NES Godzilla Chapter 5: Entropy Part 2

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

After...THAT, the game took me back to the board screen. I did what I could to not burst out screaming and my hands were shaking so badly that I could barely hold the controller.

I knew the game was going to test me if I kept playing, but I had no idea it would go so far. Or that it was even capable of doing what it just did. I could feel my brain going haywire as I asked myself, "Did the game just read my mind?" It didn't seem possible, but what other explanation was there?

It was then that I could no longer deny what now seemed obvious. The game is alive. And not only that, it can establish some kind of mental connection with the player.

And yet...I couldn't convince myself to stop playing. I don't know if it was the game messing with my mind or just my stubborn curiosity, but even with the previous revelation, I really wanted to see this through to the end. Even more than I did before I beat Dementia.

Terrifying as it might be, even dangerous, I knew that if I quit playing I would never be able to stop thinking about it. If I tried to restart the game it might go back to being normal again. How many people ever get to witness something like this firsthand, let alone be able to take screenshots of the whole thing?

Messed up as it was, this was the experience of a lifetime.

But even so, I couldn't take any chances with my health. I had the TV remote right next to me, ready to turn the TV off in case I felt I was in actual danger. And if that didn't work, I would pull the plug out of the wall or just run out of the room.

Surely, that would be enough...

Whatever powers the "game" has, it seemed to be confined to what it can show me on the TV and whatever its "mental connection" can do. The latter was what worried me. I still didn't know what I was dealing with, so I wasn't about to underestimate it.

I took a break for a few minutes to calm my nerves and then it was back to the game.

And speaking of TVs, there was a TV screen icon right below the white forest level I had just left from and because the first animation was so bizarre I figured I'd try another to see what happens. Although I expected the same animation, I got a totally different one:

Weird. The music for this one was the Neptune board music. Fitting I suppose, since it's a fishman and all. I can't help, but wonder what the point of these things were. There was one more TV screen icon so I figured it must have a unique animation of its own. I was going to make sure to see what it was before I left Entropy.

Now, it was time for another level. The gold brick icon was the closest thing, so I went to that and started up in a "Gold Labyrinth" level.

My health and power bars were refilled. I'm not sure how or why, but I was glad that I was not heading into the unknown nearly dead. I also noticed that the Mothra sprite had shrunk to half its original size.

The music was a slow, ominous drum beat with female vocals kicking in about a minute into it.

The gold labyrinth itself was an anomaly. I'm not sure how this level would have played out if I was using Godzilla or Anguirus because flying seemed necessary just to get around this place.

Another thing that caught my attention was that when you turn left your monster actually turns and faces left. That sounds stupidly obvious, but in the original game you were supposed to move to the right, so when you try to move left your monster ended up walking/flying backwards.

This level was apparently gigantic in size because every time I thought I reached an end to it or thought I was going to end up back where I started I encountered something totally new. Things like lava blockades, new enemies, and statue faces.

I found one statue face at a dead end with a wide, open eyed stare. The night Melissa died, she had an expression on her face that looked exactly like this the whole time. Even when she got hit by the truck, she still had that same expression. I can't help, but feel like something is really staring at me from behind the screen when I look at this.

I really didn't want to be reminded of that night anymore, so I left the statue almost as soon as I found it. I needed to find the exit anyways, which proved to be no simple task. It felt like this level stretched on forever in all directions. I must have wandered around the level for at least fifteen minutes before I finally saw something.

It was a creature that wasn't gold. Seemingly, the only of its kind in this level. Lacking any kind of hover ability like the other creatures, it just walked back and forth on the platform.

It wasn't long after I saw a flying machine swooped down, grabbed it, and flew off with it. The machine had not seen me, so I decided to follow it to see where it was taking the creature.

The machine stopped at a room with a large cauldron like object in the center. The machine hovered over the cauldron and dropped the creature into it. The creature emerged from a hole on the side of the cauldron and was now adorned in the same gold color as everything else. The machine flew off. I'm not really sure what to make of this, but I'm really glad that I came upon it because I found the exit soon after.

When I got back to the board, I realized the bosses had not moved at all. A bit odd, but it didn't bother me. It made planning through Entropy easier. There were still two new icons to explore, the Indigo Cliffs and a black version of the labyrinth. Since there were only three black labyrinth icons (which were surrounded by bosses) I played the Indigo Cliffs first.

It was a lot like blue/green mountains. The level graphics had the same "shredded" look to it. There's also a recolor of the clouds and moon from the toxic waste dump. The music (if you can even call it that) was merely a deep rumbling noise.

One of the first things I encountered were these multicolored creatures with big heads emerging from a small cave in the ground. They all made a synchronized shaking sound and they walked to the right in a group after emerging from the cave, ignoring me.

Having no other way to go, I followed them on their route. More and more emerged from the cave until the group had about a hundred of them. Eventually, the pathway ended on a cliff. I was shocked to see that upon reaching the cliff, all the creatures began jumping into the abyss. I've seen enemies walk off cliffs before, but I've never seen NPCs commit mass suicide like this. Very unsettling way to start off a level.

I continued on flying over various strange animals like the ones shown here:

Another group of multicolored bobble heads were jumping up and down only to be snatched up by large birds, which I'm fairly certain are the giant condors from Godzilla vs The Sea Monster. I defeated some of the condors in battle, but it bothered me that these bobble heads seemed to be so eager to die. If the game itself is alive...perhaps the creatures in these levels are also "alive?" And some have very unhappy lives, if this behavior is any indication. But what provoked them to do this? In the back of my mind, I almost suspect that the glowing moon in the sky is the reason.

At the end of the level, I saw another group of bobble heads marching up to a large monster and were being devoured. This was beginning to disgust me, so acting on impulse I fired off eye beams at both the monster and the bobble heads and I destroyed the cave. The monster was angry and ran through the remaining bobble heads to fight me. Although it lacked any ranged attacks, it was relentless. But it was no match for me.