2 years ago, before my blog was even a year old, I dedicated the month of November to Pokémon in celebration of its 20th anniversary! It was the first theme month I attempted(meaning: It quickly turned into a PokéWEEK that bled into the next month due to some life conflicts) and my own tribute to the awesomeness the Pokémon franchise had given us the last few decades. I didn't have any Plug n Play or unofficial games based around Pokémon to feature, but I DID have a truckload of Pokémon brick sets, from both the official and knockoff sides of the spectrum, and I got to share my love of the franchise through my own collections! It was fun, it covered a good number of different kinds of brick set that I cover on this blog, and I got to show off a few obscure toys you probably didn't even know existed! Everything that makes this blog worth it!
However, I haven't even made a DENT in my collection of official and unofficial Pokémon toys and games! Besides the sets I had at the time, I found a good number of other unofficial sets and figures made to fill that Pokémon-shaped void for brick sets. ...Which has since been filled in, as Mega Construx gained the license to Pokémon sets last year, and has since produced a LOT of buildable figures and sets! And, since I started featuring bootleg and pirate homebrew and demake games, I have a whole new avenue of unofficial Pokémon merchandise to stroll down! I'm nowhere near featuring all the Pokémon merch I'd like to, so might as well keep going! That's why I'm bringing back the look with:
Since I didn't feature any Pokémon-themed pirate games last time, what better place to start off this month than with a look at one?! For our first stop this Pokémonth, let's take a look at Pocket Monster for the Famicom/NES! ...I'd like to say that's as generic as the names for these toys and games get. ...I'd like to...
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Name: Pocket Monster
Developer: Gamtec(?)
Release Date: 2000s(?)
Console: Famicom/NES
...I don't have much of an intro for this post. ...Nor much of anything else either, given how little I have on it, physically and information-wise. This is usually where I give a short history of a franchise, an overall look at the "unofficial" side of a console or game, and/or my personal thoughts on everything. However, I basically already did that in my introductory ramble to the previous Pokémonth, and any additional information since then doesn't apply to this certain game. With what little information I have, and how simplistic the game is, this might end up being one of my shorter reviews. ...But, seeing as how we're starting this month late and we have a LOT more to cover, I guess that's a GOOD thing. Let's cut the junk and get down to business!
I don't even have a physical copy of this game, nor any proof it came on its own cartridge! It was released on a good number of multicarts, but I can't find any currently for purchase, so I don't have my usual unnecessary nitpick of the cartridge art or design. ...You're all crushed to hear that, I know...
Luckily, it IS included on the CoolBaby 600-in-1, which I briefly mentioned in my review of that console. ...In a horribly stretched and skewed look, but at least it's in HD! ...720p anyway...
I also have no information on who the developer for this game is. According to the Bootleg Games Wiki article, the developer may have been Gamtec, or had some tie to them, but evidence is virtually nonexistent. I briefly mentioned Gamtec in my review of the Boogerman Famicom demake, but, since it's unknown who was behind this particular game, I'll save a more in-depth look for when we feature an actual Gamtec game. ...Don't worry. We'll have a LOT to choose from!
The game starts up with this short animation of Pikachu blinking its eyes as he wears what I assume is Ash's hat. ...Is it any wonder why Pikachu is one of the most recognizable and adorable cartoon characters in existence?! Even in a cheap pirate game like this, they manage to capture just how cute and wide-eyed this little electric mouse is! And on an 8-bit game, where you were lucky to get a recognizable still of a face! It's probably stolen from something, but I need to give them credit that they were able to pull off a picture THIS detailed on a game Color Dreams wouldn't claim!
...Enjoy it while you can. This is as good as Pikachu's depiction gets...
The game features 4 zones of 3 levels each, each one introduced by this animation of a Pokéball rolling onscreen, only to explode and reveal Pikachu, who proceeds to wave away the smoke. Anyone familiar with the show or Pokémon Yellow will know of Pikachu's hatred of Pokéballs, so the "waving" might be a victory dance that he managed to burst through another ball. ...Of course, we're talking tiny storage capsules that are meant to store living creatures. What Pokémon WOULDN'T want to escape these things?
