O" or "I" in the password entry matrix. A space is represented with the Blank in the password entry matrix. The GH1D0RA and planet name codes were found at the following URL and are credited to andrewsaur@aol.com and gfisher1@aol.com: http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Palace/6242/godzilla1.html The page is no longer being maintained but it's still an entertaining glance at the game, and the only other existing walkthrough/FAQ that I'm aware of. M0NSTER 0 Just what it says: a showdown against Monster Zero himself. This rumble takes place on the Earth battlefield. Shouldn't be too difficult for Godzilla and Mothra; after all, they've done this before, and the adult Mothra makes up for the lack of Rodan's presence. There's only one tiny, tiny problem -- Ghidora's Life starts at 23, and you're only Level 1! Take advantage of the closest Subspace Hex -- it has a "brain" you can trash over and over to raise your levels. If you can get past Ghidora Godzilla Starting Level: 1 Mothra Starting Level: 1 Ghodora Starting Life: 23.0 DESTR0Y ALL M0NSTERS The ultimate challenge. Godzilla and Mothra must face all eight of their kaiju opponents on the Earth battlefield, and they're both at a severe level deficit! Can you take the heat? Godzilla Starting Level: 8 Mothra Starting Level: 8 Gezora Life: 13.0 Moguera Life: 15.0 Varan Life: 18.0 Hedorah Life: 20.0 Baragon Life: 18.0 Gigan Life: 20.0 Mecha-Godzilla Life: 23.0 Ghidora Life: 23.0 Once you defeat Ghidora, you may progress through the game as normal. START T0 END This code takes you right to the game's ending sequence. But where's the fun in that? MAR, JUP, SAT, URA, PLU, NEP Each of these three letter codes will start you on the corresponding planetary battlefield (Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Pluto, Neptune) with Godzilla and Mothra both at Level 1 (!). There might be a code for Planet X. GH1D0RA This bizarre little gem transports you to... deep space, perhaps? The "battlefield" seems to be arranged in the shape of Earth's, but it's completely blank except for the cursor. Not much to see here. However, this is the source of the mysterious "SOUND 15" in the sound test (see below) as well as gateway to an interesting code: ERTHH527MT MJM571JQCU 0N Voila! The Earth battlefield with only Godzilla present. Make a move, however, and enemy monsters begin to appear from the left-hand side. Once Ghidora appears the parade ends, and should you attempt to move on to Mars, it's Game Over! Perhaps this was a "debug" code. Godzilla's Level: 13 LEAVE THE PASSWORD ENTRY SCREEN BLANK No, that's not the password, it's an instruction. Enter no password and you'll begin the game on the Earth field, but with no enemy monsters in your way. S0UND Every great game has a sound test, and this is the password to access the sound test mode in this particular classic. The track list is as follows: 00: A rendition of the classic Godzilla theme. 01: ? Unknown 02: Game Select 03: Player Death 04: Game Over 05: ? Unknown 06: ? Unknown 07: Earth 08: Mars / Story Intro 09: Jupiter 10: Saturn 11: Uranus 12: Pluto 13: Neptune 14: Planet X / Main Title 15: Password GH1D0RA "Debug" Stage 16: Victory! 17: Password 18: End Credits 19: Ghidora 20: Gigan 21: Mecha-Godzilla 22: Hedorah 23: Moguera / Baragon 24: Gezora 25: Varan 26 - 47: Sound Effects +------------------------+ | | | 9.0 SPECIAL THANKS | | | +------------------------+ TOHO The whole reason this game and so many of my favorite childhood memories exist. Godzilla just keeps getting better! Hopefully Toho will return to the gaming world soon. DEVIN DE GRUYL (Email: ddegruyl@columbus.rr.com) For correcting my information on Baragon and offering C&C and encouragement on this game walkthrough document. andrewsaur@aol.com AND gfisher1@aol.com I don't know if you fellows will ever see this, but I must thank you for posting codes I never knew for this game. GODZILLA FANS! For keeping such a great classic alive! In an era of incredibly complex 128-bit ultra-real 3D games, you are proof that a game doesn't have to look like a Hollywood movie to be fun. AND... GOJIRA!!! -- Corvus (kanelocke@hotmail.com)