Kaiju have been roaming Japanese lands for decades within cinema and video games, but the West has carved its own MonsterVerse, particularly withGodzilla. Last year saw the western release of Toho’s award-winning Godzilla: Minus One movie and 2024 has also seen the latest installment in the MonsterVerse,Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, released to audiences reporting a rip-roaring time with the sequel so far.
Godzilla: 10 Strongest Kaiju, Ranked
The Godzilla franchise has featured many powerful Kaiju over the many years since its inception. This list breaks down the strongest among them.
Regarding the radioactive lizard’s presence in the video games industry, there’s a plethora of titles spanning over 30 years, right up to the Kaiju’s appearance inDave the Diverlast year. Since there are a lot of titles to bring its atomic glow to life, here are 10 of the best Godzilla games ranked.
10Godzilla (1990)
A Cute 2D Side-Scroller For Chibi Kaiju Fans
Ported from the 1985 MSX Japanese game, Gojira-Kun, this self-titled action escapade welcomed a host of Showa-era monsters, carrying the same design, including Ghidorah, Rodan, Mechagodzilla, and Godzilla’s son Minilla. The rampant beast can climb ladders, vines, and crystals with a mighty punch to destroy boulders and defeat enemies.
This 90s entry is by no means the most visually striking game on this list, but for its cuter aesthetic, it deserved a mention at least. Despite being labeled a “glorified Pac-Man” entry, Godzilla fans were addicted to mastering this side-scroller, but it stays at the bottom of the ranking in the shadow of better titles.
Godzilla (1990)
9Godzilla (2014)
Offering four different modes: God of Destruction, King of the Monsters, Evolution, and Diorama, this fighting game also supports online multiplayer gameplay. Your objective as the monster is to attack various stages with missions similar to Godzilla Generations.
Going by the stunning black-and-white cover art alone, this title looked primed and ready to be something special. What transpired wasn’t the tour de force that was expected, but Natsume Atari still managed to build something unique for Godzilla fans, with the sound design and perspective crafted to make you feel like a giant monster. This more realistic take pulls rank over the chibi Game Boy version.
WHERE TO PLAY
8Godzilla: Monster Of Monsters!
This Single-Player Action Title Sports Iconic Godzilla Artwork
Space monsters unite when the dwellers of Planet X decide to conquer Earth in this vintage action side-scroller. Godzilla and Mothra are both playable characters and move like chess pieces on a virtual gameboard to protect our home. Popular Atragon creature Manda and Dogora also appear as common enemies.
The vintage graphics are the initial hook to this game, but the excitement of annihilating tanks followed by a litany of vibrant monsters keeps gameplay entertaining. Compelling strategy and action scenes give this title the edge over Godzilla’s 2014 attempt, despite the controls in this SNES release being a bit clunky.
Godzilla: Monster of Monsters!
7Godzilla: Battle Legends
A Raw 90s Fighter That Paved The Way For A Stellar Sequel
This Japanese release was later simply titled “Godzilla” in North America and the single-player fighter pitted the giant lizard against several iconic adversaries, including King Ghidorah and Megalon, but Godzilla is the only playable character against these foes.
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Battle Legends later received an SNES sequel in Godzilla: Monster War (which we’ll discuss later), but this predecessor boasts colorful, detailed graphics, down to the smallest reptile scale. Once again, Godzilla’s appearance changes with every boss battle to reflect its cinematic counterpart, which offers a real journey through time for fans, and its smashing 1v1 battles award it a higher ranking than Monster of Monsters!.
Godzilla: Battle Legends
6Super Godzilla
A Solid, Destructive Action Game And A Rarity For Collectors
First debuted in Japan, Super Godzilla carries iconic artwork and follows Godzilla and a playable Super Godzilla through a myriad of levels as the defender of Japan against monsters such as Biollante, Mecha-King Ghidorah, and UFOs.
Switching between split screens and standard side-view fighting segments, Super Godzilla is a solid pastime even though fans wanted more destructive control over the atomic dinosaur. Nevertheless, its graphics with an old-school HUD, crisp sound design, and overall Kaiju experience put the creature’s scale and might into perspective more than Monster War.
