King of the Monsters
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King of the Monsters is a series of video games created by SNK Playmore and Takara for the Neo-Geo, featuring giant monsters reminiscent of kaiju and tokusatsu pictures.
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[edit] King of the Monsters
King of the Monsters is a fighting/wrestling game. It was released by SNK on February 25, 1991 in Japan, with later ports for the Super NES and Sega Genesis by Takara. Players get to choose any one of six monsters (four in the ports) for battle, and two players can join forces to fight the monsters together. Battles end when one of the monsters is pinned for a three count or if time expires (in which case the player loses).
[edit] The Characters
- GEON: A Godzilla-like dinosaur.
- WOO: A King Kong-like gorilla (not available on the ports).
- ASTRO GUY: A typical tokusatsu superhero.
- POISON GHOST: A creature covered in toxic waste, inspired by Hedorah (not available on the ports).
- ROCKY: A giant golem made of boulders.
- BEETLE MANIA: A large beetle-like creature, possibly inspired by Megalon.
[edit] Battlegrounds
The battles in King of the Monsters take place in seven major Japanese cities (one for each monster): Tokyo, Shinjuku, Kyoto, Kobe, Osaka, Okayama and Hiroshima. Almost everything in the stage (within the confines of the electrical barriers) can be destroyed. Vehicles such as helicopters, boats, and tanks can be picked up and thrown.
[edit] King of the Monsters 2: The Next Thing
On May 25, 1992, SNK and Takara released a sequel for the Neo-Geo. Takara also ported it to the Super NES in 1993. This sequel takes the original in a new direction by using three of the monsters from the original game as heroes in a side-scrolling beat 'em up. Geon, Astro Guy, and Woo all upgrade themselves to defend Earth against an alien threat led by a creature called Famardy. The game also features a 2-player competition mode.
[edit] The Heroes
- SUPER GEON: Geon mutated into a spiky, vicious form.
- CYBER WOO: A cybernetic version of Woo.
- ATOMIC GUY: Astro Guy with a super-charged arsenal and bigger muscles.
[edit] The Alien Menace
- HUGE FROGGER: A giant toad with a space helmet that can teleport.
- EIFFELYTE: A humanoid creature with stretchy limbs and a detachable blob for a head.
- CLAWHEAD: A mutated creature with two horned heads, no arms, and a large mouth on its belly.
- BEETLE MASTER: A large scorpion-like monster with a detachable brain that burrows underground.
- SACK EYES (AQUA SLUG): A giant mutated sea slug with the ability to inflate its enemies.
- LAVICUS: A strange creature with long fingers and a serpentine body that lays eggs from a tube in its forehead.
- FAMARDY: An enormous green, four-eyed blob with lots of teeth and an orange head and arms sticking out of its midsection. Famardy is the final boss and does massive damage by jumping on or devouring the other monsters.
[edit] Battlegrounds
The Japanese cities of the first game have been abandoned in favor of more generic areas: American City, French City, Grand Canyon, Desert, Ocean, Volcano, and Hideout.
[edit] Mega Drive/Genesis version
A Genesis version of King of the Monsters 2 was also released by Takara, but is somewhat different from the other two versions. Rather than being a beat 'em up, the Genesis version plays like a fighting game, similar to its predecessor. All characters (excluding Famardy) are playable and have all been given special attacks executed using standard fighting game motions. Players must destroy all other monsters, one after the other, without any of the scrolling stages in the Neo-Geo version and defeat a clone of the player's monster.
[edit] Other appearances
The King of the Monsters series was mostly forgotten following the second game. However, it briefly received some recognition in 2005, when SNK Playmore released Neo Geo Battle Coliseum, a fighting game featuring many of the company's popular characters. Cyber Woo is featured as one of the playable characters, although in a much smaller form and controlled by a human. Also, Yuki and Ai, two other characters in the game, have a combined attack where they can change into Atomic Guy for a brief period of time.
[edit] External links
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