The Movie Monster Game

About

You’re a giant monster tearing through cities like London or New York in this arcade-strategy hybrid. Choose from Godzilla, a mechanical beast, or a giant spider and smash buildings while evading jets, tanks, and missiles. Unlike its predecessor, this game lets you roam freely in real-time, ditching the turn-based commands for more direct action. Each mission has a different goal: escape a city, rescue a target, or reduce landmarks to rubble. It’s a chaotic mix of destruction and quick reflexes, with a focus on on-screen carnage. The game mimics a drive-in movie show, complete with fake ads for "Gummi Glogs" and Epyx’s own games before the "main feature" starts. While it hasn’t aged well mechanically, retro fans appreciate the tongue-in-cheek presentation and the novelty of piloting a kaiju in 1980s pixel art. The freeform controls were praised at launch for feeling more dynamic than the grid-based system in earlier titles.

Storyline

The gameplay is depicted on a movie screen in front of a movie theater crowd simulating an actual monster movie. Each scenario even starts off with an advertisement, (for popcorn and "Gummi Glogs"; in the Apple II version "Godzilla Mouthwash" is also featured), and other attractions, (such as promotions for Epyx's own Summer Games) before the "Feature Presentation" of the game begins.