NES Godzilla Chapter 2: Pathos

DISCLAIMER: This story will have graphic imagery. If you are squeamish, I highly recommend not reading any further.

Pathos was the same as Jupiter in layout, except the board was dark blue rather than green. The first thing I noticed was that all the usual level icons had been replaced by a blue rock and some kind of orange honeycomb shape.

There was one icon that had part of the Jungle icon shape, but I didn't pay much attention to it. I checked the other side of the board to see the new monster. Instead of Hedorah, it was Biollante.

But that couldn't have been right. Godzilla vs. Biollante didn't come out until 1989, and this game was made in 1988. Perhaps Toho put Biollante in the game to build excitement for the movie next year, but changed their minds? I tried to rationalize the game's abnormalities any way I could, but this would prove to be futile.

Pathos' map song was the first new song I heard in the game. Like most of the game it was hard to describe, but I'll try.

It started out slow and suspenseful, much slower than any song in the game. But every twelve seconds or so there would be a loud clashing sound, and the tempo changed. It was like the composer randomly played parts from five different songs with the same instrument.

I moved Godzilla over to one of the many blue rock icons that had replaced the jungle icons and started the level. The level resembled a blue mountain range with a blood red planet in the sky. But there was something odd about the mountains, they had a "shredded paper" look to them. I thought at first maybe the glitch had affected it, but it looked far too intentional.

I quickly noticed something else about this new level: There were no enemies, at all. Not even obstacles.

I should also mention that this was where the point meter started to become glitched beyond comprehension. But it didn't bother me much, I never keep up with the game points.

So without having to focus on anything, I listened to the music while walking through the level unopposed. The music had a sorrowful feel to it. It would have been rather pleasant, had I heard it in a normal game.

The level went on for three screens, but with no obstacles around I finished it very quickly. I tried to other levels of the same type to see if any enemies appear, but there were none. There was little else to be seen in the blue mountains, so I tried the other level type.