Years ago I purchased a bundle of NES games and among them was a curious game called Monster in my Pocket. I suddenly remembered that this was a line of small action figures I would see in stores during my childhood. I was never interested in these (bigger toys automatically meant better for me back then) nor did I ever know anyone who collected them, but I was aware of them basic concept. I don’t even know if they were particularly popular, but apparently at some point developer Konami took it upon themselves to procure the license to release a video game based on this franchise. There were many other titles that I was more interested in, and thus Monster in my Pocket remained in my possession solely for collection purposes. Well recently I decided to throw it in and give it a shot. If this video game is any indication than the entire property was overflowing with that super cheesy flare of the early 90s. It’s somehow extremely nostalgic for me. On its own merits this eight bit action game is pretty decent overall.
Monster in my Pocket scores points with me right from the start. You’re given the choice of two characters to play as; either a vampire or the monster. The two are obviously based on the classic horror icons Dracula and Frankenstein, but apparently they didn’t want to rock the boat and instead chose generic names that wouldn’t cause any trademark disputes. The story begins with the two pint sized protagonists watching television. The regular broadcast schedule is suddenly interrupted when a Guile (of Street Fighter fame) look-alike suddenly appears on the screen declaring that his henchmen have been dispatched to destroy the heroes. From here they battle across seven different stages to defeat this strongman maniac. Despite being given a choice of protagonist the two play in an identical fashion. Their only attack is a punch (the monster) or scratch (vampire) and they can jump. What’s interesting is the fact that your characters can perform a double jump, but it can only be pulled off during the upward trajectory of the first. You’re armed with a five point life meter at the bottom of the screen as well as a collection of spare lives. When you lose one of these you can continue right from where you left off which is always a welcome feature.
It may sound pretty standard up to this point, but there are a few elements that set it apart from the rest. The first of these is the scenery. Playing off of the miniature toy line our protagonists are small and most of the levels take place in life-size everyday environments. For example the first stage is a household living room where you navigate your way through giant furniture. Next up is the kitchen where stovetops light up and present a hazard for the players. From here things get a little weird. The game takes you outside and even underground, and you even have to fight your way through a construction zone. Then there’s a random oriental garden with bamboo and traditional Japanese huts, and finally a showdown atop Monster Mountain. Thematically this game is all over the place. The enemies are generally monsters (including zombies, skeletons, and others) but pretty soon you’re facing off against fire breathing Tyrannosaurus Rexes and Three Headed Dragons. I’m sure that Konami was just trying to throw all as many of the action figure characters into the mix as possible, but it just gets crazy. I mean that in the best way possible. I found myself frequently chuckling at the sheer absurdity of it all, and things only get crazier as you progress. In the age of Silly Putty, Creepy Crawlers, and Gak I’m pretty sure I would have been a fan.
The real highlight however is in the multiplayer mode. This is purely simultaneous play with both players working together to get to the end of each stage. It is because of this that I’m a little disappointed that the two characters don’t have any real differences. Furthermore, why didn’t Konami include more protagonists here? The toy line was supposedly quite large, and the fact that you only have two characters to choose from is a little disappointing to be honest. The level designs are also a high point. The various stages are fairly challenging and feature well placed hazards throughout. This game is more vertically inclined than your typical platforming title of this era which is a nice change of pace. The focus is on action rather than making intricate jumps which I also liked. The enemies are also diverse and have differing attack patterns. The boss characters are also very well done and include a wide spectrum of classic monsters. I particularly liked the medusa that creates copies of herself which makes for a memorable encounter. While Monster in my Pocket isn’t up to par with Konami’s classic releases they did incorporate some interesting ideas here.
The graphics for the most part are solid. Both the monster and vampire animate surprisingly fluid considering the hardware for which this was released, and both have a significantly large number of different frames. They move so fluidly that it almost looks they’re running in slow motion. Despite this it’s a pleasant effect. While most of the enemies are supposed to represent classic monsters I had a hard time figuring out what some of them were supposed to be. They fudged up the generic skeleton for example, and others left me guessing. The backgrounds are highly detailed for an eight bit title. The artists did a good job of depicting the normal world from an action figure viewpoint. I particularly like some of the objects used here such as a chain link fence that you must climb by jumping to the different sections. The soundtrack is pretty decent, but given the subject matter I was hoping for something a little more horror oriented. For the most part you have some high tempo compositions with a lot of higher pitched notes. It almost sounds like something you’d expect in a Contra game. Despite this I enjoyed this soundtrack.
Licensed titles are generally horrible. To add further insult to injury this is one that no one really remembers, and the premise is cheesy beyond all belief. I went in expecting to hate this title, but what I found was a competent action title. When I finally tried out the co-op mode it was even better. Even if you have absolutely no experience with this franchise the game is still worth checking out. If you’re like me then you will get a chuckle out of the cheesy premise, and enjoy the game for what it is. Monster in my Pocket is one of those rare instances in which I will admit that my initial judgment was completely wrong.
