Overview – developed and published by Mega Cat Studios in collaboration with 8-Bit Legit, The Meating is an 8bit platformer about a ghost minotaur that is on a quest to reclaim their body. After getting Catfished by a butcher, Kon the minotaur was slain, but Gyros, the Greek god of meat gave him an opportunity to get his body back. This title is available digitally for Nintendo Switch, as well as physically for NES and Game Boy Advance, with a link to each version at the bottom of this review.
Disclaimer: before I get into the review, I would like to thank the rep at Mega Cat Studios for providing the copy of The Meating that was used for this piece. The provision of this software has not influenced the contents of this review, all thoughts and opinions contained within are my own.
Now with the introductions out of the way, let’s get into the review, starting with the story. Please be aware, I will be covering the core details of the gameplay, as I don’t want to spoil any of the surprises that this experience has for players.
Story – Kon, a Minotaur that won his freedom in a battle against Matador El Culo Rojo, has found his life post freedom is lonely and solitary. Against all hope, he comes across a match on the Swapmeat service, a dating site for bovines. But this was not what it seemed, as his date was a catfish and he was met by the local butcher. After meeting an unfortunate fate, Kon encountered Gyros, the Greek god of Meat, who granted him a chance to reclaim his parts and get his life back together.
Gameplay – The Meating is a puzzle based platformer, where the goal of the game is to clear stages by collecting a key and reaching the exit. The player will need to move their way through a variety of traps, hazards and enemies in each stage. Within each stage, the player will need to get past many foes, like skeletons and headless chickens that will try to stop Kon on his quest. These foes will deal damage to the Kon, taking a life if his health is depleted.
To navigate the stages, which are split into single screen rooms, Kon has a rather simple moveset when starting the game. At the start, the player can move left and right, jump, charge attack to destroy blocks and tap it to headbutt enemies. There is also a special fly skill that will let the player hover and cross gaps, but this comes at the cost of ghost energy. When all of the ghost energy is used up, this power cannot be used again without dying or picking up a special item.
As the player makes their way through the game, they will be granted new ghost powers, which are activated by pressing up and B. These powers include telekinesis to move blocks and a shifting, where they can shift through blocks that block the way. The ghost abilities use the same energy as the hover, adding to the puzzle mechanics which can lead to no win situations. Making every use of ghost powers a tactical decision, as it may lead to a restart.
If players get themselves in a situation where they are unable to progress, there is the ability to restart a stage at the cost of a life. This gives players an out if they are stuck or run out of energy, which can lessen the stresses of the rather high difficulty of the game. If all lives are lost, the player will get a game over and an 8 character password to continue. It is recommended to write these down or take a screenshot, as there is no save feature for this game.
The stages for this title are split into 6 worlds, with a set of stages and a boss battle at the end of each of them, shown by a butchers meat chart. Each of the boss battles will rely on the skills of the player, as well as use of the ghost powers that have been obtained. These elements add to the high skill ceiling of the game, which makes for a very hard challenge as Kon will die after a few hits. But thankfully, this doesn’t harm the experience too much.
Now with the gameplay covered, it is time to cover the other aspects of this release, starting with the controls.
Controls – as this is an NES game, there are limited inputs, relying on the A, B, Start and Select buttons for all of the main inputs. This works well for the most part, but can be a little cumbersome during play as the ghost powers must be manually selected with the Select button. Unfortunately, this makes it feel slow at times, especially with the need to press up and B to activate powers. Otherwise, this feels comfortable to play both handheld and docked.
Difficulty – The Meating is a very challenging game, with a difficulty curve that starts off easy enough with the first few stages. But as players get further in, the challenge will ramp up significantly, with some easier stages that appear later on. This level of difficulty is most notable during the boss battles, where players can get killed very quickly. To make the game a little more approachable, there are two difficulty options, Veal and Raw, which affect the damage that players take.
Presentation – visually, the game looks very good given the limitations of the NES, with a good use of color and nice looking sprite work. The stages and backgrounds also look nice, alongside cutscenes that are implemented well. The only issues visually are the red flashes during stage transitions, which can be a little off-putting and some sprite flickering during play. Then we have music, which is pleasing to hear as it makes full use of the NES soundchip and adds to the experience.
Final Thoughts – When Mega Cat reached out to me to cover this, I was not sure what to expect but I jumped into it happily. My first impression was that this is just another platformer. However, the further I got into the game, the more I could see that this was anything but that. The gameplay hook of using ghost powers makes this stand out, giving it a unique gameplay loop that can distinguish it from others in the genre. But that does come with its own flaws.
The overall experience is solid, with a fun gameplay loop that can easily pull the player in. But therein lies the troubles I faced with the game. The ghost powers could be improved a little, as the way they are used and selected can lead to soft locks, or even death which is frustrating. That being said though, the game is well designed and fun to play. This makes it an easy recommendation, as it is perfect for those who want to scratch that 8-Bit platformer itch.
In the end, I give The Meating a final score of 3.5/5. This is a solid puzzle platformer with a unique hook that can easily pull players in, a solid gameplay loop and plenty of content for a low asking price. It does have some flaws, but they don’t overly impact the experience as a whole. If you want to check this title out for yourself, a link to each version of the game will be below.
Link to Nintendo Switch version (HERE)
Link to NES version (HERE)
Link to Game Boy Advance version (HERE)
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