GOTD 6/8/2016: Monster In My Pocket (NES)

[celerystalker]

Monster In My Pocket was a popular toy line in the early '90s much in the same vein as M.U.S.C.L.E., revolving around collecting tiny rubber figurines and trading them with your friends. For what was clearly going to be a fad, it lucked out and was licensed by Konami in their heyday to be translated into video game format. Transformed into an action/platformer, the NES game starred the Vampire and the (Frankenstein's) Monster on their quest to defeat the evil Warlock, who challenges them from the other side of the TV screen. Vampire and Monster set out together to crush Warlock for his insolence and prove once and for all that... hell, they just want to beat his ass for being a jerk.

Monster In My Pocket supports one or two players, and players can choose which monster they'd rather play. Playing two players allows for cooperative simultaneous play, which works pretty well save a bit of flicker. The monsters can punch, claw, jump, and double jump to make their way through six modest stages. Occasionally, they'll run across a screw or key to pick up, which you can then hurl at enemies. It all feels really good, though there is little in the way of variety, and you'll see pretty much all of the mechanics in the first level... at least they're a strong suit.

Each stage ends in a boss fight, and there is a boss rush for most of the final level. These creatures are all unique in their patterns, and oddly the first one fights just like Chief Scalpem from Sunset Riders. The challenge level is pretty low, and even the boss rush is a breeze once you get a feel for handling your monster. The whole game takes some 20 minutes or so to beat, but what's there is good... though there's hardly enough action to keep both players busy in co-op.

As a later Konami game, Monster In My Pocket shows off a lot of what they had learned in prior NES development. The backgrounds are bright, colorful, and realistic, conveying a great sense of scale for your tiny monstrous heroes, and has some nice scrolling effects to boot. The animation is very fluid, and the sprites are big and well-defined. The music has the signature percussion common to NES Konami titles of the era, and while okay, hardly live up to Contra or Castlevania. Still, it's an attractive game with smooth control whose only real issue is that it is rather short.

Played it?

[Niku-Sama]

oh I remember the toys but I didn't even know there was a game!
I must find it now...

for some reason it reminds me of Mighty Max

[Emperor Megas]

I didn't even read the review yet. I'm just scratching my head wondering why Guile is on the television, and in a Konami game no less.

[bb_hood]

Monster In My Pocket was a popular toy line in the early '90s much in the same vein as M.U.S.C.L.E., revolving around collecting tiny rubber figurines and trading them with your friends. For what was clearly going to be a fad, it lucked out and was licensed by Konami in their heyday to be translated into video game format. Transformed into an action/platformer, the NES game starred the Vampire and the (Frankenstein's) Monster on their quest to defeat the evil Warlock, who challenges them from the other side of the TV screen. Vampire and Monster set out together to crush Warlock for his insolence and prove once and for all that... hell, they just want to beat his ass for being a jerk.

Monster In My Pocket supports one or two players, and players can choose which monster they'd rather play. Playing two players allows for cooperative simultaneous play, which works pretty well save a bit of flicker. The monsters can punch, claw, jump, and double jump to make their way through six modest stages. Occasionally, they'll run across a screw or key to pick up, which you can then hurl at enemies. It all feels really good, though there is little in the way of variety, and you'll see pretty much all of the mechanics in the first level... at least they're a strong suit.

Each stage ends in a boss fight, and there is a boss rush for most of the final level. These creatures are all unique in their patterns, and oddly the first one fights just like Chief Scalpem from Sunset Riders. The challenge level is pretty low, and even the boss rush is a breeze once you get a feel for handling your monster. The whole game takes some 20 minutes or so to beat, but what's there is good... though there's hardly enough action to keep both players busy in co-op.

As a later Konami game, Monster In My Pocket shows off a lot of what they had learned in prior NES development. The backgrounds are bright, colorful, and realistic, conveying a great sense of scale for your tiny monstrous heroes, and has some nice scrolling effects to boot. The animation is very fluid, and the sprites are big and well-defined. The music has the signature percussion common to NES Konami titles of the era, and while okay, hardly live up to Contra or Castlevania. Still, it's an attractive game with smooth control whose only real issue is that it is rather short.