The game starts off in Zone 1: Velbt. ...I'm pretty sure they meant "Veldt", which is usually used to describe wide, grassy areas of Africa with the occasional bush and tree. ...But, seeing as how the area in this level doesn't match that description, they could have meant to type "Planet Jupiter's Red Spot" for as much connection it has to the layout...
The game takes the form of your standard oldschool 2D platformer. Walk from left-to-right, jump from surface to surface, avoid all the enemies and other hazards, and reach the end of the screen to get to the next area. It's a layout that dates back to the Colecovision, and one we're all painfully familiar with. In fact, I think it's law nowadays that we're all required to use some program to create our own side-scrolling platformers at some point in our lives. ...Or is that not why Disney Infinity, Bloxels, or Super Mario Maker exist?
For attacks, Pikachu has your standard jump-on-the-enemy-heads, which take down most of the monsters in one hit.
As well as an electric attack activated using the other button that fries everything onscreen. These attacks require batteries you occasionally find on your journey, and you have a maximum of only three at a time. ...However, with how sparsely populated the levels are with live hazards, it's more than likely you won't need to use it and you may even forget you have it. ...Until you hit the wrong button and remind yourself by wasting a battery.
You know how the Pikachu on the title screen was adorable, and the Pikachu for the zone introduction wasn't too far off, either? ...Well, here's the actual in-game sprite. Now, from the side, Pikachu looks just fine. ...Except for those long, boneless tube arms...
...But then he stops moving and we get a frontal view. ...Wow, guys... The rest of the body looks fine, but they gave him the two-dots-and-line face you'd see on a stick figure! He looks like a lazy attempt at that old Give Pikachu a Face meme from 2004! You've drawn him twice, already, and you gave up on the Pikachu that actually matters in the game?!
Even the face next to the life counter looks more like a Pikachu head than the main sprite!
...Or maybe the twist is that this Pikachu's actually a Ditto? ...Now I want a Kirby-style game where you control a Ditto who can take the form and powers of the various enemy Pokémon! ...And actually provides some level of challenge, unlike most Kirby games...
However, Pikachu's face could be considered a good indicator of how simplistic this game is. Most of the gameplay is comprised simply of walking all the way to the right, avoiding enemies as you go. Played the original Super Mario Bros? This game makes that game look like a flight simulator in terms of complexity...
Still, it's not a pirate game without the mandatory bugs and control glitches that make progression infuriating... If you jump at the wrong angle and land on a platform just right(or wrong), you'll end up INSIDE the edge of the platform, unable to go forward! Thankfully, you can just jump out of this position and land on the platform proper and go on your way, so this glitch is harmless.
...However, this is a glitch that will only activate if you're LUCKY! Most of the time, landing anywhere but dead center on a platform, or even walking too far towards the edge, will result in you FALLING THROUGH! This is a common bug in even licensed games of the 80s and 90s, where the programmers didn't define a wide enough area to cover each individual platform, so the same amount of solidity is given to each platform, no matter how big or small it is! It's annoying, it leads to many cheap deaths, and it's probably one of the major reasons traditional 2D platformers have fallen out of favor...
And while it's not as bad here as some other pirate games I've played through, expect the ghostly platform glitch to be your major source of life depletion as you get used to the game layout.
Applies to enemies as well...
However, the biggest obstacle in the game, as with most pirate games, are the controls. This is ALWAYS the hardest thing to describe, as unless you've played the game, you'll likely have no idea what I'm talking about. Pikachu's movement is very clunky. Not at the level to make him dive off a platform every time you push a button, but enough that you never feel like you have complete control. He never comes to a complete stop when you let go of the button, meaning he'll always move a few pixels more than you intend! Whenever he lands from a jump, he'll usually take a half-step towards whichever direction you're pointing in, so even if you're aiming for dead center on a platform, he'll intentionally move away, and occasionally fall off said platform! EVERY time you jump, or you even position yourself to jump, you run the risk of overshooting your mark or falling off the platform you're on!
The thought of having to jump between these spike pits still makes my skin crawl...
Thankfully, the platforms are wide enough on the first level of Velbt to keep this from becoming too much of a problem. Once you have it down where the enemies are, especially this invincible spikey star thing, you can get through the first level with little problem. ...Eventually.
As long as you dodge these spikes on loan from Sonic the Hedgehog...
