Something went wrong. Try again later
    Follow

    Super Meat Boy

    Game » consists of 14 releases. Released Oct 20, 2010

    When his beloved Bandage Girl is kidnapped by the evil Dr. Fetus, the diminutive yet plucky Meat Boy springs into action!

    codynewill's Super Meat Boy (Steam) (PC) review

    Avatar image for codynewill

    Super Meat Boy: Full of Fuzzy Animals and Cotton Candy!

    No Caption Provided

    Super Meat Boy could be described as a platformer, but that wouldn’t be quite accurate; this game is more of a masochism simulator with an indie platformer’s skin. Whatever genre it falls under, SMB is a tightly designed game that rewards precision gameplay similar to Trials or Ninja Gaiden. And although it makes me more frustrated than any game of the past five years, there is a great sense of style and humor that softens the blow of dying 50 times in one level, and the tightly designed levels and control make it a one of a kind.

    Super Meat Boy does have a narrative, but in true platformer style it is kept to a minimum: Meat Boy’s girlfriend Bandage Girl has been snatched by Dr. Fetus (literally a fetus in a glass robot suit) and you must get her back. It’s Super Mario Bros. trope to the core, but the game has a weird, dark humor that manifests itself in several cutscenes and boss fights. This is a game where squirrel genocide, talking feces, and a trip to Hell are the norm. This may have been the first time I’ve been delighted and disturbed simultaneously by a video game.

    The story and humor are merely the icing on the gameplay cake. You must navigate Meat Boy through hundreds of levels that take both aesthetic and gameplay inspiration from 4, 8, and 16 bit platformers. The end goal is to run into Bandage Girl, who is positioned at an end point in the level, all the while admiring the old school graphics style and jamming to the midi soundtrack. Getting to her is easier said than done though. This game is without a doubt the hardest game I’ve played in recent memory. You will die hundreds upon hundreds of times, but your eventual success gives both a sense of great accomplishment and a replay of all your deaths at once (splashes of meat blasting everywhere all the while). The levels all exhibit a great verticality that isn’t seen in most platformers or games at all. Meat Boy’s speed hinders this slightly since it is very easy to blast off past a platform into a kill pit. The control is tight, but loose which also can lead to some “undeserved” deaths. You can stop on a dime, but jumping onto small platforms is often unwieldy and difficult due to floaty in-air control.

    There are also “dark world” versions of all the regular levels which take the difficulty to a whole different plane. Negative worlds and unlockable character levels also do the same (I will never unlock “The Kid” from I Wanna Be the Guy… his level is impossible). Most of the unlockable characters are found by collecting enough bandages that float in hard to reach spots in many levels. These characters consist of Indie All-Stars such as Tim from Braid, Alien Hominid from Alien Hominid, and, as I mentioned, The Kid from I Wanna Be the Guy. My worry is that most gamers will not unlock most of the characters due to the bandage requirement even though certain levels can be beaten with less strain with the extra characters.

    Honestly, I feel like recommending this game is almost harmful. Beating each level is an achievement in itself and every triumph is preceded by dozens of deaths. If you are up to the challenge, Super Meat Boy will give you a tight, extreme platforming experience that is unmatched by any. All others (sane human beings) stay far, far away.

    Other reviews for Super Meat Boy (Steam) (PC)

      First Impressions: Super Meat Boy 0

      First Impressions: Super Meat Boy My initial assessment of Super Meat Boy (now available on Steam for PC) is that it's everything that it was hyped up to be when it was originally released for XBLA.  Its challenge level runs from moderate to punishing, but the trials seem to be entirely fair and ultimately beatable.  The game has a similarly brutal, if somewhat cutesy, sense of humor.  The main antagonist is a fetus in a top-hatted mech-suit, and the first world features lots of furry cartoon-c...

      3 out of 3 found this review helpful.

      Fun, Challenging and Infinitely Rewarding 0

      For a while now I’ve been worrying more and more about the movement of the games industry towards the casual market. The existence of this trend is pretty much indisputable nowadays, with the introduction of the Kinect and the Move lending themselves all too well to that family-friendly genre of “casual” games. Gone are the days when games were too difficult, too inaccessible to merit a broad appeal. For a growing number of gamers, the opposite is in fact the case: games are becoming too easy.It...

      1 out of 1 found this review helpful.

    This edit will also create new pages on Giant Bomb for:

    Beware, you are proposing to add brand new pages to the wiki along with your edits. Make sure this is what you intended. This will likely increase the time it takes for your changes to go live.

    Comment and Save

    Until you earn 1000 points all your submissions need to be vetted by other Giant Bomb users. This process takes no more than a few hours and we'll send you an email once approved.