Godzilla: Save the Earth review:4 stars (Amazing Game, Not Perfect But Absorbing!) - As many reviews of this game on any given forum (including this one) will make clear, how much you like it or not will depend upon whether or not you owned Atari's previous "Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee" before it. If you did, then you are likely to say, "Atari only updated a few features to the original game, added several new playable monsters, added the online game feature, added many Challenge missions, and added two rail-type one-player arcade-style games...but otherwise, it's pretty much the same freakin' game!" To those, like myself, who didn't own the previous Atari G-game (since the previous offering didn't have an X-Box version), this one will come off as totally fantastic, *especially* if you are a long-time G-fan, as I am (otherwise, you may not be overly familiar with many of the monster players outside of Godzilla and Mothra, or you may possess only a passing familiarity with them, e.g., "Didn't I once see that big beetle guy with the star-shaped nose horn and spinning drill arms in a movie when I was a kid? And that big robot guy in the super-hero costume, too? Yea, I think I did...right?").
To longtime G-fans, this game is a godsend. Yes, it *does* have the Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter style (with the graphic realism of the former, sans all of the blood and gore in favor of a much grander scale), but using established dai kaiju (the Japanese term for "giant monster," to we fanboys) in place of cool but totally unfamiliar human fighting characters who were invented exclusively for the game is just too good to resist.
As others have noted, the game is most fun when more than one person plays. The fact that up to four at once can participate in the Melee mode is really cool, and such battles (in which the monsters re-spawn after being destroyed) with the players racking up points until the timer runs out is outright addictive. You also have the standard Versus mode, where one to two players simply face off one monster against another for a controllable number of rounds, facing both each other and the timer.
The extended Action mode, designed for one player, is an adventure game in which a single player battles his/her way through several monster matches, unlocking and playing various Challenge modes along the way (these are a variety of matches where you have a timed task to perform), with these Challenge games available for independent single-player game play once they are unlocked. In this version, the player must also seek to pick up any of the five G-cells available on each level for a whopping 500 points each. You then face the boss monster (who is usually Orga, depending upon which monster you're playing as) on the extraterrestrial city existing within the Vortaak mothership itself at the end, and it's quite a difficult match, with a variety of craft firing laser-beam weaponry at you in place of the human military found in other environments.
In fact, the Action mode is the only way to earn points that enable you to purchase new playable monsters in the game store, as well as new environments in which to play, and concept art for the game and sketch drawings and a few pics from the latest (and last) G-film, "Godzilla: Final Wars" (but wait until after you've purchased all the monsters and cities before you spend the chump change level of points needed to purchase the gallery pics). Of course, many web sites will give you the cheat codes to unlock all of this stuff without earning the points (which can take over a month of intense playing), but you *need* to purchase them with these points earned from the Action mode games in order to make access to them permanent.
The Vortaak alien race was invented for the previous game and re-appear here, but they are a sort of hodge podge of various fascistic alien races we saw in the Showa Era G-films, though they, and their flying saucer-shaped space craft, mostly resembles the Xians from "Godzilla vs. Monster Zero" and the updated version in "Godzilla: Final Wars," though they they have a *female* ruler (Vorticia).
The graphics are quite good for this sort of game, and the variety of city environments you can play, which includes not only Japanese locales like Tokyo and Osaka, but also New York, Seattle, Boston, and London, are quite interesting. Locales also include Monster Island and the Vortaak Mothership, along with a hugely scaled Boxing Ring. The buildings, certain vehicles, and other structures in each environment are fully destructable, and many can be picked up and hurled at your foes.
The military that targets whichever monster is involved in the greatest amount of city destruction can indeed be annoying, as other reviewers have said. The helicopters don't do much damage, but the tanks let loose a salvo of ammunition that will mess up your intended throws (of both buildings and opponents), often when your victory absolutely depends on that particular throw; the only good thing about it is that they sometimes mess things up for your opponent in the same manner.
