Source: Commodore Microcomputers – Issue 43 – September October 1986
The Movie Monster Game was originally released by Epyx in 1986 for the Apple II and Commodore 64. It lets every kid (or adult) realize their fantasy…at least if their fantasy is to control their favorite movie monster. Most of the monsters are rip-offs of existing movie monsters but at least Godzilla was officially licensed.
The Movie Monster Game offers 5 cities to destroy and six different monsters with which to do it with. In addition, there are five different scenarios…in case one way of destroying the city isn’t enough. In the first scenario (Berserk), the player must accumulate points by destroying as many buildings and vehicles as possible. In the second scenario (Escape), the player must escape the city before the military finishes you off. In the third scenario (Search), the player must rescue the monster’s baby hidden in a building somewhere. In the fourth scenario (Destroy Landmark), the player must destroy a famous landmark like the Statue of Liberty or Big Ben. In the fifth and final scenario (Lunch), the player must make sure the monster is properly fed…with vehicles and civilians.
Featured monsters include Sphectra (a giant wasp), Tarantus (a giant spider), Mr. Meringue (a.k.a. the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man), The Glob (which rhymes with The Blob), Mechatron (a giant robot) and of course Godzilla. Unfortunately, the game is single player only so you cannot destroy with your friends or battle in an uber monster fight. Still, for its time this was a pretty fun game. It will get a bit repetitive after a while but don’t let that stop you from giving it a try.
As far as I know, this game only had releases for the Commodore 64 and Apple II. If you want to try it, you will have to track down an original or fire up an emulator.
The ad at the top is from the September/October 1986 issue of Commodore Microcomputers. While the ad mentions an IBM compatible version, I’m not sure such a version exists. The screen shots above are from the Commodore 64 version.