Played it?

Monster in My Pocket is a pretty decent game, good graphics and all the Series 1 monsters were included as enemy sprites. The guy on the TV is not Guile but the Sorcerer, who is actually from series 2. The game is actually really easy considering all the bosses have very noticable patterns.
The game was originally packaged with a MIMP (monster in my pocket) Series 3 figure, Blemmyae. This figure was only available packaged with the Nintendo NES game and is a very rare MIMP figure, he generally goes for 60-80$. They made 4 color variations of Blemmyae so collecting all 4 is a difficult task.

So if you cant tell I collect MIMP figures and have a fairly huge collection. Collecting MIMP is really fun. The original series 1 figures were released in many color variations and collecting all the rarer premium figures is not easy. Some of these premiums/color variations were available only as cereal box/spegetthios promos. Some rare figures were only available in parts of Europe and Africa. Some of the rarest ones were only available as prizes in arcades in New Jersey. Whats really cool about collecting MIMP is that they really are not that popular amongst collectors (compared to collecting video games) and sometimes you can score very rare figures at reasonable prices.

Anybody else collect these?



Here is a quick pic of some of my collection. Made this little display case out of a used 20gallon acrylic aquarium and legos. This is probably about half my collection.

[celerystalker]

I don't collect them, but really enjoyed that overview. I remember the figures very well, and always thought they looked kinda neat, but was more into Micro Machines at the time. If there are any more collectors here, you should totally make an Off Topic collector's thread like the Funko Pop thread. I might look into buying some as my son gets older.

Hey, out of curiousity, why did they call the Sorcerer the Warlock in the game? Didn't know if you might have a little insight there. Maybe they were going off an early name, as it sounds like it was coming out between series 1 and 2?

[bb_hood]

I don't collect them, but really enjoyed that overview. I remember the figures very well, and always thought they looked kinda neat, but was more into Micro Machines at the time. If there are any more collectors here, you should totally make an Off Topic collector's thread like the Funko Pop thread. I might look into buying some as my son gets older.

Hey, out of curiousity, why did they call the Sorcerer the Warlock in the game? Didn't know if you might have a little insight there. Maybe they were going off an early name, as it sounds like it was coming out between series 1 and 2?

Thanks, I just checked and it looks like the figures name is Warlock. whoops. In my mind I call him Sorcerer tho. He does look like guile when hes on TV.

If anyone is interested, here is probably the best site regarding MIMP figures/color variations/rarities:
http://mimpcollective.weebly.com/mat...t.html#Warlock

[Emperor Megas]

FTR, the Guile comment was just a goof.

That's an awesome collection of figures. I only wish that I knew about these things when I was younger. I wasn't a fan of M.U.S.C.L.E., but I really liked a series of these little robots figures that were in gumball machines in a local supermarket back in the mid-80s. They were smaller than these figures, and obscure, since they were just gumball capsule toys, but that was something that added to the appeal.

[bb_hood]

FTR, the Guile comment was just a goof.

That's an awesome collection of figures. I only wish that I knew about these things when I was younger. I wasn't a fan of M.U.S.C.L.E., but I really liked a series of these little robots figures that were in gumball machines in a local supermarket back in the mid-80s. They were smaller than these figures, and obscure, since they were just gumball capsule toys, but that was something that added to the appeal.

Thanks for the compliment, and yeah I knew you were joking about Guile. He does look like Guile though.
I never collected MUSCLE guys, and they seem to be much more popular than MIMP figures. I like how colorful the MIMP figures are, unfortunatly most of the really cool neon colored ones are rare. I also like Battle Beasts, and had some when I was a kid.

When I was a kid I requested that my mom buy lots of Spagetthi-os because I wanted the mail away MIMP figures. She came back with more than a few cans, however she bought the kind with hotdog chunks instead of meatballs. I was instantly grossed-out by the hotdog chunks and I couldnt eat any of the spagetthi-os. I told my mom that I only wanted the spagettihi-os for the MIMP figures, and she got mad and was like "If you just wanted the toys, I would have simply bought them for you!!". Yeah right, I only got toys during christmas and birthdays. Anyway I was so frustrated I never sent away for the figures. I never had any MIMP figures as a kid because I always saved up to buy nintendo games. I always wanted them though.

