Monster in My Pocket is an action-adventure platformer video game developed and published by Konami for the Nintendo Entertainment System released in North America in 1992, and published by Palcom Software on the PAL region the same year. It is based on the media franchise of the same name developed by American company Morrison Entertainment Group. The player takes control of either Vampire or The Monster, two monster characters who have been reduced in size and fight enemies mainly using melee attacks.
The Asian release of this game is titled Batman & Flash, which is an unlicensed ROM hack of the game where the main playable characters are replaced with the DC superhero characters Batman and The Flash.
Plot[]
Monster in My Pocket essentially follows the same concept of the comic book, especially Series 1, although it alters the personalities of Hobgoblin and Gremlin, initially good monsters but now appearing as villains, to the extent that Gremlin is a boss.
Warlock, wanting to gain power and rule over all the other monsters, creates a shrinking spell to use as punishment for anyone who chooses to oppose him. As time goes on, all of the monsters choose to join his side, except for Vampire (a Dracula like character) and The Monster (a Frankenstein's Monster like character). However, the spell was miscast, causing all of the monsters to shrink in size.
Warlock sends out his henchmen, led by Spring Heeled Jack, Bigfoot, Kraken, Gremlin and Medusa, while Vampire and The Monster are watching TV in the Miles home. The duo must fight their way through the upstairs and kitchen of the house, and then the street and the sewer. Afterward, they emerge in a construction site and continue to an Orientalist garden before fighting Warlock at Monster Mountain, although that is not the end of the game.
Gameplay[]
Vampire and The Monster's abilities in the game are the same; they can perform an attack that can extend slightly beyond their bodies with a bit of a blaze, and they can also perform a double jump from the top height of their normal jump. The journey and all battles take place in common everyday environments, like various home furnitures, stairs and kitchen's tools, although appearing in gigantic proportions due to their and their enemies' shrunken status. Besides their melee attacks, the heroes can occasionally find a "giant" key which they can pick up and throw at their enemies.
Development[]
The remaining good monsters from the comics: Werewolf, Vampiress, Golem, Swamp Beast, The Phantom of the Opera, Jotun Troll, Invisible Man, Dr. Jekyll, and Mummy, made no appearance in the game, although Werewolf did appear on the cover. All the other Series 1 monsters were included as enemies in the game. Warlock and Minotaur were the only two monsters from Series 2 to appear in the game.
Blemmyae appeared prominently on the cover, and the figure was distributed exclusively with the game, although he did not appear in the game itself. He came inside the box, next to a smaller piece of Styrofoam that NES cartridge boxes normally contained.
Gallery[]
![Key artwork by Tom duBois.[1]](/wiki/File:Monster_in_My_Pocket_-_02.jpg "Monster in My Pocket - 02.jpg (2.2 MB)")
References[]
- ↑ Restored by Jefferson Taylor. @JTaylorPro at Twitter (June 10, 2023).