King of the Monsters

From Sega Retro

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KotM Title.png

King of the Monsters
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Sega, Takara (US)
Developer:
Genre: Action

















Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code

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King of the Monsters (キング・オブ・ザ・モンスターズ) is a fighting game developed by SNK for their Neo Geo MVS arcade and AES home console platforms. It was subsequently ported to rival systems including the Sega Mega Drive in 1993. The game has the player battle with giant monsters across various cities.

Like all Neo Geo to Mega Drive ports, the Mega Drive version of King of the Monsters takes a huge hit in the graphic and sound departments. Two characters were removed for the Mega Drive version: Poison Ghost and Woo. Much bigger ROMs were released in 1993, so reasons for the removal remain unclear. The game will also not work with six button control pads, forcing the user to use the older three button pad. Compared to other Takara releases, gameplay remained mainly intact. Bizarrely it also includes another version of the TradeMark Security System screen built into the game.

The game's sequel King of the Monsters 2 also made it to the Sega Mega Drive in 1994.

Gameplay

A is for punches, B is for kicks, C or double tapping a direction is for running. Holding down A+B charges a projectile attack. Holding A close to the enemy initiates a grappling maneuver, following this with A performs a simple throw, A + Up/ Down or A+B leads to stronger throws and player reveices a P-item. Collecting enough of these increase the strength of the projectile attack.

Pushing A or B while running performs a character specific move, all of them resulting in a knock down. A downed opponent can be further attacked or pinned. Getting a threecount on a downed opponent wins the match. Player controlled characters will always lose after the third pin.

CPU controlled characters are constantly reading inputs and later fights require the player to avoid grappling manouvers whenever possible as there is no reliable way to avoid being thrown by the CPU.

There is no name entry screen after beating the game and the score counter is reset. However, losing a match lets the player enter his initials (this is likely a design oversight). The ending can only be seen when beating the game on the highest difficulty level.

Playable Characters

  • Geon (resembling Godzilla)
  • Astro Guy (resembling Ultraman)
  • Rocky (Stone Monster)
  • Beetle Mania (Giant Bettle)

Powered up, recolored versions appear later in single player mode. Each Monster has to be defeated twice to clear the game.

Version Differences

The Japanese version features more options, like an easy difficulty level and the ability to increase continues.

Physical Scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
89 №21, p132/133
53 №139, p74/75
48 №7, p81
68 №10, p68/69
10 №10, p61
40 №2, p25
40 №17, p50/51
55 №8, p60-62[1]
80 №33, p64/65
44 №45, p46/47
57 №20, p63
45 №9, p62/63
65 №19, p62/63[2]
67 №12, p28
Sega Mega Drive
 54
Based on
14 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
40
[3]
Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J
60
[4]
Consoles + (FR)
89
[5]
Computer & Video Games (UK)
53
[6]
Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK)
55
[7]
Game Players (US) NTSC-U
50
[8]
Gamers (DE)
33
[9]
Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J
40
[10]
Joypad (FR)
41
[11]
Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) PAL
68
[12]
Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J
61
[13]
Mega (UK) PAL
10
[14]
Mega Action (UK) NTSC-U
40
[15]
Mega Force (FR)
65
[16]
Mega Fun (DE) NTSC-U
39
[17]
MegaTech (UK) PAL
40
[18]
Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL
55
[1]
Player One (FR)
80
[19]
Power Up! (UK)
48
[20]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
44
[21]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
57
[22]
Sega Zone (UK) PAL
45
[23]
Sega Force (UK) PAL
65
[24]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
58
[25]
Supersonic (FR)
67
[26]
Tricks 16 bit (RU)
50
[27]
Video Games (DE) PAL
63
[28]
Sega Mega Drive
 52
Based on
27 reviews

King of the Monsters

Mega Drive, US
KotM MD US Box.jpg
Cover
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Cart
Mega Drive, EU
KotM MD EU Box.jpg
Cover
KotM MD EU Cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, EU (Mega Drive)
KotM MD EU Box Classic.jpg
Cover
KotM MD EU Cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, JP
KotM MD JP Box.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, AU

Mega Drive, KR
KingoftheMonsters MD KR cover.jpg
Cover
KingoftheMonsters MD KR carttop.jpg
KingoftheMonsters MD KR cartback.jpgKingoftheMonsters MD KR cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, Asia
KotM MD AS Box.jpg
Cover
KotM MD AS Cart.jpg
Cart
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 File:MeanMachinesSega08UK.pdf, page 60 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MeanMachinesSega08UK.pdf_p60" defined multiple times with different content
  2. ↑ File:SegaForce19UK.pdf, page 62
  3. ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 156
  4. ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "December 1993" (JP; 1993-11-08), page 25
  5. ↑ Consoles +, "Juin 1993" (FR; 1993-0x-xx), page 132
  6. ↑ Computer & Video Games, "June 1993" (UK; 1993-05-15), page 74
  7. ↑ Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide, "" (UK; 1993-11-18), page 64
  8. ↑ Game Players, "Vol. 6 No. 12 December 1993" (US; 1993-1x-xx), page 186
  9. ↑ Gamers, "August/September 1993" (DE; 1993-07-23), page 66
  10. ↑ Hippon Super, "November 1993" (JP; 1993-10-02), page 42
  11. ↑ Joypad, "Juillet/Août 1993" (FR; 1993-0x-xx), page 145
  12. ↑ Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "June 1993" (UK; 1993-04-29), page 68
  13. ↑ Mega Drive Fan, "February 1994" (JP; 1994-01-08), page 67
  14. ↑ Mega, "July 1993" (UK; 1993-06-17), page 61
  15. ↑ Mega Action, "July 1993" (UK; 1993-06-17), page 25
  16. ↑ Mega Force, "Ete 1993" (FR; 1993-0x-xx), page 116
  17. ↑ Mega Fun, "07/93" (DE; 1993-06-23), page 80
  18. ↑ MegaTech, "May 1993" (UK; 1993-04-23), page 50
  19. ↑ Player One, "Juillet/Août 1993" (FR; 1993-07-10), page 64
  20. ↑ Power Up!, "Saturday, September 04, 1993" (UK; 1993-09-04), page 1
  21. ↑ Sega Power, "August 1993" (UK; 1993-07-01), page 46
  22. ↑ Sega Pro, "June 1993" (UK; 1993-05-13), page 63
  23. ↑ Sega Zone, "July 1993" (UK; 1993-06-xx), page 62
  24. ↑ Sega Force, "July 1993" (UK; 1993-05-27), page 62
  25. ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 87
  26. ↑ Supersonic, "Juillet/Août 1993" (FR; 1993-xx-xx), page 28
  27. ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 17
  28. ↑ Video Games, "10/93" (DE; 1993-09-29), page 98
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