...But once you reach Level 2, you can kiss your sanity goodbye! Nearly every step, there's something else trying to kill you! First, you have the beginning enemies, comprised of this fly you can easily jump on
...And BULLETS! From here on out, the enemy roster includes these giant black projectiles that appear without warning from the right side of the screen, usually in pairs! They're indestructible and VERY hard to avoid, so expect to take a couple hits before you've memorized precisely when and where they show up and where to stand or jump to keep from being hit! ...Because guns were a huge part of Pokémon, weren't they?!
...Apparently, they were...
After eventually getting past the beginning enemies, you then have to jump past these spike pits, the last one ending on a narrow piece of platform!
From there, you get to jump across regular-sized platforms, avoiding floating enemies, two of which can't be jumped on!
Then you get to meet this bird and troll duo, who make it difficult to avoid one while jumping on another, especially since you can fall through the bird and have IT hurt YOU! A number of times! ...This is a good time for one of Pikachu's electric shocks.
Then you get some more regular platforming, where you get to dodge one of these floating enemies and a flower that spits.
Only to be greeted by more bullets!
Then some birds and spike traps
Then MORE bullets in a platforming section!
Afterwards, you get to make a tricky jump where, if you're not exact, you bang your head on the platform above and fall to your death!
After dodging another spitting plant, you're then introduced to another new enemy: these stone heads that eternally bang themselves against the top and bottom of the screen! Time it right when to jump, or you're squashed!
You then get a revisit from the disappearing Sonic spikes.
And some more birds, plus whatever that puffy blue thing is walking on the ground.
Oh, but all I've mentioned so far? Every little obstacle you had to get past, if you were lucky TO get past them all? ...NOTHING compares to the last half of this level! Everything else, you could probably breeze through after a few tries with little to no damage. ...But it's time to kiss any hope of a speedy playthrough goodbye.
Because the last half of this level is comprised almost entirely of jumping across these clouds! If you thought jumping across the static, normal-sized platforms was enough of a chore, try these tiny, floating, super-fast platforms where nearly the entire surface is nonexistent! This is where the flaws in the controls become INCREDIBLY obvious, as unless you time your jumps EXACTLY right from the EXACT place you need to jump from, you'll either miss the target or fall right through! And since you have to compensate for Pikachu moving a random amount of pixels on his own before and after you make the jump, even if you hit it where it's solid, you'll likely fall right off!
Even the cloud platforms that stand still don't stand still! Unless you immediately jump off certain platforms, they'll fall and take you with them! And since there's no distinction between these and platforms that DO stay still, you just have to memorize which ones stay put and which ones will drop you to a watery grave!
There are SO many clouds during this section, each with differing speeds and trajectories, that it's a chore just to get past the first screen! In total, there are TWENTY-SEVEN different clouds to hop across, each requiring an EXACT jump to make it on one and keep your footing(unless you luck out and it glitches, making it solid no matter where you land on it)! This is actually one of the hardest platforming segments I've ever had to pass in ANY game! And the game just began!
It's worse than the platforming from Donkey Kong Country 4!
Needless to say, if you ever decide to play this game and have enough patience to get to this part, expect to die
And die
And die
And die
And DIE!
And this is yet another pirate game that doesn't incorporate any kind of checkpoint system. You get three hits, but you lose them all if you fall. And when you lose a life, you start ALL OVER AGAIN! From the beginning of the level! Admittedly, not as harsh as some other games featured here, but still VERY annoying!
It's especially infuriating, since you then have to make it back to that point in the level and try again! Even if you've mastered getting past the hazards in the first half of this level, by your seventh or eighth attempt, you're so impatient to get through, you're just trying to barrel through, leading to deaths you would have avoided otherwise! Unless you have the same patience of someone willing to sit through all 21 seasons of the Pokémon TV show, that controller you're holding will break the record for amount of walls a solid object has ever passed through!
There's not even justification for taking a break due to Game Over, since there isn't one! Lives run out, but there are seemingly unlimited Continues, which also start Pikachu right back at the beginning of the level, so the only way to lose is to stop playing! ...And by the end of hour one, I was so riled up, not even a Machamp on steroids could have wrenched the controller from my hands! This level had to be overcome, and NOTHING would stop me!
