Thanksgiving: Our Favorite Foods in Games

EDIT (5:19 PM EST): corrected the misspelling of “cereal.”

EDIT (3:38 PM EST): credited AShadowLink for the Devil May Cry entry.

Thanksgiving is a holiday marked by complicated historical issues, terrible interactions with your in-laws, and passive aggressive fights over who gets what food after the meal. But today, the Source Gaming team will be focusing on the latter part. Food is a huge part of video games as things you cook or eat or poison or judge or in rare cases are, and some foods look more appetizing than others. We’ll be focusing on some of our favorites. We’ve judged them on three criteria: taste, healthiness, and “thankfulness” – or how much we appreciate it. Gotta add in that Thanksgiving brand synergy somewhere.

Wall Meat, the Castlevania series (Spazzy_D): Listen, plenty of games use some sort or roast or turkey leg to signify an item that helps recover lost health, but are any of them quite as iconic as the “pork chop” from the Castlevania series? These hunks of unidentified meat (sometimes referred to as mutton, pork, or even leg of Werewolf in the North American Castlevania III instruction manual) originated way back in the original Castlevania and have become a series staple ever since.

Taste: I’m not sure what sort of spices or cooking preparation goes into these roasts, and I’m not sure I trust any food item that was hidden inside a wall. That said, Dracula DOES seem to have a full, if somewhat ghoulish, staff in his Castle…so there are probably some top notch ghost chefs hard at work preparing these.
Healthiness: Too much red meat in your diet can lead to higher cholesterol levels and eventual heart disease, so you probably don’t want to chow down on TOO much wall meat. The FDA also warns against eating food that has been left out for more than two hours, so unless the walls of Dracula’s Castle are refrigerated I would advise against eating this. Still, the extra iron and protein are sure to aid any vampire hunters on their quests.
Thankfulness: This could be made of werewolf feet and I would STILL be thankful. Meat in the Castlevania series is somewhat rare (pun not intended), and it heals for 6 units of health, so finding one of these can be the difference between vanquishing the horrible night or succumbing to a terrible curse.

Yeto’s Superb Soup, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wolfman Jew): Link spends his time in the Snowpeak Ruins dungeon traversing its rooms and halls for ingredients, so that the manor’s owner can fix up a good meal for his wife. The soup ended up so iconic that Nintendo promoted the game’s 2016 remaster by sending out a vegetarian recipe for the soup.

Taste: Sure, a soup whose main ingredients are goat cheese, pumpkin, and “reekfish” sounds terrible, but the pumpkin soup just looks so good. The 2006 graphics go a long way to selling it as this warm, comforting spot in a miserable house.
Healthiness: Yeto’s Soup has three forms, and its healing properties double with every food item Link finds. By its third “Superb” form, the stew heals you by eight hearts. That’s a lot, and Yeto’s happy to let you take some whenever you’d like even after you’ve sort of fixed up his house. Though it’s maybe not great to eat from the bowl of the same soup days later – even one in a dilapidated, freezing manor.
Thankfulness: Aside from its being a soup made out of love and adversity, I’m thankful it kind of preceded the cooking in Breath of the Wild. This is just my personal hypothesis, but seeing Yeto clumsily paw his way into a good stew reminds me so much of Link just dumping whatever he has on him into a pot and getting paella out of it. If it didn’t influence it, it at least made Hyrule a space where such energetic cooking was acceptable.

Health Vial, DOOM (KawlunDram). Doom is what happens when a bunch of Dungeons and Dragons-playing dorks make an “Aliens”-inspired game. Because of that, the art direction is all over the place but in the best way possible. Health comes in two forms. Red Cross copyright-infringing medkits and random mysterious blue vials of health juice. No one really knows what the hell they are or why they only give you 1 health point but there they are.

Taste: Uh… I assume this stuff tastes like Monster Energy Zero Ultra, which tastes like a liquefied Sweet-n-Low. Overly Sweet. Overly Citrusy. Nasty.
Healthiness: I mean, it gives you a single health point. Two in some ports and later games. So, I guess it doesn’t hurt you in anyway shape or form. But unless you start endlessly chugging one after one, those bullet wounds aren’t being healed very much.
Thankfulness: Easily the best quality is the fact that unlike the medkits, the health vials can keep your health going beyond the 100% cap and up to 200% percent. So I’m definitely thankful for being able to top myself off before rushing into a room of bloodthirsty demons.

Sea Salt Ice Cream, Kingdom Hearts series (PhantomZ2): Ever since the introduction of Roxas in the Kingdom Hearts series, we’ve seen the main characters consistently share some Sea Salt ice cream on top of a clock tower. While it would probably be pretty easy to make this, being able to buy some officially licensed Sea Salt ice cream to share with my friends as we sit on a roof in the summer would be amazing.

