Reviewed by
BkdTatrHrt
Developed by
Konami
1991
Besides being a lame joke jocks use at parties, monsters in pockets are also small collectables not unlike M.U.S.C.L.E. men that kids in the mid-90s traded and such.
Apparantly they were popular enough to warrant a video game which Konami readily made. Included in the box was an exlusive plastic monster which I own (yes, I bought the game brand new when I was a kid D:) and was used to intice children into buying it. Unlike M.U.S.C.L.E men, Monsters In My Pocket got a pretty decent game.
Plot
I don't know why, but when the entire plot of a game consists of a dude with a bad mohawk coming on a TV and saying "Ha ha ha ha...you fools! While you were watching TV I sent out my henchmen. They will beat you." and then leaving, I really don't feel too motivated to stop him from doing so.
The plot is confusing enough when you figure that this Warlock guy is definately NOT a monster and fits in no where in the Monsters In My Pockets legacy (that may be overdoing it), but when you figure that this man set an elaborate scheme into progress to destroy two pocket monsters while they were watching a rerun of Family Matters, its enough to make your head explode.
When he destroys the two pocket monsters, will he be able to take over the world with his evil reich? When you army consists of plastic zombies and skeletons, the answer is probably NO.
Sound
About two minutes after playing this game, I gurrantee you won't remember one single song from it. I've owned the game for ten years and can only recall the player selection theme music, and that's only because it sounds vaguely like it was from a Castlevania game.
It seems Konami didn't know quite what to do with the game music-wise. They apparantly couldn't decide whether to have dark and haunting music or happy, catchy tunes. They alternate between the two extremes pretty often, but the dark, haunting music seems confined to the sewer and last level. The level three music sounds like it was ripped straight out of a 1950's detective movie. Weird stuff.
The sound FX are the standard bangs, booms, and slashes that you've come to expect out of every NES game over time. Come on Konami, you could have done MUCH better.
Graphics
Considering that the Monsters In My Pocket were all single colored, undetailed pieces of soft plastic, Konami did a very good job adapting them to the big screen. They certainly didn't have much to work with, and made some decent graphics.
Unfortunately, most of the monsters are too much like their plastic counterparts and are composed of one single color. They lack detail as well. It's hard to tell if you're fighting a lion with wings or a lima bean with toilet paper wrapped around it.
Maybe there was a green lima bean monster in the toy line and I missed it. The only thing given a good graphical treatment is Warlock's face at the beginning. After then it's all downhill. Gear up for exciting unidentifiable monster fighting action at its best!
Control
Check out this concept: A button jumps, B button attacks. I know man, it's just bizarre. Kudos to Konami for being a pioneer in the control field of video games and introducing this radical and original control setting.
WHOA! You can do a double jump by pressing A twice! HOLY CRAP! Konami just blew my mind! Konami deserves an award of excellence for this awesome innovation! If I was mayor, I'd proclaim today the official "Monster In My Pocket Video Game Innovative Control Day."
Besides being superbly original, Monster In My Pocket's controls are also very tight and responsive!
No better butter! You got the right one baby! That's the ticket! I hanker for a hunk of cheese! I uhh...can't belive it's not butter. The control is good I tell ya...good.
Gameplay
Jump and slash your way through monotonous levels and try to defeat Warlock. Oh, but wait! You see, you're SMALL and you fight in a house, and because you're small, everything in the house is HUGE! HA HA HA! The joke is on me now Senor' Le' Pepe! This is something I haven't seen since Micro Machines!
I don't know what kind of moron it takes to buy a game just because it allows you to play in a big house (except for me), but they need to be slapped. Konami doesn't take the concept to any heights, and it's just like playing a regular platformer with slightly different looking platforms. The only time they try and make some point of your smallness is when you have to run from renegade golf balls. Run for your life vampire!
I was hoping for something much cooler, like fighting against people on a giant board game or something. Fighting some monsters while navigating through Mouse Trap would be the ultimate cool, and unlike in real life, Mouse Trap would actually work.
Hey! You could also fight enemies on top of a Scrabble board! Quilotteal is not a word you peon! SMASH! Err...maybe that wouldn't be as cool.
Challenge
This game isn't that hard, but it can be brutal. It has a very limited amount of continues (I'm actually not sure if it has any), and you don't have very many lives. You only have 5 energy bars and you lose them very quickly due to cheap shots and the uncanny amount of enemies that appear on screen at one time in the later levels.
I've never beaten this game due to the fact that Warlock is pretty damn hard, and after beating him once you have to beat his giant head on the TV screen (DO NOT ask me to try and explain this.) It's not like it's worth playing through anyways.
Only take the time to beat it if a stellar game isn't handy and you lack a life, like a certain SOMEONE who takes the time to write a review on a game and fantasize about playing on a giant Mouse Trap board. Heh. What a loser.
If you're trapped inside on a rainy day and don't feel the need to emulate Ryu Hayabusa by jumping through the air with a ninja sword in the rain while the entire neighborhood looks at you like a freak, then this is a equal substitute.
You and a friend might enjoy a two-player romp as well. That is, until he runs out of lives and steals one of yours (Damn Konami Syndrome) and you're forced to choke him with your controller wire and make him beg for his life. That'll teach him. Unless you're using one of those wireless controllers. Then you'll just look stupid.
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