Daikaijuu Monogatari is a Japan-only fantasy video game series of primarily Role-Playing Games developed by BIRTHDAY. It features a human fire elemental hero and three adorable reptilian/amphibious creatures called Shell-beasts saving the world from evil. It utilizes a Dragon Quest-styled gameplay and battle system.
The original game was released in 1988 for the Nintendo Family Computer as Kaijuu Monogatari (with the printed English title Shell Saurs Story). It was published by Namco. The next installment, called Daikaijuu Monogatari (or Greater Tale of Shell Monsters by a translator), was released for the Super Famicom in 1994, few days before Christmas. From that release, the series was published by Hudson Soft.
A sequel called Daikaijuu Monogatari II for the Super Famicom was released in August 1996. In the following year, a Trading Card Game called Daikaijuu Monogatari: THE MIRACLE OF THE ZONE (MOZ) became available. There is a Game Boy game featuring this TCGnote and a Game Boy Color sequel, as well as a manga. A Spin-Off featuring one of the main Shell-beasts (Poyon's Dungeon Room) was released for the Game Boy Color and has its own sequel.
The Daikaijuu Monogatari series has been presumably dormant since the early 2000s, although a mobile port of the 1994 game with enhancements was released in 2006. The early 2020s saw Kaijuu Monogatari being a component of the Japanese version of Namcot Collection and MOZ getting a reprint by Bandai Premium. BIRTHDAY has worked on additional intellectual properties including the video game Elemental Gimmick Gear, the anime Twin Princess of Wonder Planet, MOZ's successor Miracle V Master, and the Boken! Hakken! Daimeiro maze booksnote .
Tropes:
- All in a Row: All the time if a character or object is with you.
- All Your Powers Combined: The Combo Shell
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: Gab Farr and his minions in the first game
- Big Eater: Poyon, especially in the 2nd game
- Bio-Augmentation: How Baltes became the way he was: Dr. Doan fused him with a beast
- But Thou Must!: In the first game, the Shell Beast Elder makes you take the mantle of the Fire Shell Hero regardless of your choices (He will ask 4 times)
- Call to Adventure: Each of the Heroes in the first game aside from the Elemental Shell Heroes and Pot have reasons as to why they are fighting. (Most of them received letters from Abaluda: King of Sandside, requesting that they take up arms against Dogler)
- Character Level: Even leveling up fully restores the entire party in the 1994 game!
- Critical Hit
- Dark World: In the 2nd game, the Dark Zone and the world itself is covered in darkness after the floating continent collapses
- Dirty Old Man: Magi He forgets all his magic when the woman he feels up, smashes his head with a serving tray
- Distressed Dude The Fire Shell Hero himself in the 1st Super Famicom Game
- Evil Is Not a Toy: In Daikaijuu Monogatari 2, Dr. Doan releases Dark from his seal in order to gain knowledge about the ancients; Dark spares Doan in exchange for servitude.
- Get on the Boat: Few times.
- Global Airship: Gromler Bug in the first Super Famicom game. The Dragobird in the second.
- The Greatest Story Never Told: The Hero is sent home in all the games after the final battle.
- The Great Flood: Twice over in the First Super Famicom Game, completely subverted in the second as the inner ocean is completely drained after Dark sinks the floating continent, pieces of it fall into the inner ocean, creating large holes in the ground causing the water to sink into the Underworld
- Heroic Sacrifice: The Robot in the first Super Famicom Game remains on the meteorite to send it back to space while Gabro in the second game throws himself into the Dark Zone
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Jodan uses magic to turn the hero into a pig, but he hits a mirror causing it to backfire on himself.
- A Homeowner Is You: Not too literally, but in both Super Famicom games, the hero can have his own town!
- Hub City: Dorado City in the first game.
- Interchangeable Antimatter Keys: Silver keys in Kaijuu Monogatari.
- Irony: Gab Farr wanted an Aura Ball to create a new generation of creatures like himself, is sealed into one after his defeat
- The Man Behind the Man: The Sorcerer Dark created 2 copies of Fat Badger, one was sealed in Dorado City by the Heroes in Kaijuu Monogatari while the Kutominians sealed the other in an isolated area
- Mineral MacGuffin: The Aura Stones
- Monster Clown: Jodan in 2 He kidnaps children, turns them into pigs and forces them to perform to make money, after the world is covered in darkness, those that don't submit to him will not be sold Photon Oil (Needed for light)
- Noble Demon: Megaloking Subverted in the 3rd fight in which his memories are erased however his memories do return before death
- One-Winged Angel: The Final bosses of both Super Famicom games Gab Farr transforms into a giant fly, while Dark transforms into a large monster wearing armor
- Playing with Fire: The protagonists of both games, the Fire Dragon, and others.
- Really Royalty Reveal: Killer is Lester, Royal Prince of Shelldorado who was washed away 20 years ago.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: There are 4 across the Famicom and Super Famicom games, Fat Badger was one of two of the same monster bearing the same name, in Kaijuu Monogatari he was sealed by the Fire Shell Hero, the other was sealed away in a special location by the wizards of Kutomina. The one sealed by the Fire Shell Hero of Kaijuu Monogatari was liberated from his seal in Daikaijuu Monogatari. In the same game, Gyab Far, the Big Bad, winds up being sealed inside the Aura Sphere he so sought to covet for his own ends. Dr. Doan unsealed Dark in Daikaijuu Monogatari 2 in the hopes of learning more about the past.
- Tablet: Kutomina, at the center of Shelldorado, fell prey to twin monsters created by a dark sorcerer who was bent on destruction. One vanished into the miasma, but the Queen's wizards contained the evil sorcerer, and the second monster. Sealing them here, the inhabitants fled the ruined land and relocated to the floating castle. Those who read this, be warned. Do NOT break the seal. You must never allow these monsters to escape. The nightmare would resume!-
- Sealed Good in a Can: Pot in both games and the summon spells in 2
- Shout-Out: Fat Badger in the first Super Famicom game looks a lot like Oozaru from Dragon Ball Z.
- We Can Rule Together: Dark makes this offer several times to the Fire Shell Hero in 2.
- You All Meet in an Inn: The Heroes Quarters in Sandside
- You Can't Thwart Stage One: Dark gets all the Aura Stones regardless and releases a sealed entity on the floating continent to amplify his own power, he then causes said continent to collapse, covering the world with darkness and draining the inner oceans
- You Have Failed Me: Gab Farr kills his own daughter and Dark kills Phantom Queen
