War of the Monsters PlayStation 2

Proudly presented in a style befitting a 1950s sci-fi serial or an Inoshiro Honda film, War of the Monsters follows the feats of eight gargantuan creatures (plus two more that can be unlocked) as they pound and pummel one another through cities around the world. Towering skyscrapers are reduced to rubble as the giant monsters brawl in the crowded streets, reshaping their urban battlefield as they go. In addition to jumps, punches, kicks, and combination moves, each creature has a ranged attack and other special abilities. The movie-style monsters can also fight with found objects, braining a foe with a telephone pole perhaps, or impaling it with the pointy end of a radio tower.

War of the Monsters offers a single-player Adventure mode, in which players guide their chosen creature through a series of opponents and bosses in several different stages. Knocking down buildings and stomping through traffic isn't just for fun here -- it can actually help the monsters earn special game tokens, which can be used to purchase new "costumes," mini-games, and other hidden features. Solo gamers can also enter Free-For-All deathmatch battles, in which the number of re-spawns and other winning conditions can be adjusted. An Endurance mode challenges the player's B-movie beast to defeat as many successive opponents as possible.

Free-For-All and Endurance modes are also available for two-player games. As in the single-player versions, opponents can choose the location of the battle and the CPU-controlled monsters that will also enter the fray. War of the Monsters offers an innovative use of screen views when two players go head-to-head. The screen is split as the two human-controlled monsters wreak destruction independently, in different parts of the city, then merges for same-screen action as the colossal contenders come together to fight with one another. Two players can also compete in three different mini-games, once these are unlocked with tokens earned in the single-player Adventure mode. ~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide