Remember Nick Arcade? One of the many 1990s game shows on Nickelodeon, players tested their trivia skills and video game prowess, culminating in a blue-screen ‘virtual reality’ bonus round. It also featured a famous segment called the Video Challenge, a side round in which players picked one of five current (as of 1992) video games to clear a high score within 30 seconds. This was a rare opportunity for companies to get their games shown on television outside of commercials and promotional tapes. Owing to the influence of Nickelodeon at the time, the show managed to represent a surprising level of diversity, with Nintendo, Sega, NEC, and SNK all allowing their consoles to be featured. This would be the only way some gamers (myself included) would even know obscure consoles such as the TurboGrafx-16 and the NeoGeo AES existed, and reruns of this classic show would serve as a marvelous time capsule of gaming in the early 90s.
Games randomly rotated in and out of the Video Challenge lineup, but some games stuck around more than others and were chosen by contestants often. One of those was King of the Monsters, a wrestling game starring Godzilla-esque beasts destroying major cities of Japan in their fight for dominance. For most gamers, those Nick Arcade segments were the only exposure we had to this game. Seeing 30 seconds of a contestant try to clear the ‘Wizard’s Challenge’ score was enough for me to have no interest in what looked to be a shallow, juvenile game. Why would I waste my time? Well thanks to Mini-Gaming, I’ve now cleared this fabled Nick Arcade institution.
King of the Monsters always looked kinda dumb. And it is indeed dumb… but fun!
This is my first time playing a wrestling video game in earnest, and it’s quite different than a traditional fighting game. What look like health bars don’t measure HP, but more like stamina. As you whittle down your opponent with basic attacks, inevitably you’ll get caught in a grapple. The winner of the grapple is pre-determined but influenced by who has more stamina. Once you deem your opponent weak enough you can go for a pin, and if they don’t get up after three counts you are the winner. As such, only pins count for wins and an empty health bar does not equal a KO. I’m probably describing wrestling games as a whole, but again this is all new to me. The novelty of this gameplay alone took me by surprise, as I’ve never played a game quite like this. This was fresh, exciting, exactly what I was hoping for!
Even if the gameplay is derivative for wrestling games, what makes KotM stand out is its environments. Matches take place from a bird’s-eye view of Japanese locales, and while you wrestle your opponent you inadvertently pummel the buildings, cars, and bridges underfoot. The NeoGeo's arcade power more than handles the hundreds of sprites and explosions without a hitch. While most objects pose no obstacle, larger buildings can get in your way. These can be punched down in between opponent attacks for bonus points (or strategically used as barriers), and upon winning a match your health is replenished depending on how high a destruction bonus you accumulate. Successful grapples can also release a power orb, and collecting enough orbs will level up your monster, changing its color and upping your strength. Orb levels carry over from match to match, giving off some very light RPG vibes. Eventually the flow of the game falls into place: do some good damage, collect the orbs, use the opponent’s down time to cause additional destruction, repeat until their health/stamina is gone, then go for pins. Even with an empty bar they will break out of initial pins, but eventually they will give in. The score is tallied and it’s on to the next round.
Even though your goal is to literally be the king of the monsters, poor humans and cities below are being caught in the collateral. Throughout your bout, tanks, helicopters, and other futile efforts will try to intervene. Their attacks can stun you briefly but it's more set dressing than anything, and some vehicles like planes and trains can be grabbed and used as weapons against your opponent. Try doing that in your ordinary squared circle!
There are six monsters dominating six different stages, but upon clearing the sixth round (fought against a recolor of yourself), the game goes into a second loop, Ghosts ‘n Goblins style. In this second half, the monsters are significantly stronger and have much more health than before. Herein lies a flaw. Since grapples are determined based on health, the opponent will win them almost every time. Even if you continue and respawn with full health, it will only be a fraction of what they have. This exposes a quarter-munching disadvantage that is arcadey and off-putting. With grit I still managed to clear these later rounds, but I had to use continues as my version of multiple health bars to keep the fight fair. I’d imagine few ever made it this far in the arcades for this to be a problem, but home play exposes this frustration. Monsters could’ve been given higher defense, fine, but don’t preset a disadvantage.
At first I grimaced having to play a game whose only legacy resides in Nick Arcade reruns. But this wound up being a unique gaming session for me that I’ll remember fondly. I don’t think wrestling games will become a new favorite of mine, but I couldn’t help smiling when a good grapple linked to a throw, and the enemy finally gave in to my fourth pin attempt. In my pursuit for a new but nostalgic spark, this otherwise mediocre game pulled more weight in 2026 than it probably ever did 35 years ago. And that’s something really special.
As a goof, I attempted the Wizard’s Challenge of 3000 points in the first round within 30 seconds… and I totally crushed it in 15. <dusts off shoulders>
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