Each of the monsters have a good degree of their individual powers from the movies accurately duplicated in their video game counterparts here (including all of their distinctive roars!), many to a very impressive degree (e.g., the burrowing ability of Megalon and Baragon, all of Mothra's many powers fully intact, including the fact that you can play in both her larva and adult stages, Space Godzilla possessing practically all of the multitude of powers that he has in the movie, including telekinesis, the generation of gigantic crystals that have greatly practical use, the materialization of crystalline clubs, throwing rocks, etc...an amazing treat!). Some of their new powers, including their various 'rage' moves (when you manage to grab one of those rage power-ups), are either logical extrapolations of the powers they already have, or introduce more of the powers they have in the movies (such as Mechagodzilla 3's Absolute Zero Cannon from "Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla"). The various power-ups in all the environments except for the Boxing Ring that are periodically dropped by flying saucers, i.e., the health restoration cylinders, the energy restoration cylinders, the rage sphere (to temporarily place the monster in a super-charged "rage" mode), and the air-strike Atari icon (allowing you or your opponent to temporarily summon either Battra or the Super X-3 war machine to attack the other player) all add a great dimension and versatility to game play, and no two matches in any mode appear *exactly* alike. There is also an interesting one-player Survival mode that is good practice, and this time you can play online if your Playstation 2 or X-Box is properly hooked up (that's why this game doesn't have a version for Nintendo GameCube).
This game also includes two arcade-style rail-shooting missions for one player (both of which are lengthy and quite difficult, sometimes frustratingly so). In one of them, you play as Mogera in the robot's space craft mode, and fly through the solar system avoiding and blasting asteroids, Vortaak ships, mechanical octopus arms and stalagmites awaiting you within the interior of various particularly huge asteroids, etc., until you finally face the boss of this level, Space Godzilla in his star-faring form cavorting within Earth orbit, where you engage in a *very* lengthy battle with him.
In the second rail-type arcade Challenge, you play as Godzilla swimming underwater, avoiding and destroying deep sea mines and human-controlled submarines, along with avoiding spewing underwater lava geysers and collapsing rock strata, until you wade through two bosses...one, the giant lobster Ebirah from "Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster" (also known by its international title, "Ebirah, Horror Of The Deep") who is fairly easy to defeat, and finally the huge Vortaak sub as the last sequence of this mission, which is maddeningly difficult to defeat (I still haven't done so at this writing, but I'm getting there!).
I still have no idea how to unlock the two rail-shooting arcade style Challenges I mentioned above without using the cheat codes I acquired online, and this is admittedly annoying.
Also annoying, of course, is how much the computer cheats in the Hard difficulty level of game play. Stick to Easy level while just learning the game, and spend most of your time playing the Medium difficulty level thereafter, where you will get a good challenge without matters being almost ridiculously difficult.
And if you would like to battle friends and computer opponents without the military, throwable and destructable buildings (which can be both useful and get in the way) or power-ups being factors, you can always pick the Boxing Ring, which also confines the two fighters to a limited spatial parameter.
This game is amazingly cool for G-fans. It will come off as less impressive to those who already have Atari's previous version, and if you already own "Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee," you may perceive "Godzilla: Save The Earth" as 'merely' an enhanced retread. Nevertheless, it's still the more advanced version of the two, and worth owning IMO.
And I was disappointed that Hedorah no longer appears as a computer controlled character in this game, even though a different sleeper hit of a character, Ebirah, appears in his place as a computer-controlled menace (albeit, and regrettably, not during any of the two to four player battle games).
Because of the above and other minor complaints, I took away half a star, but I still highly recommend this game to both G-fans and video "Versus" style games.
4 stars (HELLA FUN WITH THE BIG G) - Got this one because I enjoyed the first one.
This one will not disappoint. It's a lot of fun to play, and has a wider cast of monsters. Besides having mostly the same set up as the last game, there are tons of other fun features that you can play to earn points and unlock the locked items.
Fun for kids of all ages.5 stars (Godzilla rules!) - Well I have been a long time Godzilla fan so when I saw this game come out I just had to buy it. I checked out the online reviews for the game and was surprised to see mediocre reviews by the leading authorities and higher reviews by people in general.

Let me tell you I LOVE this game! Any Godzilla fan will have a blast playing. You've already heard about the wide assortment of monsters, each with their own special moves, strengths, weaknesses etc... tons of cities (day or night) to play in and other fun challenges, but the game play is really where this game shines.

I have had several folks over since I bought this game and they all love this game even if they have never seen a Godzilla flick. What's more satisfying that throwing a building at gruesome jerk at the end of a long work day? If that doen't thrill you then why not charge up your death ray for maximum impact and damage and blast your opponent back 10 city blocks through buildings and cars?

You can even play in a team mode which is a blast if you want total mayhem on the screen. Play with or agaist friends. Team up against other monsters, recreate some of your favourite Godzilla flicks (why not team up Godzilla and Jet Jaguar VS Megalon and Gigan?), or go nuts and beat the hell out of three MechaGodzillas!

I give this game 5 out of 5 and am very glad I bought it. It's a great game to pick up and play for a half hour to get a thrill.
Godzilla: Save the Earth Features:
Video Games
Xbox (x box)
Microsoft
Action
Adventure
Xbox
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)
Action/Adventure

Godzilla- Save the Earth is the Video Game version. The full version can be purchased by clicking on the "CLICK HERE TO ORDER" button below for around 19.99USD.