And finally, I did it. Three hours of on and off playing, four burst blood vessels, eight controllers, and two windows later, I FINALLY reached the end of the level! ...The SECOND level! ...Out of SIXTEEN! ...And if I turned off the game to take a break, I'd have to play that sequence all over again!
...
Thankfully, as seems to be the theme with these pirate games, once you're past the nightmare that is Level 2, the game gets easier! ...Or, at the very least, the following levels don't have a cloud section as strenuous as what you just went through, and most of the hazards are more spaced-out. You'll still need to contend with spike pits, flying enemies, and the Sonic-esque rising spikes, but, with the amount of practice you had playing the previous level over and over again, you'll be faster and more accurate than a Dodrio who repeated used Agility throughout the battle at this point!
I'm not saying that there aren't more cloud pits, or that you won't die repeatedly throughout the rest of the game. ...But there's significantly less of both. You're being fed the pain from the dollar menu as opposed to the #7 Combo.
After the first 3 levels, you reach the Boss of the Velbt zone. ..This thing. It looks like a Lapras without its shell. ...That walks on land, for some freak of nature explanation... Whatever it is, it just walks back and forth, sometimes on all fours, sometimes on two legs. Just get out of the way when it's coming towards you, jump on its head a few times, and you win! ...Gotta Stomp 'Em All?
Once the boss is gone, it's time for Zone 2: Woods. Which is set exactly where advertised, so I have much less of a problem with the name! ...Especially since they bothered to spell this one correctly...
While nowhere near as hard as the first zone, Woods still has a good share of annoyances it throws your way. Like giant spike valleys
The return of cloud platforming
And a new frustration it throws at you: Water platforming! ...And yes, it's just as, if not a little more, annoying as the cloud sections! Because they decided the game needed TWO identical pains in the Nosepass!
So while you won't spend as much time in this zone as the last, expect to die a good number of times before you finally live. ...Philosophy, right there...
Still, traversing the same level over and over again gives you a good opportunity to see all the other Pokémon you face off against in the game! All the classics are here!
PuffSquare
Blubyrd
Flysnapper
Goldblum
Infringement
Culthooloo
And Electrode! ...What's that? Only one of those is a real Pokémon? ...NAH! If you don't recognize these monsters, you clearly haven't memorized all 2574 Pokémon! Besides, they're all in a game called Pocket Monster, so they MUST be official! When have pirate developers ever included enemies from the wrong franchise in their games?
Seriously, I find it hard to believe that someone would think these companies would carelessly use sprites from games that have nothing to do with the actual game! It is to laugh!
Ok, you DO eventually encounter other Pokémon, like Diglett and Kingler(or just a generic
Which is probably why they did just that! ...Several times!
The boss of the Woods zone is, again, NOT a Pokémon, but a small dragon creature that looks like it came from a completely different style of game! I SWEAR I've seen this sprite from another game, like Adventure Island or Dragon Quest, but my limited 8-bit knowledge fails me here. Still, despite the distractingly out-of-place sprite, it shares the same strategy as the previous boss. It just walks right and left, occasionally spewing a fireball, so avoid its attacks and jump on its head when opportunity arises. Annoyingly repetitive, but at least you don't need to keep going back to buy Pokéballs...
Next is Zone 3: Tableland. ...And YES, that IS an actual name for a landmass, as it refers to a mountain with a flat top, like a table! If nothing else, this game will put you through Geography 101!
By this point, you've seen everything the game has to offer. Besides a few cosmetic overhauls and the introduction of (what I assume is)Kingler, this zone plays out exactly like the previous levels. Same monsters, same obstacles, same annoying cloud platforming, you've seen it already. No sense in going into any detail here, since you can just rush through this zone.
Literally, as you've likely discovered by this point that, by holding down the "attack" button while Pikachu's moving, Pikachu can run! Run like Sonic the Hedgehog, so maybe those spikes aren't as misplaced as I thought! ...Wait. Pikachu. Sonic. ...Oh geez... I'm going to have to talk about Pokémon Adventure! ...Not right now, of course. One terrible pirate game at a time!
