The Movie Monster Game

The Movie Monster Game is a computer game released by Epyx for the Apple II and Commodore 64 in 1986. The game offers a variety of scenarios, playable monsters, and cities to demolish (complete with famous landmarks, such as Tokyo Tower, Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty, Golden Gate Bridge, Saint Basil's Cathedral and Big Ben). The monsters were all original characters based on movie monsters such as The Blob, Mothra, Tarantula, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, and the Transformers. The one exception was Godzilla, which Epyx was able to officially license.^[1]

The Movie Monster Game
Developer(s)	Epyx
Publisher(s)	Epyx
Platform(s)	Apple II, Commodore 64, Evercade
Release	NA: 1986 EU: 1986
Genre(s)	Action
Mode(s)	Single-player

The game was re-released on Evercade part of THEC64 Collection 1 ^[2]

Gameplay

The game involves the player choosing one of six movie monsters to play as, a scenario for them to play through, and finally a city for the scenario to take place. 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.^[3]

Monsters

• Godzilla
• Sphectra (a giant wasp)
• The Glog (a huge green blob with red eyes)
• Tarantus (a giant Tarantula)
• Mr. Meringue (a knock-off of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man)
• Mechatron (a giant robot that resembles Topspin from The Transformers)

Scenarios

• Berserk. The player must accumulate a certain number of points by destroying as many buildings and vehicles as possible.
• Escape. The player must flee the city before being killed by the military.
• Search. The player must use the monster to rescue its offspring hidden in a building. Godzilla's son is depicted as Minilla.
• Destroy Landmark. The player must destroy a specific landmark within the city such as the Statue of Liberty in New York City, the Tokyo Tower in Tokyo, Big Ben in London, etc.
• Lunch. The player must satisfy the monster's hunger by eating vehicles and civilians until the monster's hunger meter is depleted.

Cities

• New York City
• San Francisco
• London
• Tokyo
• Moscow
• Paris

Reception

In Dragon #114's "The Role of Computers" column, reviewers Hartley and Pattie Lesser stated that "this is a game that is a great deal of fun to play!"^[4]

Computer Gaming World said that The Movie Monster Game "gets a little tedious after a while".^[5]

Reviews

• Zzap! (Dec, 1986)^[6]
• Happy Computer (Dec, 1986)^[7]
• Commodore User (Dec, 1986)^[8]
• Computer Gamer (Jan, 1987)^[9]

See also

• Crush, Crumble and Chomp!