In the early 2000s, a host of famous Toho kaiju, including Godzilla, Megalon and Anguirus, did battle in 3D arenas on GameCube and Xbox. Now, Atari and Pipeworks are bringing this back to modern PCs and consoles with Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered.
Like the original, Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered is a classic 3D arena brawler for up to four players, with a total of twelve playable monsters. Each of the twelve kaiju has fast punches, kicks, blocking manoeuvres, throws, and iconic long-range attacks. While the basic combos of many monsters are similar, their unique special moves and devastating abilities add variety to the game. For instance, Megalon can burrow underground, while Rodan can utilise the airspace. Although the combat system has been carried over unchanged from 2002 and feels somewhat sluggish and imprecise by today's standards, it captures the essence of the original very accurately. Despite being easy to pick up, blocks, counters and interactions with the environment allow for intense duels. Players can grab and hurl not only buildings and vehicles, but also other kaiju.
Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered © Pipeworks, Atari and Toho (& TM)
Battles take place in eight destroyable arenas, including cities such as Tokyo, San Francisco and London, Monster Island and the aliens' mothership, with day and night variations available. These environments are an active part of the combat system, not just backdrops. Monsters can hurl skyscrapers, rocks or vehicles at their opponents. The roster includes Godzilla (from the '90s and 2000s), Anguirus, Megalon, Gigan, King Ghidorah, Destoroyah, Rodan, Mecha King Ghidorah, Showa Mechagodzilla, Orga and Kiryu (Mechagodzilla III). In modern terms, there could certainly be more; fan favourites such as Mothra are missing, and the sequels Save the Earth and Unleashed featured more kaiju.
The original game, Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee was originally released for GameCube in 2002 and for the Xbox a few months later. The remaster is based on the Xbox version. Two sequels followed: Godzilla: Save the Earth (2004) and Godzilla: Unleashed (2007). This new version is built on the Unreal Engine 5. The cities feature significantly more detail and improved lighting and particle effects, as well as a greater draw distance. However, the developers have put particular effort into the character models of the giant monsters, ensuring they look detailed while retaining the stiff charm of the characters from the old Toho films.
Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered © Pipeworks, Atari and Toho (& TM)
The classic arcade ranking system has been replaced with character-based, single-player campaigns that feature various game modes, including Adventure, Destruction, Survival, and Training. While Adventure mode features classic monster-versus-monster battles, Destruction mode allows players to battle the city and the military. Players can now level up their monsters to improve stats such as health and energy, unlocking more challenging campaigns as they progress. However, unlocking monsters and arenas requires a lot of effort.
Initially, only four of the twelve monsters are available: Godzilla 90s, Gigan, Megalon and Anguirus. All flying monsters, such as King Ghidorah and Rodan, as well as various arenas, can only be unlocked through playing the solo campaign. In single-player mode, players can also complete collection tasks to progress within the G-Force research department, which is also linked to an in-game gallery. However, the intended progression system for solo players is rather impractical for the party brawler in couch mode, as one player must first unlock as much as possible for everyone else. Alongside classic local couch co-op and split-screen for up to four players, the game now offers an online mode for duels over the internet.
Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered © Pipeworks, Atari and Toho (& TM)
The remaster was developed by Pipeworks, who also developed the original. Founded 27 years ago, the studio offers co-development as well as full game development. Pipeworks is headquartered in the heart of Eugene, Oregon, and has a team based across the United States. It has the reputation of being the largest game developer in the state. In 2025, Pipeworks joined Virtuos. The publisher is still Atari, although at that time it operated under the Infogrames brand. Atari owns and/or manages a portfolio of more than 400 games and franchises, including Asteroids, Centipede, Pong, and RollerCoaster Tycoon. The Atari family also includes the game developers Coatsink, Digital Eclipse, Early Morning Studios, Hipster Whale, Implicit Conversions, Infogrames, Nightdive Studios and Stormteller Games, as well as the community-based sites AtariAge and MobyGames.
"With the original game, we showed players what it felt like to turn an entire city into a weapon, trashing skyscrapers and hurling buildings at each other. The sense of scale and destruction was a defining part of what made Destroy All Monsters Melee so special, and we’re thrilled to be able to deliver the ultimate version of that vision. By rebuilding the game from the ground up with today’s technology, we’ve unlocked the scale, destruction and intensity our team always dreamed of bringing to Godzilla fans." - Lindsay Gupton, CEO of Pipeworks
"Working with legacies as massive as Godzilla and Destroy All Monsters Melee is a responsibility we don't take lightly. Destroy All Monsters Melee gave players something truly unique when it launched - the chance to step into the role of a Godzilla monster and turn an entire city into a battlefield. As the original publisher, it felt only natural for Atari to reunite with Pipeworks, the original developer and kaiju experts, to bring this fan-favorite back to center stage and introduce its larger-than-life destruction to a whole new generation of players." - Mike Mika, Chief Creative Officer of Atari.
Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered © Pipeworks, Atari and Toho (& TM)
Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered was released on 03 November 2026 for €29.99 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Steam, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. A physical edition is available on the Atari website for €29.99 on PlayStation 5 and €39.99 on Nintendo Switch 2 (full cartridge). Digital versions for the Nintendo Switch were released in Japan and select Asian markets on 05 November. No physical versions have been announced for Japan. For €6 more, players can purchase the Digital Deluxe Upgrade. This includes the following content: the Skin Burning Millennium Godzilla (2025), the Skin Mechagodzilla (1974) Black ver., the additional Map: Smash Station (The Ring, 2026 Edition), and the Black & White Movie Filter graphical filter.
Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered offers straightforward action featuring colossal kaiju in destructible arenas, along with plenty of nostalgia. However, the inconvenient progression system, particularly in multiplayer, holds this back.
