Pocket Monster

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Pocket Monster
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: X Boy(?)
Developer: Ex-Chuanpu(?)
Sound driver: Data East/High Seas Havoc
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code TW 1999
Non-Sega versions Super NES

Pocket Monster, also known as Bǐkǎchāo (比卡超), is an unlicensed game for the Sega Mega Drive based on Nintendo's Pokémon franchise. It is a platform game where the player controls Pikachu.

The game's origins are unknown, however a version exists for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and there is a sequel, Pocket Monster II. Graphics are stolen from a number of games, including Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster's Hidden Treasure, Mr. Nutz, QuackShot Starring Donald Duck, Magical Taruruto-kun and Monster World IV.

Gameplay

Pocket Monster presents itself as a standard platformer across five side-scrolling levels, each level ending with a boss encounter. Pikachu is capable of moving left and right with the D-Pad and jumping with the button. When Pikachu has collected at least 20 points of energy from batteries, he can perform an electrical attack with the button, which takes out all on-screen enemies and does damage to bosses. Another way to defeat enemies is to jump on their heads, though defeated enemies will respawn when Pikachu moves away from their location and comes back.

Pikachu's health is represented by a two-digit number below the lives counter with a maximum value of 99, and is decreased by enemy attacks. Pikachu has a set amount of lives and continues to beat the game, both of which can be set between 3 and 5 in the options menu, as well as a difficulty setting which affects how much Pikachu's health decreases from enemy attacks (5 points on Easy, 10 on Normal, 15 on Hard).

While some of the enemies encountered throughout the game are Pokémon such as Porygon and Beedrill, there are some enemies taken from other games such as Syd of Valis and Magical Taruruto-kun.

Items

	Gem
	Collecting 50 gems will give Pikachu 10 points of electrical energy, however taking damage will make him lose all of his gems.
	Battery
	Small batteries give 5 points of electrical energy, while larger batteries give 10 points.
	Heart
	Small hearts restore 10 points of health, while larger hearts restore 20 points.
	Poké Ball
	Makes Pikachu invincible to enemies for a few seconds.
	Pikachu icon
	Awards an extra life.

Stages

	In the Forest
	This is a typical grassland/forest stage which uses graphics taken from Magical Taruruto-kun and Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster's Hidden Treasure, and sees Pikachu hopping between trees to cross pits or reach higher places. Pinsir appears as a mid-boss who moves back and forth and must be defeated in order to enable a platform to take Pikachu further through the level. Snorlax is the boss of the level inside a cave, who attacks by rolling and jumping.
	It's Hot
	A lava-themed stage which copies its foreground graphics and level design directly from Volcano Underpass 2 from Mr. Nutz, though uses the background from Zone A from Darius II. Its boss, which takes place in its own arena on a different map, is a turtle-like monster who rolls around in its shell and can only be attacked when it pokes its head out, thus it has a significantly lower amount of hit points compared to other bosses. Pikachu can avoid its attacks by standing on the beanstalk branch.
	Jump Around
	This mechanical-themed stage copies its foreground graphics and level layout directly from the third area of Pete's Hideout from QuackShot Starring Donald Duck, though the level design has been extended by mirroring it from where the area normally ended in QuackShot and also adding a boss arena. The background is taken from the factory levels of Donkey Kong Country and recoloured blue. Its boss is the mid-boss from Stage 1-2 of Syd of Valis with a different palette, who moves back and forth in the arena.
	Underground
	Despite its name, this stage is set in a forest using the background and foreground graphics from Estafan Village from Monster World IV with the addition of wooden structures, floating wooden platforms, bridges that collapse when walked on, and spikes that will instantly kill Pikachu. Its boss is Gengar, who walks and hops back and forth in its arena.
	Hard Rock
	The final stage in the game uses the graphics and much of the level design for the first area of the Great Duck Treasure Island from QuackShot, with Pikachu jumping through the jungle across instant-death spikes and making his way underground. Onix is fought as the final boss of the game in its own arena on a different map, and attacks Pikachu by lunging its head at him from a fixed position, which is also its weak point. As Pikachu's electrical energy is set to zero when reaching this boss, Pikachu can only defeat the Onix with jump attacks.

Versions

The Mega Drive version is believed to have been produced after the Super NES version of the game, which is known to have been manufactured on cartridges as early as September 1998 according to a code on its PCB. As such, many changes were made, such as replacing the last two stages, adding two extra bosses and overhauling the gameplay with a new engine that makes Pikachu much easier to control, overall making the game easier. Whereas the SNES version had gauges to measure Pikachu's health and electrical power, the Mega Drive version uses numerical values up to 99, and Pikachu starts each life at full health in the Mega Drive version.

The audio is also vastly different between both versions, with the SNES version using music and sound effects entirely from Bonkers. The Mega Drive version instead uses a variety of PCM format sound effects taken from games such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Sylvester and Tweety in Cagey Capers, Donkey Kong Country 2, Disney's Aladdin and The Lion King, while Pikachu's voice clip comes from the Pokémon anime series (Pikachu is mute in the SNES version). Its soundtrack is a mix of original music and music taken from Shui Hu: Feng Yun Zhuan and Hercules 2.

Magazine articles

Main article: Pocket Monster/Magazine articles.

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 40 Cool Gamer (RU) 60 Cool Gamer (RU) 30 Tricks Gold (RU) 62

	48
Based on 4 reviews

Pocket Monster

Mega Drive, TW
Cart

Mega Drive, TW (Re-release)
Cover
Cart

Mega Drive, RU (Striped spine)

Technical information

Main article: Pocket Monster/Technical information.