I liked SpaceGodzilla before he was cool, and it’s all thanks to this Godzilla game

Thanks to a listing on the Writers’ Guild of America website, it’s all but confirmed that the big bad of Godzilla x Kong: Supernova, the fifth film in Legendary’s Monsterverse, is going to be SpaceGodzilla, who made his silver screen debut in 1994’s Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla.

I’m only one of countless Godzilla fans who’ve been crystal-balling SpaceGodzilla’s return since Supernova‘s first teaser dropped back in May, and to celebrate the prophecy’s fulfillment, I’ve been revisiting the Godzilla game that introduced me to the King of the Monsters’ cosmic shadow: Godzilla: Save the Earth.

Godzilla: Save the Earth is a must-play multiplayer brawler for Toho fans

Released for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox back in 2004, Godzilla: Save the Earth is a follow-up to 2002’s Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee. Developed by Pipeworks Software, both games are multiplayer fighting games that let you pit Godzilla and his menagerie of friends and foes against each other in city-leveling clashes.

Godzilla: Save The Earth’s bread-and-butter combat probably won’t endear experienced fighting game veterans, but it absolutely delivers the “giant monster energy” kaiju fans crave. There’s weight behind every hit here, and heavier blows almost always send your opponent flying across the arena. Said arenas are full of destructible assets that collapse with a satisfying crunch. If you love giant monster movies, you’ll love Save the Earth, but you’ll love it even more if you’re a die-hard Toho nerd.

Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee featured a respectable set of eleven playable monsters (twelve in the American Xbox version), but Save the Earth trumps it with a magnificent eighteen-monster roster. Said roster features some surprisingly deep cuts from Toho lore, including Baragon, Jet Jaguar, and a certain extraterrestrial doppelgänger.

Godzilla Save the Earth introduced me and many other Godzilla fans to SpaceGodzilla

In his debut film, SpaceGodzilla established himself as one of the most diabolical members of Godzilla’s rogues’ gallery. Driven by homicidal hatred for the original Godzilla, SpaceGodzilla’s life goals are simple: destroy his genetic double and reduce Earth to a crystal-skewed wasteland.

I’ve been a fan ever since I saw Mystery Science Theater 3000 rip on Godzilla vs. Megalon on TV as a kid, and I gobbled up every bit of obscure lore I could glean off forums and DVD special features. However, I’d never heard of SpaceGodzilla until I played Godzilla: Save the Earth, so when I played through the game’s story mode on hard and found myself face-to-face with the crystalline foe on the final stage, my brain somersaulted.

As Godzilla: Save the Earth‘s resident super-boss, SpaceGodzilla has a wicked move set. His special moves, from psycho-electric shocks to telekinetic grapples, feel alien in the truest sense of the word. They gobble up SpaceGodzilla’s energy reserves, but his ability to summon crystals that speed up his recovery time balances out the frustration. When the kit clicks, playing SpaceGodzilla makes you feel like an unstoppable force, bathing in the eldritch glow of your crystals while you toss your foes around like rag-dolls.

My friends and I sunk plenty of hours into Godzilla: Save the Earth growing up, and thanks to it, SpaceGodzilla has become one of my favorite Toho creations. We’re well over a year out from Godzilla x Kong: Supernova‘s current release date, but if the movie delivers as well’s the previous films did, seeing SpaceGodzilla duke it out with the titular monarchs will erase the ravages of time and bring me and other Godzilla fans back to the lost glory days of giant monster couch co-op.