Taste: I’ve eaten sea salt on french fries before and I love ice cream. So they should still taste good when mixed together, right? (side note from Wolfman: I can confirm sea salt and ice cream do mix well)
Healthiness: As a Thanksgiving dinner? No way is this healthy to eat! As a Thanksgiving dessert? If everyone gets maybe two sticks, then it will be a healthy option.
Thankfulness: Being able to eat ice cream with my friends and enjoying each other’s company is always something to be thankful for.

Invincible Candy, Kirby (Wolfman Jew): Every so often in the Kirby games, the little puffball can find some magical candy that, for a few seconds, turns him invincible. With that, it’s just a matter of rushing through the stage like a murderous distance runner as that lovely jingle plays on.

Taste: Candy’s great! I don’t really like lollipops that much anymore, but it just looks so appetizing. Or just big.
Healthiness: While it does give you temporary invincibility, the Candy is still a giant lollipop that’s about a fourth of Kirby’s actual size, and it gives the typically lethargic Kirby an energy boost on par with mainlining cocaine and chugging Red Bull at the same time. I can’t possibly believe that isn’t wreaking havoc on his body. Um…Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.
Thankfulness: The Kirby series has always had a loose relationship with more “traditional” difficulty levels, but it is typically good about hiding Invincible Candy in the middle of hairier levels. So it’s always appreciated.

Perfect Apples from Pokémon Mystery Dungeon (Hamada): While the main series Pokémon games are known for their Poffins, Poké Puffs, and other sweet treats, the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series tends to include more organic resources and snacks like Seeds, Berries, and especially Apples. Apples are your primary source of food while exploring Mystery Dungeons, with the more effective Big Apple and legendary Golden Apple being notable variations. However, there is one Apple type that is so great that you weren’t even allowed to eat it until the series’ fourth entry: Perfect Apples. This rare delicacy is best known for being the favorite food of everyone’s favorite Guildmaster, Wigglytuff.

Taste: Although the Perfect Apple’s taste is never explained in detail, given the positive reaction its few lucky takers have had upon eating one, it’s probably one good fruit. After all, with a name like “Perfect Apple”, you’ve got to assume it has the perfect balance of everything people look for in an apple. While Wigglytuff isn’t the most level headed Pokémon, the thought of losing one regularly brings him to tears and running out of them causes him to throw an explosive tantrum. Whether that implies Perfect Apples are just that good or Wigglytuff is just that crazy is anyone’s guess.
Healthiness: In Super Mystery Dungeon, eating a Perfect Apple not only fills its eater’s entire Belly, but also increases their Belly’s capacity for the rest of the dungeon crawl, making it an invaluable resource during longer adventures. Of course, that makes it sound more fattening than healthy, but just look at Wigglytuff. He’s practically been living solely off of Perfect Apples for years, and in that time, he’s become a world-renowned Explorer and founder of one of the most prolific Guilds in the world. He might rely on them too much as his only source of food, but they’ve undoubtedly helped in making Wigglytuff the powerhouse he is today.
Thankfulness: Perfect Apples might not be the most iconic part of PMD, but I’m thankful for their role in the Explorers games and in the development of one of my favorite characters. Wigglytuff wouldn’t be his lovable self without these treats keeping him going, and seeing them return in Super to help us out when they were such a burden in Explorers is nice to see. Apples have since appeared in Sword & Shield as both a curry ingredient and the inspiration for a new Pokémon family in Applin, Flapple, and Appletun. Whether your apple is a curry ingredient, partner, or the only food you’ll ever eat, don’t forget to appreciate it and the other treats you have with you while on your adventures.

Pizza from Devil May Cry (AShadowLink). Pizza practically establishes Dante’s character as a fun-loving, not so serious guy. In basically every game there’s a box on his desk. In DMC1, the first shot of Dante’s office pans over a box of pizza. In DMC3, when his desk is flipped, he makes sure to catch his pizza box. When he gets stabbed by a dozen scythes, and has to fight a bunch of demons, the first thing he goes for is not his gun, but a slice of pizza.

Taste: Dante orders pizza with “everything on it,” but he hates olives. He seems to always get stuck with a pizza with olives on it no matter how much he insists, and bears with it. Not even an olive can sully the perfection of a good pizza.
Healthiness: Seemingly it’s the only food Dante ever eats, aside from strawberry sundaes, but apparently it’s enough to sustain an entire lifestyle of hunting demons. I guess all those carbs are being put to work. I suppose if you do order a pizza with everything on it, it theoretically has all of the required food groups, so uh, maybe it’s healthy? Possibly.
Thankfulness: Dante’s love of pizza is played up to comedic levels, and it’s infectious, to the point where most other characters that visit his office grab a slice. It’s even the reason I’m so infatuated with pizza myself.

