One of the most curious things to appear during Ultraman‘s Wilderness Years was an expansion on one of the original show’s mainstays: The Science Patrol. Ultra Tactics Squad Go! is by far one of the most interesting pieces of Ultraman media from around this time, as Ultraman himself was nowhere in sight, as this is fully focused on our orange-clad heroes. Set between the events of Ultra Q and Ultraman, this video game features the Science Patrol battling all sorts of various kaiju and alien threats to the planet.
The fun thing about this game is that rather than use kaiju from these early shows, we have a whole group of new guys! Designed by Shinji Nishikawa who has worked on numerous tokusatsu projects such as Godzilla, Ultraman, Toho’s Star God Series and SSSS Gridman. The cool thing about these guys is that they all are meant to emulate the original Ultraman kaiju in terms of style without cribbing too much from them, so we get a collection of creatures that feel like they could’ve hypothetically been made in the 60’s! It sits in a very grey area of the Ultra canon, but when have I ever cared about canon here? We’re here to talk about kaiju!
While I haven’t personally played the game, there is thankfully a ton of information surrounding it. Sadly, this game was only for the PC-9800 computer systems, making it virtually impossible to play on anything modern. And even if it was, it’s a text-heavy strategy game that hasn’t been fully translated, so I imagine it wouldn’t as exciting to play compared to games like the Fighting Evolution series.
GOLD KING
Our first kaiju here is Gold King! A monster closely related to the Red King species, Gold King feeds upon nuclear energy. Gold King is the first opponent for the newly formed Science Patrol after the monster attacks a nuclear powered ship. The Science Patrol is able to vanquish the monster with Ide’s new fission bullet invention, but Prof. Ichinotani (the professor from Ultra Q who is said to have founded the Science Patrol in various materials, particularly this one) is injured, forcing him to retire earlier than expected.
Gold King’s nothing more than Red King with a new head and some fancy radiation storing shoulders…but I actually really like that! Red King already was recycled for Aboras in the original show, so who’s to say that they wouldn’t just alter his costume again to make something like Gold King? It’s really a fun little meta joke to kick everything off.
Nishikawa struggled with designing Gold King for quite some time, creating numerous designs before finally being inspired to make the monster along the lines of good ‘ol Red King. The monster’s circular shoulder sacs (called nuclear dew in the game), were inspired by honeypot ants, as well as being a feature that would be an obvious weakspot for players to target. And since Nishikawa drew so many designs for this guy, why don’t we take a gander at some of the notable ones?
This design here is a serviceable reptilian monster, and I like how the armor on the top of his body appears to be screwed in almost! It’s a design that would’ve been good for Gold King had it been used.
This one here is really cool, and feels like it’d fit in well with one of the Heisei entries. Are those tubes on his back inspired by Leogon?
Of the scrapped Gold King designs, this is my favorite, and it really feels like would’ve been a fantastic monster suit if it appeared in a show, and I like how he’s got a big dew on his neck. They all open up too to fire off beam weapons, which is fun!
This last one is alright, feeling perhaps a bit more generic compared to the other ones we’ve seen, but still not a bad monster design in it’s own right. I do love those Baragon-esque ears he’s got!
BIRUGAMERA
A giant monster that was asleep underground for millions of years, Birugamera reawakens in the modern day, with an apartment on top of him! While Birugamera looks slow, the creature is quite vicious with his armored carapace, sharp claws and fire breath. The Science Patrol has to act quickly as there is a child trapped in the apartment on Birugamera’s back. The day is saved when Birugamera is sent packing after the Science Patrol fires a liquid nitrogen bullet to drive it away.
One of the rare turtle kaiju we find in Ultra, Birugamera’s a fun addition to that kaiju niche. While he doesn’t quite nail down the Tohl Narita aesthetic of Gold King, I feel like Birugamera has a lot of fun features to him, such as those large, silver claws and that mean mug he’s got. Of course, what makes him really memorable is the apartment complex he has on his back, which is a design aspect I’m surprised hasn’t been done in the shows up to this point (outside the possible exception of Builgamo).
Nishikawa based Birugamera’s clawed arms off of sea turtles and designed Birugamera around the monster being able to dive underground with ease by integrating the neck and head. The apartment on Birugamera’s back, was in fact, based on the apartment Nishikawa was living at the time!
GOROMOS
A burrowing kaiju, Goromos feeds on coal, and uses it’s keen sense of smell to find it’s favorite food. The monster’s armor and teeth are made out of diamond, created from the coal the monster continually ingests.
Goromos is another fun one, since, much like Gold King, Goromos is supposed to be another repurposed “suit”, this time being a hypothetical Baragon modification! Nishikawa intended Goromos to essentially be a missing link between the Pagos and Neronga suits, and the monster’s armored neck is meant to hide any patching done if this was a suit. It’s a really clever idea for the game’s setting, and a wonderful in-joke to what sort of monsters would’ve cropped up if this was an actual show from the 60’s. And much like his fellow Baragon spawn, the fact his diet consists of a common resource is just icing on the cake.
