Monster in my Pocket was a line of 1-inch tall toys produced by Matchbox in the early 90’s. What makes these little chunks of plastic interesting is that their designs are based off of monsters from folklore the world over; you’ve got your Frankenstein monsters, vampires, werewolves, and other classics, but there’s also some bizarre deep cuts such as Ganesha (a Hindu god), an umibozu (freaky Japanese yokai), and even Orobas (one of the goddamn Princes of Hell), to name but a few. Inevitable corporate banality aside, it was a surprisingly cool idea for a toy line.
MiMP was given the typical multimedia blitz every fledgling franchise dreamed of: a cartoon, a comic book adaptation, trading cards, clothing…anything and everything the focus group for male youths ages 6 to 12 could ever want and more! For reasons I could never hope to understand, there’s a Monster in my Pocket cartoon reboot on the way this year, so get you mitts on the NES cart before it has a resurgence in popularity and becomes the type of game only a dentist can afford.
This is an early 90’s Konami title, so you know before you even pop this ghoulie into your NES that it’s gonna be most decent. You get to play as either Vampire the vampire or the Frankenstein monster, though the only real difference between them is their sprites. As your tiny monster of choice, you slash and jump your way through six house themed levels filled with fiends aplenty, all of which have a corresponding toy you can buy at your local toy shop to add to your collection of MONSTER IN MY POCKETTM figurines! In all seriousness though, the sheer variety of enemies in the game is something that most other NES games can’t hold a candle to, with over forty uniquely designed baddies to take on. That’s pretty rad.
The game is a standard action platformer of the time, though it’s been blessed with the privilege of being a 1992 NES release. In other words, the music and graphics are more satisfying than getting a full-size chocolate bar dropped in your trick or treat bucket. Monster in my Pocket’s music is so great, in fact, that K-pop sensation BTS got called out for ripping it off last year. No, really!
Even though the graphics themselves are stellar, the game suffers from a monstrous amount of sprite flickering. If your character and one other enemy are on the screen, you’ll be lucky if you can consistently see a third of their bodies. Any more than one enemy and the flicker can potentially get so bad that the action becomes hard to keep track of. I can’t personally think of an NES game I’ve encountered with flicker issues this severe, which is impressive in its own right. It’s not like it hampers the gameplay to a game breaking degree or anything, but man, it sure is rough to look at.
The core gameplay doesn’t get any complaints from me. In a word, it’s simple. The controls are solid and everything works as it’s supposed to, which is more than you can say about plenty of less fortunate NES games. It’s not stupidly easy or punishingly difficult and is overall a pretty fun time, but it lacks a certain je ne sais quoi to help it stand out from the endless pack of other platformers the era had to offer. Monster in my Pocket might not blow you away, but if you’re looking to enjoy a solid game with a slight spooky edge to it, unleashing this beast won’t steer you wrong. Check it out if you can get your claws on it.
Final Score:
NESJunk 