Meat

A recurring health-restoring food item found in various retro action, fighting, and role-playing video games.

Action

Strategy

Role-playing (RPG)

Tactics

17

Games

1993–2008

Years

6

Platforms

$22.12

Ø CIB

-15%

24M change

About

In fighting and action games like Samurai Shodown and Spinmaster, meat appears as a collectible item dropped during combat to restore the player's health. In the role-playing game Digimon World, it serves as a primary food source required to feed and raise the player's partner Digimon. Across these titles, the item consistently functions as a vital resource for restoring health, stamina, or hunger.

During the 1990s, developers integrated this item into weapon-based fighters and side-scrolling action games. In the Neo Geo titles Crossed Swords (1993) and Spinmaster (1993), the item frequently spawns from destructible environment objects or defeated enemies. The Samurai Shodown franchise, including Samurai Shodown V (1993) and the Game Boy port of Samurai Shodown (1995), popularized delivering the item via a deliveryman running across the screen background. Side-scrolling titles X-Kaliber 2097 (1994) and Castlevania Legends (1998) placed the item within hidden wall breakages and chests to reward exploration.

In Digimon World (2000), the item expands into an agricultural economy. Players obtain daily rations of basic meat from Tanemon at the File City meat farm, which can later be upgraded to Giant Meat and Sirloin Meat by recruiting Palmon and Vegiemon. This progression directly influences evolution paths and weight management. In the arena battler One Piece Grand Adventure (2000), the item appears as an interactive stage object, reflecting the anime protagonist Luffy's signature food preference. The item's legacy persists across these diverse franchises, transitioning from a simple arcade sprite to a complex simulation mechanic.