IOGON
A strange bio-weapon created by the Kemur Men after their failure in Ultra Q, Iogon has the ability to emit a wave that transports human beings to another dimension. The Science Patrol are only able to stop it once they defeat Kemur, causing Iogon to cease it’s function.
Iogon’s another in-joke, albeit a deeper cut compared to Goromos or Gold King, as the monster’s existence is basically used to justify why Muramatsu mentions the Science Patrol vanquished Kemur after Mefilas summons an illusion of the alien. Was it something that demanded an explanation? No, but is it fun? Yes.
The original idea behind Iogon was an anglerfish monster named Bio King, until Nishikawa decided to take design inspiration from characters like Chibull and Zetton. Personally, while I do like the initial Bio King concept, I am glad we got Iogon as it turned out. The monster’s design feels very much in line with characters like Balloonga, and Bullton, and helps add a lot of variety to an already fairly diverse group of critters.
MILONGA
The ghost of a young woman torn away from her lover, Mido haunts Lake Ryujin and attacks her opponents with her deadly electric powers. Mido is another design based around being a hypothetical repurposed suit, this time being Bemular. That being said, the large, wing-like ears and pointed snout really do feel like something the special effects team would’ve done back in the day.
Around the same area, is another spirit, Longa. The ghost of a man who drowned himself after being forced to break up with his lover, Longa appears from the bottom of Lake Ryujin after his slumber has been disturbed. Longa doesn’t look too crazy, especially compared to Mido, but he’s not a bad saurian monster. But what’s with this pattern on his back right here?…
Mido and Longa are able to combine into one monster named Milonga! It’s a fun idea for a monster, and these two heartbroken ghosts becoming one monster has a lot of pathos and I could easily see this being a really emotionally charged and classic episode if this was in one of the TV entries. I also really love how Mido essentially goes into Longa as if she was entering a monster suit, complete with her ears forming armor for his head! What a unique way to have the pair fuse!
Nishikawa went through quite a few designs for these guys. Nishikawa originally went with a dragon-like monster combining with a four-legged beastie, drawing upon Thai statues of demons and dragons. I like the initial version of Longa here, as he looks quite like some sort of prehistoric mammal.
When Mido was more draconic in nature, Nishikawa originally gave her insect legs to match Mido’s horns , and Mido originally would go from a quadruped to a biped after fusing. It’s all very elaborate stuff, and while I prefer these designs ultimately to the final models, they do look fairly elaborate, so I can understand why they’d get simplified down to match the original show’s aesthetic and limitations, as well as being easier to create for the photos.
REBORN BIRUGAMERA
Birugamera returns, now stronger than ever after absorbing cosmic rays. This incarnation of Birugamera battles Space Bird X, but soon perishes against the space beast. The new version of Birugamera isn’t as charming as his first incarnation, but his new back shell certainly makes him an intimidating opponent, and I feel like the design is strong enough to warrant it’s own story in the game, rather than being fodder for the final boss.
While this Birugamera is just an upgraded form of the previous incarnation, his past is a much more interesting than just a slightly gnarlier looking Birugamera;
This version of Birugamera was a redesign of one of Nishikawa’s concepts for the infamous Bagan from the unmade Mothra vs. Bagan. Reborn Birugamera wasn’t the first Ultra kaiju spawned from a Bagan design (that would belong to Kilazee from Towards the Future). In addition to Bagan, the Reborn Birugamera design would take a healthy amount of inspiration from beetles, as well as designing the monster as if it was going to be an actual suit. I really like it when the kaiju seen in the non-live action stuff take that approach, as I feel the suitmation limitations really help establish the Ultra kaiju aesthetic.
SPACE BIRD X
The game’s final boss, X arrives on Earth inside of a massive meteorite, hatching fully grown when the Science Patrol uses their new Silver Arrow weapon. X soon makes mincemeat out of Birugamera, and begins a devastating rampage. Armed with razor sharp wings, and a destructive ‘Black Spark’ attack that causes body fluids to boil rapidly.
X was originally designed to be a more typical bird monster, but was changed into a Zetton-like character, incorporating several features of the infamous kaiju such as Zetton’s dark skin, glowing eyespots and silver horns. Nishikawa viewed X as a biological counterpart to the more inorganic Zetton, giving the monster teeth and claws. Lastly, X’s own name is a reference to how Zetton’s own name starts with the last letter of the English alphabet, so it makes sense the game’s final boss would be a nod to the original arch-foe of the franchise. He’s a fun tribute to the original finale, and the fact that he’s supposed to be a “biological” counterpart to Zetton raises all sorts of fun questions regarding his relationship to his inspiration. Did the Zettonians alter a Space Bird into their Ultra-killing monster? Is X just a larval form of Zetton? It’s rife with so many interesting possibilities. And seeing how in the game’s story, X is the last kaiju the Science Patrol battle before Bemular arrives, so it’s a nice bit of foreshadowing to the challenges Ultraman, and the Science Patrol will have to overcome later on…
Easter's Kaiju Kompendium 