Now this can be a bizarre one. Developed by Mega Cat Studios, The Meating is an precise NES recreation as developed within the 12 months of our lord 2024, and you should purchase a bodily cart or get the sport on the digital store of your selecting. It positively seems like an NES recreation, the sort of recreation your grandmother purchased you for Christmas as a result of she was fairly positive you didn’t have already got it. It has a sure attraction, and by NES requirements, it feels genuine. That stated, I didn’t discover it significantly participating…and it simply retains going.
Because the story begins, a minotaur is catfished and winds up in a butcher’s store, the place he’s killed and chopped aside. You play as his ghost, a floating bull’s head, drifting from room to room in an effort to get your physique again, though that’s not an instantaneous concern. As an alternative, the ghostly minotaur, who I began referring to as “Carl” for some motive, navigates innumerable quick puzzle rooms. I might liken The Meating to one thing like Bugs Bunny Loopy Fortress or The Adventures of Lolo. In every stage, Carl should discover a key to unlock the door to the subsequent stage. That is often fairly easy, as no particular person puzzle room is very sophisticated. Normally, you’ll be avoiding (or ramming) enemies, hitting switches, and utilizing Carl’s powers to search out the important thing and its corresponding door.
Oh sure, Carl acquires quite a few attention-grabbing powers throughout his journey. Within the first stage, he’ll be capable to transfer inexperienced blocks telepathically and section via single blocks. Different powers embody the power to set fires, cross into an alternate model of the stage to search out hidden gadgets, and possess enemies. Carl may also hover and fly in a straight line. All of those talents eat up your magic meter, so you must effectively deploy Carl’s talents to keep away from working out, lest you be compelled to restart the stage (magic-refueling pots are uncommon).
Carl may also die, regardless of being a ghost, and I used to be typically kicked again to the primary menu. The sport makes use of passwords, however there’s no have to preserve a notepad close by except you give up the sport; going to the password display screen routinely units you up with the important thing to your final identified location. I might have most popular limitless lives and auto-saving, however since The Meating goes for that genuine NES feeling, I can perceive Mega Cat Studio’s dedication to the bit.
No stage takes longer than 5 minutes to beat, which is welcome, but additionally turns into a slog. The sport overstays its welcome, particularly when you get to the tip and are despatched on a “second quest” with all of your powers at your disposal, on the lookout for paths you weren’t capable of entry earlier than. Every stage has its personal boss, and determining what you’re speculated to do to injure them is a part of the puzzle…simply know that you need to use your obtainable powers to defeat them, and typically that’s much less intuitive than it must be.
The Meating seems okay, however actually doesn’t stand as much as different NES video games by way of graphical particulars, particularly for the reason that solely actual change between ranges is the set dressing. The music is okay however forgettable. Management is usually fantastic, though the “cooked hen” enemies, which double as descending/ascending platforms, are extraordinarily finicky, and I used to be by no means capable of strategy them safely. They are going to injure Carl in the event that they land on him, and so they drop like a ton of bricks, so you must watch out in your strategy. Biking via your powers with Choose (or Minus) is predicted, however urgent Up + B to activate and deactivate them is weirdly unintuitive, although I’m undecided what a greater scheme could be on an NES controller.
However the recreation’s coup de grâce, to me anyway, is that after a specific amount of it, I needed to drive myself to proceed. Now, a part of that’s as a result of Astro Bot got here out, and The Meating can’t compete with Astro Bot. However the majority of my playtime occurred earlier than Sony’s reply to Tremendous Mario Galaxy launched, and I had turn into unenthused about additional puzzle-solving by then. I additionally, and this appears petty, don’t like the sport’s title as a result of it doesn’t describe it within the least. The Meating sounds lots like “the assembly,” which doesn’t inform you something about The Meating. There’s additionally a stunning dearth of protein within the recreation as a result of you’re a ghost.
There could also be an keen viewers for an NES puzzle room recreation, however it’s apparently not me. Your mileage could range, so watch a couple of movies earlier than making the decision.