The end boss of Tableland is, surprisingly, a Pokémon! Beedrill, to be exact. It'll fly around in the air for a short time before swooping right at Pikachu, then hover over the ground for a few seconds before flying off again. Just jump out of the way of its swoop, then hit it on the head before it flies away and repeat. ...Well, it's different than the last two, at least. Besides, I always preferred to get my Beedrill by starting with a Weedle, anyway.
Finally, we enter Zone 4: Motte. A "motte" is a man made hill, commonly created as additional defense for castles in times of old. ...So why are we in the jungle?
This is definitely the busiest and most elaborate of all the zones. Not only do the levels have thick background trees and foliage, but a few elements from previous zones have be redesigned just for this area! Pits have been replaced with lakes, the platforms are more bridge-like and wooden, the spikes are much cruder, it's a little surprising they went through much trouble at the very end. They put all this work into redesigning the environment to resemble a jungle! ...In a zone called MOTTE! No, I'm not over that! This is an EPIC facepalm that I thought even pirate developers were above! They might as well have called the Sahara "Snowy Plains" for how much they missed the mark! ...Alright, now I'm over it.
Besides the cosmetics, the only major change is the introduction of these "brick tunnels", with these gray rotating columns that patrol the area and hurt you if they run into you. Luckily, there are plenty of crevices to hide in and wait for the column to pass over, so even late-in-the-game additions don't pose that much of a threat.
...Except maybe for this rotating platform with spikes on one side. ...Avoid the pointy bits...
At the end of Motte is the game's final boss: a Blastoise! ...A very clumsily drawn Blastoise that looks like it was altered from another monster sprite, but it's another Pokémon at least! This guy will also aimlessly trudge back and forth, sometimes jump, and sometimes blast a black projectile at Pikachu. He's basically a more resilient version of the Woods boss. Just follow the same strategy of avoiding him and his projectiles, jump on his head, and repeat until dead. Also, this is a good time to use up the remaining shock batteries you have stockpiled. Everyone knows that Electric-based attacks are super effective against Water-type Pokémon! ...Actually, they don't do any more damage than your regular jump attack, but might as well.
And with Blastoise out of the way, Pikachu's journey has come to an end! ...Literally. He does a dance underneath a big "END". ...Well, enjoy that END, because that's something the show and games will never see!
And thus did Pikachu decide that Ash's hat wasn't worth stealing if it meant more of what he just went through, so he ran back to Ash and returned it, deciding to stick around for another 20 seasons!
Only to have a Mankey, and later a Primeape, steal it. ...If there's one thing the show has taught us, it's that Ash never learns...
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Design: No physical cartridge, so no commentary.
Controls: The controls aren't the clunkiest I've come across, but they're somewhere in the Top 10 with pirate games. You never feel like you have complete control over Pikachu, with how each button press sends Pikachu a different length of ground each time. Each button press just feels like it jerks Pikachu along roughly and unnaturally. It really boils down to luck if you can stand exactly where you need to be to jump, and even more so if you manage to hit the spot you're aiming for! When there are wide platforms and large, uninterrupted lengths of ground, it's not as noticeable, but when certain parts of the level focus exclusively around precise jumps across tiny moving platforms, it's a Herculean labor to get past! I've played games with worse controls, but these are an absolute pain! If you've ever wanted a Pokémon game with worse controls than Pokémon Dash, here you go!
Graphics: The backgrounds and platforms are sparse in how many different elements there are, but quite well detailed with what is included. In the background, we have trees, mushrooms, clouds, hills, mountains, bushes, etc., while the platforms are nice and grassy, changing to match each Zone's environment, or they're cute, fluffy clouds! Everything's very nicely drawn and colorful, avoiding most of the terrible shades of brown, pink, green, and orange other unofficial games like to use for a palette! I'd even go so far as to say it looks nicer than a lot of OFFICIAL games for the NES, especially with the design of the Pikachus on the title, intermission, and end screens! The actual sprites, on the other hand, aren't as good. Pikachu looks fine from the side or in his death animation, but when he's standing still and looking at the screen with those beady eyes and wide smile, I die a little inside... The Pokémon enemies they actually bothered to design for the game look fine, with colors that match their counterparts and enough detail to identify what each one is. But the majority of the sprites, which they obviously stole from other games, are all given the same washed-out shade of blue that makes it hard to distinguish what they even are! The enemies I kept referring to as "birds" could just as easily be Cheep Cheep fish from the original Super Mario Bros! And because they're so washed out and undetailed, it's hard to tell where these obstacles are sometimes and you can easily find yourself walking into them if you're not paying attention! On the whole, the backgrounds and cosmetics look GREAT, better than most other pirate NES/Famicom games, and the sprites for the Pokémon are passable enough to identify. Everything else... Why did they even go to the effort of including them?
