Godzilla: Battle Legends

Overview

Godzilla (or Godzilla: Bakutou Retsuden) is a TurboGrafx-CD fighter featuring Godzilla and other Toho kaiju. Rather than following any specific story, the game celebrates Godzilla's many movies. He fights many of his most memorable opponents, and in each battle looks as he did back in that particular movie. The game also features branching paths in its single-player mode, giving the player two options for the first five rounds. There are a total of five different opponents for the final battle, but the player has to do well enough to unlock several of them. Their total score up to that point determines which final boss they can fight.

The game was published in both Japan and the US. Toho themselves published the Japanese version, while the US version was published by Turbo Technologies: a business created by Hudson and NEC to publish the TurboDuo and its games in the US.

Characters

• Godzilla: The King of Monsters himself, there is only one Godzilla in the game but his appearance changes in the single-player mode, moving from his 1955 appearance in Godzilla Raids Again to his then-recent 1992 incarnation in Godzilla vs. Mothra (a.k.a. Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth) depending on who he is fighting. In multiplayer, he takes on his 1989 appearance from Godzilla vs. Biollante. There's no difference in function between his different appearances: it's entirely superficial.
• Anguirus: A large ankylosaur type creature. Resembles a yellow Godzilla. Originally appeared in Godzilla Raids Again, 1955.
• Rodan: A mutated pterodactyl. Originally appeared in his own 1956 film Rodan, but first appeared along with Godzilla in Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster, 1964. Both Anguirus and Rodan would become occasional allies of Godzilla against stronger/meaner monsters.
• King Ghidorah: An immense, three-headed dragon that hails from space and is frequently Godzilla's most dangerous opponent. Also first appears in Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster, 1964. There are actually two versions of King Ghidorah in the game: One from the Showa period (1964 movie) and one from the Heisei period (1991 movie). The Heisei version is stronger.
• Hedorah: A parasitic alien made of smog, toxic sludge and radioactive waste, that fed on Earth's pollution until it grew gigantic. The version in the game is its final, and strongest, form. Originally appeared in Godzilla vs. Hedorah, 1971.
• Gigan: A bio-mechanical alien creature with multiple weapons, including an eye laser, hook hands and a massive buzzsaw in its abdomen. Originally appeared in Godzilla vs. Gigan, 1972.
• Megalon: A giant beetle-like creature that was the God for the lost Seatopian empire. After being disturbed by nuclear tests, they unleashed Megalon on the surface world and forced Godzilla to fight it. Megalon's most notable feature is its deadly drill arms. Originally appeared in Godzilla vs. Megalon, 1973.
• Mechagodzilla: One of Godzilla's most persistent and deadly foes is a mechanical version of himself, built by ape-like aliens. Sometimes disguises itself as Godzilla to trash his image. Also has two other forms in the game: Mechagodzilla II is a stronger version that can fly. Super Mechagodzilla is a Heisei incarnation and is the most powerful monster in the game. Mechagodzilla originally appeared in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, 1974.
• Biollante: The first monster Godzilla fought in the Heisei period, Biollante is a mutated plant/kaiju hybrid. Has an unusual role in the game, as her stationary form and use of multiple tendrils to attack means she is unplayable in the multiplayer. Originally appeared in Godzilla vs. Biollante, 1989.
• Mecha-King Ghidorah: A mechanical version of King Ghidorah from the future, built from the original King Ghidorah. Originally appeared in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, 1991.
• Battra: A moth-like creature and Mothra's rival. He has two forms in the game: the first is his larva form, a caterpillar type creature that Godzilla fights at the bottom of the ocean. His adult moth form, Battra Imago, is considerably more powerful. Originally appeared in Godzilla vs. Mothra, 1992.