Super Godzilla
5Godzilla: Unleashed
This 3D Fighting Game Is A Favorite In The Fandom
Stepping away from the retro graphics now for this noughties title that looks terrible from the graphics, but presented gameplay that fans loved. Up to four monsters can be played at a time in teams or solo, and there’s an impressive attack roster to take opposing monsters down a peg, including seven Power Surges and a growth spurt to Critical Mass.
Flaunting over 20 Kaiju and Mechas from the Showa, Heisei, and Millennium eras, Godzilla Unleashed is thought to be one ofthe best fighterson the Wii console and fans loved the “burning” versions of the Kaiju. Gamers also get a kick out of unlocking every monster, map, and narrative point and the amount of content on offer allows this title to sit higher in the ranking than Super Godzilla.
Godzilla: Unleashed
4City Shrouded In Shadow
A Survival Game Combining The Monsters And Heroes From Kaiju And Tokusatsu Franchises
Known as Kyoei Toshi in Japan, City Shrouded in Shadow is a narrative-based survival game about escaping a city in turmoil while a frenzy of monsters, robots, and heroes, or “giant shadows”, clash. Godzilla is joined by Ultraman, Gamera, andNeon Genesis Evangelion characters, and you need to survive 17 levels of collateral damage.
Gamera: Every Kaiju, Ranked
A rival to the Godzilla franchise, Gamera is another time-honored monster movie series. This list breaks down the strongest kaiju from the show.
Debuting at number two on the all-format sales chart in 2017, City Shrouded in Shadow is something different to the spread of Godzilla fighters on this list, and despite the washed-out graphics appearing dated in 2024, the eerie presence and fan service from different franchises gave this title a cult classic feel and quickly became more memorable than Godzilla: Unleashed.
City Shrouded In Shadow
3Godzilla: Monster War
An Acclaimed 2D Fighter That Never Left Japan
Following Super Godzilla as Toho’s successor, Monster War was never released in North America for unknown reasons, but Japanese fans indulged in the single-player experience by choosing to play as either Godzilla, Anguirus, King Ghidorah, Gigan, Megalon, Mechagodzilla, Biollante, or Mothra.
Gotengo was the creature at the top of everyone’s list that could be unlocked in hard mode, and thisStreet Fighter-esque title with Kaiju just hit fans’ sweet spot. At the core, Godzilla games are largely about monster battles, and Monster Wars refines the mechanics, visuals, and move sets to make one of the best monster mashers out there, stealing the spotlight from Granzella’s survival entry.
Godzilla: Monster War
2Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee
The Multiplayer Fighting Game Sees An Alien Race Control The Kaiju On Earth
Manning one of eleven monsters, including Gigan, Godzilla 90s, Orga, and Mechagodzilla, Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee sees the Vortaak invading Earth to pilot these monsters, and you have an arsenal of basic punch and kick attacks to knock each Kaiju down, as well as powerup orbs and airstrikes at your disposal.
Melee has Alfa System and Toho’s Monster War to thank as inspiration for its mechanics, even though the modernized graphics weren’t to everyone’s taste. Considered a classic Godzilla game, fans are even asking for a remaster of Melee - a game that got them hooked on the Kaiju mythos and made more of an impact than its Japanese counterpart.
Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee
1Godzilla: Save The Earth
This Sequel Fighter Still Takes The Crown 20 Years Later
Pipeworks Software and Atari’s early 2000s fighter serves as a sequel to Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee and the predecessor to Godzilla: Unleashed. Beam attacks really shine in this successor and there are an additional six monsters to battle with, including Baragon, Jet Jaguar, and Space Godzilla.
Satisfying both the single-player experience and multiplayer, Save the World has that crucial replayability factor that most fighting games need, and humanity’s struggle at the heart of the story resonates with Godzilla lore. Offering entertaining fighting styles, built-up areas to destroy, and endless fun in a punch-out, this 4-player brawler captures the exhilarating qualities of Kaiju battles and takes our number one spot as the most entertaining Godzilla game on the market.
Godzilla: Save The Earth
10 Best Kaiju Anime, Ranked
For epic kaiju battles, turn to anime like Pacific Rim, Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters, and SSS.Gridman.
