Godzilla Unleashed: Double Strike (Nintendo DS)

In GODZILLA UNLEASHED: DOUBLE SMASH, strange crystal shards slam into Earth from space and threaten to disrupt the planet. Godzilla, as the "good guy," goes around the world destroying the crystals and fighting other monsters and military vehicles that get in his way.

Players begin the story mode by selecting two monsters from the Godzilla universe, such as Godzilla, Mothra, or Gigan. Action is spread across both the top and bottom screens of the Nintendo DS, with one monster on the ground and the other monster (typically Mothra or another flying beast) in the air above dispatching enemy planes. You can switch between monsters on the fly by tapping a shoulder button.

It's a neat idea in theory, but unfortunately gameplay falls flat for several reasons. Hit detection is poor, and the monsters' moves are basic and sluggish to execute. Levels are unimaginative, consisting of repeating cityscapes with wave after wave of the same types of enemy that can be easily dispatched (or simply avoided) with little strategy or thought. The monsters only look straight ahead and can't turn around to face backwards, which makes boss battles maddening.

Another serious complaint is that you can't save the game during story mode -- if you quit half way through, you'll have to start back at the beginning. The only way to complete story mode is to play it all the way through in one sitting, which is an unfair time commitment and a primitive throwback to arcade games of twenty years ago. It's hard to call Godzilla Unleashed: Double Strike anything less than a profound disappointment. The King of Monsters definitely deserves better.