Music & Sound: Music is always the hardest category for me to describe with pirate games, since I barely remember there BEING music when I play these. As far as I can tell, there are 4 separate tracks: one for the title and intermission screens, one for the First Level of each Zone, one for the Second, and one for the Third. Each one is a mellow-sounding track that I guess fits this casual, cartoony platformer well enough, but I keep picturing them as overworld tracks for the actual Pokémon games. I have no doubt they were stolen from another game, but I can't place them, so I have no idea what mood they were intentionally composed for. They sound fine, though forgettable, and I like the subtle progression of speed and urgency in the soundtrack as you near the Boss of each zone! That is possibly the most clever use of a soundtrack I've ever heard in a pirate game! The sounds are stock, but not "overused" stock, and they do use a few sounds outside of the standard "pick up" and "damage" ranges. When the birds come onscreen, they actually chirp! When you jump, there's a *sproing* sound. Using the electrical attack generates an electrical *buzz* sound. There are sounds for both jumping and landing! There's a surprisingly diverse library for actions most other designers wouldn't bother attributing sounds to! Overall, the sound and music libraries of this game were given MUCH more attention than a lot of other pirate games I've played, and they steered away from most generic effects. ...Even if I can't remember most of what they used...
Gameplay: It's a bare bones platformer, with just enough to keep me from instantly forgetting it. It follows the standard platformer setup of "walk right, jump on the enemies in your way, avoid the rest, fight the boss at the end." No shortcuts, no collectibles, no paths that diverge off into other directions, no bonus levels, and very few powerups. It's a setup you could easily make yourself with any kind of "click & drag" game kit in under 30 minutes! What keeps it from being completely generic and forgettable are the sudden fluxes in difficulty! Some levels, you can get by without taking a hit, some may take a life or two to memorize where each obstacle is, and some are outright INSANE! There's no actual difficulty progression; each of the game's 16 levels is just randomly easier or harder than the last! As I hopefully made perfectly clear, Level 2 is INSANELY difficult, its challenge being more what you'd expect to see at the END of a game! You're just always kept guessing if you're going to breeze through a level, or suffer agonizing defeat for a few hours! The lack of checkpoints also don't help the situation! ...However, the fact you're given unlimited continues that always start you back at the beginning of the level, as opposed to the zone, alleviates the difficulty a little, so, in a way, it's still not as difficult as some other pirate games I've played that start you back at the beginning once your life bank runs out. And since the game's an unfair challenge, that relies more on luck than skill, I shouldn't be remembering this game solely for its difficulty! There's nothing else to this game other than it being hard to complete, and the reward isn't worth the hours you put into it. ...Though they were nice enough to include an animated "End" screen, so that's something I can give them over other unofficial games...
Replay Value: It's a bland game, so there's nothing to do other than move right and eventually get to the end, which, if you've mastered the tricky sections, should only take about 30 minutes. The only reason you'd want to come back to this game is for a YouTube speedrun. ...Or you're reviewing it.
Overall:
It's not as bad as other pirate or unofficial games I've played, and I can at least call it a "game", but it lacks in both style and substance. The music and sound are fine, and have a little more work put into them than most other games of its kind, and the graphics range from top notch to passable, but the controls are abysmal, and don't make playing this bland platformer any more fun... There's no goal, and very little to do with Pokémon in general! It's just another case of a studio designing a generic game, then filling it with stolen sprites and assets to pretend it has something to do with a popular franchise. It's an original game, so there's more point to playing it than playing a standard demake, but that's not saying much... If you're as morbidly curious about pirate games as I am, or you want a challenge just to have a challenge, you could give this game one shot. Otherwise, there are plenty of OFFICIAL titles to keep you and your kids entertained that are more fun than this. Like Pokémon Channel!
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