Burgers, Ace Attorney (KawlunDram). Maya Fey sure loves her burgers. That’s all she bugs Phoenix about! And it seems like a nice juicy burger is a filling and classic treat to celebrate yet another successful day of being a defense attorney. Wait. Is that a bowl?

Taste: I don’t think I’ve ever had a burger like this before. Less of a sandwich and more like a chicken noodle soup, really. I don’t even think there’s any beef. But a combination of a soy sauce-based broth combined with filling thin noodles and little chunks of scallions, pork belly and corn seem to leave quite the incredible taste. This might be the best burger I’ve ever had!
Healthiness: I can’t imagine this is something you should be eating every day or as often as Maya wants to eat it. But it’s certainly much healthier than your average greasy fast-food burger. I know Los Angeles is all about health foods but I didn’t expect this.
Thankfulness: I’m thankful for my brain being at least clever enough to work my way through all the various and definitely not-legal evidence tampering and other bizarre plot-twists that come into play so I can wind down the day with another juicy bowl of burger. I think I’ll have mine made extra spicy, today. Huh? What do you mean I’m not supposed to eat it with my hands? What are these wooden sticks for?

Sinner’s Sandwich, Deadly Premonition (Wolfman Jew): Greenvale is a town of many oddities, but none more than this turkey, strawberry jam, and cereal sandwich, eaten solely by the town’s wealthy magnate Mr. Stewart. FBI Agent Francis York Morgan mocks it as “self-inflicted punishment to atone for past sins,” but is so shocked by how great it that he starts buying it for himself – apparently the second person in town to do so.

Taste: Full disclosure, I’ve made the Sinner’s Sandwich twice (I forget the cereals, but they were probably Frosted Flakes and / or Special K). And it’s SO GOOD. Seriously, it’s really tasty! Turkey’s often a pretty meh meat – even on this holiday, the stuffing and potatoes do most of the heavy lifting – so the sweetness and crunch give a great taste and texture, a bit like a breakfast-y club sandwich (ooh, maybe next I could try a Sinner’s Club?). Hundred percent recommend this, especially if you have a family member or friend around to be shocked at your eating it.
Healthiness: For such a memetic part of the game, the Sinner’s Sandwich is only a good healing item – honestly, I remember it being more curative before checking online to see how much it healed. So that’s sad.
Thankfulness: There are so many video game meals I’d like to try or cook, but the Sinner’s Sandwich is so simple. I’m Thankful a part of a game that’s so tickled audiences is also fairly easy to try in the real world.

Princess Peach’s Cake, Super Mario 64 (Spazzy_D): Mario seems to go out of his way quite often to save Princess Peach from harm. The reason? Probably this cake.

Taste: It seems to be a yellow cake with tons of frosting and strawberries… perhaps a strawberry shortcake? Something about it looks delicious, though, and it was made by royalty, so you KNOW the ingredients are quality.
Healthiness: This thing is 95% sugar and carbs. It’s just the sort of thing that ensures that an active plumber, who spends most of his days engaging in tennis, golf, or any other number of physical activities, stays somewhat portly.
Thankfulness: This cake represents the end of a long journey and the trust between long time friends. If you can’t be thankful for that, what can you be thankful for?

Leftovers, Pokémon (Wolfman Jew): And finally, no Thanksgiving tradition would be complete without putting your crap in containers to either eat later or say you’ll eat because throwing out so much food is wasteful and embarrassing. Pokémon plays with this with one of its most beloved items, a piece of food that heals one-sixteenth of your Pokémon’s health per battle. Often found on Snorlax or in trash. How appetizing!

Taste: Many of the berries in Pokémon look tastier, but Leftovers carries that comforting feeling of being with your family over the holidays, fighting over politics, and pretending to like the Macy’s Day Parade. Plus, it affects every Pokémon equally, meaning it’s likely a bit bland but still enjoyable.
Healthiness: There are other healing items or moves in Pokémon that are much better with one use, but Leftovers works consistently as a long term solution. Which is good, since otherwise I’d have to question the morality of giving my Ultraman golem, KISS badger, or ninja frog a mostly eaten apple for sustenance.
Thankfulness: Historically, Leftovers are hard to get and limited in quantity without shelling out cash, so I’m thankful Pokémon Sword & Shield finally decided to make such an all-purpose item easy to get. It’s a rare but not super rare drop from Berry trees, and that’s just great.

And with that, we have the Source Gaming Thanksgiving feat: meat, fruits, and health risks. While we’re partaking in our favorites, why don’t you tell us about your favorite video game foods? What kinds of stuffings and sweet rolls have kept you up and about in a shadowy dungeon, or brought memories of a friendly companion?