The primary goal of the game is to activate five separate multiball modes, each themed around an aspect of the movie: Sonar, Godzilla, Baby Godzilla, Taxi, and Helicopter. Each of these can be stacked, substantially increasing their jackpot values. Naturally, much of the game's strategy involves activating all five simultaneously for the biggest payout possible. This is doubly important because completing them all lights "Save New York", a final multiball where the player finally ends Godzilla's rampage through the city and can earn an incredible amount of points based on how well they scored in the previous multiballs. Other modes include "Score Does Matter" and "Mean Green Machine", both of which involve repeatedly shooting a specific shot for extra points.
Important physical features of the game include a Godzilla head near the back of the table that can spit out a ball when Godzilla Multiball starts, his hands (one of which is atop a ramp, the other of which is above a loop shot), and a shaker motor meant to sell Godzilla's destructive power.
Not to be confused with Godzilla (Stern), which was released in 2021 and is based on the original Showa-era films.
This game contains examples of:
- Actor Allusion: The backglass art has some graffiti reading "Save Ferris" – referencing Matthew Broderick, who played the title character of Ferris Bueller's Day Off before starring in the 1998 Godzilla film that inspired the game. (That said, he had no involvement with the game's production.)
- Breath Weapon: The backglass art and certain animations in-gamenote depict Godzilla shooting flames from his mouth (a noticeable departure from both the original Japanese character's blue-colored Atomic Breath and the 1998 version's lack of a real Breath Weapon, with his son having the Atomic Breath instead).
- Dramatic Thunder: The animation that plays upon making a Skill Shot times shows Godzilla roaring immediately after a massive lightning strike in the distance, which hammers home just how dangerous he is.
- Easter Egg: Pressing a specific button combination during Attract Mode shows some hidden credits.
- Giant Foot of Stomping: Several animations show Godzilla stomping on various objects (such as taxis and buildings), befitting the archetypal kaiju.
- Match Sequence: The game's animation depicts Godzilla stomping through New York before ducking out of the way of two missiles launched toward him. They instead destroy two buildings behind him, revealing the match digits.
- One-Eyed Shot:
- The side of the cabinet is dominated by a closeup of Godzilla's eye.
- Obtaining a replay prompts an animation focusing on Godzilla opening one of his eyes (with "replay" overlaid on it).
- Secondary Adaptation: Godzilla is a pinball game based on the 1998 remake of the 1954 film Godzilla.
- Second-Person Attack: Starting Godzilla Multiball prompts an animation of Godzilla lunging toward and biting the camera.
- Skill Shot: Holding the left flipper triggers the Super Skill Shot to begin. The player must shoot the ball up the right ramp after launching it to get millions of points.
- Spelling Bonus:
- Spelling T-A-X-I both starts and finishes Taxi Multiball.
- The goal of "Save New York" is to spell N-E-W-Y-O-R-K for a massive amount of points.
- Wizard Mode: "Save New York", accessed by playing through all five multiballs. The player must spell N-E-W-Y-O-R-K by making jackpots at any major shot, each of which will reward the maximum jackpot value from the preceding multiball modes. Getting a super jackpot will briefly shut down the flippers, reset the player's progress, and double the jackpot value in the main multiball modes as another reward.
