I miss Power Stone everyday. And while it seems like Capcom isn’t bringing the chaotic multiplayer brawler back anytime soon, we may have a worthy replacement in the form of GigaBash, the new monster-battling game from Malaysian studio Passion Republic Games. The latest heir to the long legacy of games about giant monsters making things go boom (which dates all the way back to the 1986 arcade game Rampage) GigaBash is silly fun that’s easy to recommend.
At its core, GigaBash is a one to four player fighting game played from a bird’s eye perspective. You pick from one of a number of different monsters and use basic attacks, special moves, throws, and the environment to defeat your kaiju kin. The monsters here range from aliens to giant mecha to walking buildings, each specializing in a different type of play. The tutorial starts you out as Gorogong, a straightforward melee-focused fighter with a face so goofy that I couldn’t help but crack up anytime I saw it. Other characters, like Pipijuras, are designed around ranged attacked. And others still, such as the giant snail Skorak, have more complex movesets. However, the emphasis here isn’t on complex inputs — it’s on picking the right move at the right time.
Like Power Stone, GigaBash is about managing your enemies and adapting to the battle. Need to put some distance between you and another kaiju? Rip a tree out of the ground and use it to swat them away. Humans are sending tanks to distract you? Pick one up and use it as a makeshift cannon. The game doesn’t reach quite the same levels of mayhem as Power Stone 2, since the stages tend to stay pretty static, but there is one more similarity to that series in that each monster builds up to a giant S-tier form throughout the match by doing damage and collecting orbs. These forms, like the transformations in Power Stone, can totally turn the tide of a bout — as can the huge Giga attacks that monsters can occasionally unleash.
The presentation in GigaBash fits the proceedings perfectly. Each monster looks great, and the game applies enough screenshake to make the fights feel impactful without making them hard to follow. What most impressed me was the amount of care put into the story mode. Only four monsters have single-player campaigns, and they’re relatively short, but they’re much more crafted than the typical fighting game story mode, with gorgeous, hand-drawn stills that seamless blend into the in-game visuals. The music, too, has some great tracks that I’ve been going back into the game just to listen to.
GigaBash is Passion Republic Games’ first release, but the studio is made up of veterans with years of experience providing outsourcing services for AAA games. That definitely shows in the final product, which is a polished, enjoyable experience that’s likely to become a new favorite for anyone who loves kaiju movies or games like King of the Monsters. GigaBash is available now on PlayStation, the Epic Games Store, and Steam.