[YoshiM]

Monster in My Pocket is a pretty decent game, good graphics and all the Series 1 monsters were included as enemy sprites. The guy on the TV is not Guile but the Sorcerer, who is actually from series 2. The game is actually really easy considering all the bosses have very noticable patterns.
The game was originally packaged with a MIMP (monster in my pocket) Series 3 figure, Blemmyae. This figure was only available packaged with the Nintendo NES game and is a very rare MIMP figure, he generally goes for 60-80$. They made 4 color variations of Blemmyae so collecting all 4 is a difficult task.

So if you cant tell I collect MIMP figures and have a fairly huge collection. Collecting MIMP is really fun. The original series 1 figures were released in many color variations and collecting all the rarer premium figures is not easy. Some of these premiums/color variations were available only as cereal box/spegetthios promos. Some rare figures were only available in parts of Europe and Africa. Some of the rarest ones were only available as prizes in arcades in New Jersey. Whats really cool about collecting MIMP is that they really are not that popular amongst collectors (compared to collecting video games) and sometimes you can score very rare figures at reasonable prices.

Anybody else collect these?



Here is a quick pic of some of my collection. Made this little display case out of a used 20gallon acrylic aquarium and legos. This is probably about half my collection.

Gotta catch them all?

Wait....wrong game.

[eskobar]

MIMP and the NES were very popular in Mexico. MIMP arrived to my country in the form of a candy box with the figure and monster card as a premium. The brand was SONRIC'S and were literally translated as "Monstruos de Bolsillo".

As a kid many of us were crazy for a game that many couldn't buy and because Nintendo still doesn't have official distribution in Mexico and the prices of the few copies that arrived by authorized resellers were very high. You could try to get one copy on the aftermarket but it was not easy. I had the luck to have a VISA and purchased the game on EBGames and to be honest, I really liked the game but LOVED the figure.

Sometimes I play the game and its really good and doesn't hurt that its easy because my gaming skills are really poor.

[SuperCool]

I never had any MIMP, but did have a few MUSCLE figures as a kid. Really liked those.

I didn't own the NES game, but remember renting it and enjoying it. I'll have to try it out again sometime.

[Nebagram]

I used to obsessively collect MiMP when I was 9. Must see if I can find the game anywhere.

[bb_hood]

MIMP and the NES were very popular in Mexico. MIMP arrived to my country in the form of a candy box with the figure and monster card as a premium. The brand was SONRIC'S and were literally translated as "Monstruos de Bolsillo".

As a kid many of us were crazy for a game that many couldn't buy and because Nintendo still doesn't have official distribution in Mexico and the prices of the few copies that arrived by authorized resellers were very high. You could try to get one copy on the aftermarket but it was not easy. I had the luck to have a VISA and purchased the game on EBGames and to be honest, I really liked the game but LOVED the figure.

The Mexican Sonrics Figures are cool. They are slightly different than the Matchbox MEG Monsters. Alot of people collect them and Ive got a few. The Sonrics ones are cool because they were made in different colors than the ones released in the US & Europe.

Gotta catch them all?

Wait....wrong game.

MIMP was the original pocket monsters. Pokemon got nothin on Monsters in My Pocket.

[SpaceHarrier]

I collected the figures as a kid (still got 'em) but only played the game a couple years back. It's actually a lot of fun. Kind of like a mash-up of Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers (gameplay, little characters in a big world) and Castlevania (thematically a bit grim at times, starring Dracula and the Monster). Some decent music too.


bb_hood, amazing collection! I've only got about 20, my favorite being the green Hydra (the one furthest back in your display).

[bb_hood]

bb_hood, amazing collection! I've only got about 20, my favorite being the green Hydra (the one furthest back in your display).

Thanks! Hydra is my favorite also.