After 24 years, Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee returns to a Nintendo console. The excitement in the Godzilla fandom for DAMMR has been building for months, and the demo has undoubtedly added more fuel to the fire. Does it live up to the anticipation? Or even more importantly, is it worth buying on Switch 2, compared to other higher performing consoles (and PC)?
The Switch, and now the Switch 2, are both well known for being underpowered compared to their PC, Xbox and PlayStation counterparts. Many game ports just don’t work, or are so watered down that they aren’t worth being on the console. Some recent examples that come to mind are Mortal Kombat 1 and Ark: Survival Evolved, which had us concerned for the launch day port of the remaster for this new and highly anticipated Godzilla video game. Luckily, to our great surprise, DAMMR runs superbly on the console! The graphics are a little more stylized for this version of the game, especially the water physics and reflections. The lighting is also less impressive than its PC counterpart, looking a little nicer in handheld, but never distracting. The Switch 2 copy might not keep up graphically, but the new stylized aesthetic works well on the Nintendo console. Most importantly, however, the game never dips its framerate and the controls are incredibly responsive. Even local multi-player gameplay is smooth and consistent. Interestingly, the game performs better in handheld, but docked mode is still fun to play with your friends during a fun night of gaming.
Image captured in-game.
The gameplay itself is incredibly fun, especially as a massive fan of the original. Other than some remapped buttons for controls, this feels exactly like the original. Every move has weight (especially Orga’s moveset in particular) and the combos flow smoothly together. The biggest issue does not lie within the gameplay itself, but more so the balancing, as some monsters just straight up counter others. A beam heavy/energy using monster will, for example, struggle against Mecha-King Ghidorah who can heal itself through another monster’s energy attacks. While it’s easier to get through Adventure Classic against these monsters, playing against another player in couch or online co-op is another story. The monsters themselves feel unbalanced in a few ways, such as Rodan having a tiny health bar and not enough damage output to balance out, or Mechagodzilla ‘74 having the ability to nearly one shot Rodan or Gigan with one batch of finger missiles. Most of these issues are primarily obvious during co-op and local multiplayer. This unbalanced meta is fun in single player, but can be incredibly frustrating when fighting a friend.
That being said, to say the game isn’t fun in co-op would be a disservice. Playing with friends, especially in person, is the lifeblood of a game like this. As a kid I’d do it all the time, and being able to do it again now is incredibly nostalgic. Trying different monsters together and unlocking special photos or videos based on different matchups is very rewarding. Even losing with a friend can be fun despite the frustratingly unfair matchup. The beautiful part is that in the next match, you can always switch Kaiju! DAMMR is a perfect party game, rivaling Smash for a Godzilla fan!
Image captured in-game.
That all being said, in regard to multiplayer, the game’s overall biggest drawback impacts the replayability with others significantly: the unlock system is incredibly convoluted and takes quite an amount of time to fully finish. To break down this system, essentially the game gives tasks for unlocking each Kaiju and map. Once players complete that task, you either unlock another task or you unlock a research bar you have to fill to unlock either another task, research bar, or the Kaiju you’ve been trying to unlock for hours. It’s always a 50/50 shot whether the research bar will get you a monster or if it just pads the game even longer… and it can get tedious. Some tasks are also vague and take an immense amount of play testing if you don’t use a guide. During my time playing Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered, it took over 15 hours to unlock every monster and even longer to finish unlocking the maps. The game forces you to play solo to gain these experience points, since multiplayer doesn’t level up monsters. If the unlock system allowed players to gain experience points while playing with friends, this could be alleviated much quicker.
This all brings me to my next point, which is that monsters have levels. This was an interesting idea to me, but then I found out you have to level up monsters before even unlocking a “rage” move, which is essentially the “ultimate” or “finisher” move in any other fighting game. You can still pick up the power-up before unlocking the move, but you’ll just roar when attempting to use it. Monster’s health bars are also way lower before you level them up. It’s a very clunky system that feels more like padding runtime than being a well thought out game design. Because of everything being locked, multiplayer is much more limited, with fewer monsters and maps, and the fact that it takes so long to get everything for the perfect game night makes the game feel like a chore before the party.
Image captured in-game.
On the contrary, the Switch 2’s most unique feature is also this port’s biggest advantage: portability. Despite all of the hours you must sink into this game to unlock the full experience, the Switch 2 version allows you to play on the go! This feature helped me sprint along the unlock system and get done in a matter of days rather than a matter of weeks. I played at home, at the doctor’s office, at work, and it was an absolute blast. It’s so easy to pick up a fight, finish, and then save and quit, losing no progress. If I’m being completely honest, this game was made for the portable experience!
Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered on Nintendo Switch 2 is a fun and nostalgic game that Godzilla fans will enjoy. The multiplayer is absolutely the biggest highlight of the experience, and I can no doubt see myself playing this with anyone and everyone I have over! The Switch 2 offers a perfect chance to replicate the sensation of Super Smash Bros. and other party games, both in its solo and multiplayer gameplay. While not quite balanced, it offers enough variety to keep persevering and boast constant and unique play that doesn’t get stale. I was obsessed with this game for about a week, and I’m glad I got so much out of it, even if it did have frustrating elements. Overall, this game is absolutely worth buying on the Switch 2, even with the price hike on the physical edition – the portability alone is worth that Nintendo expense.
Overall Score: 7/10. Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered on Nintendo Switch 2 delivers a faithful remaster of a nostalgic classic, delivering excellent portability that the Switch 2 is known for. Players may be a bit disappointed by the leveling system and the roster meta might need just a tad bit more balancing, but the game is still a fun experience for kaiju fans, especially with friends!
Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered releases November 3rd, 2026 on Steam, Xbox, PlayStation®5, and Nintendo Switch 2.
