So after listening to the game of the year deliberations and hearing Jeff's recommendations on VVVVVV I decided to pick the game up off of steam for $5.  I have to say, that first of all, yes-the music is totally awesome.  It's fast paced and makes you want to keep playing and playing.  Secondly, the game is awesome.  I love the super-retro look and the game play is great.  I did have a bit of a time with some of the levels with the keyboard but overall I loved the way the game controlled.  I was really surprised how much sensitivity and control you had over your little dude.   I enjoyed almost everything about this game.  I fully recommend it to anyone interested in either chip tunes, retro gaming, or just gaming itself.  

So after listening to the game of the year deliberations and hearing Jeff's recommendations on VVVVVV I decided to pick the game up off of steam for $5.  I have to say, that first of all, yes-the music is totally awesome.  It's fast paced and makes you want to keep playing and playing.  Secondly, the game is awesome.  I love the super-retro look and the game play is great.  I did have a bit of a time with some of the levels with the keyboard but overall I loved the way the game controlled.  I was really surprised how much sensitivity and control you had over your little dude.   I enjoyed almost everything about this game.  I fully recommend it to anyone interested in either chip tunes, retro gaming, or just gaming itself.  

I...Respectfully disagree. I went on a 2D platformer binge last year, playing Cave Story, Super Meat Boy, and VVVVVV, and found VVVVVV to be the weakest by a wide margin. 
 
It was mostly because I was mislead by the demo. The demo makes the game out to be a series of platforming challenges strung end on end. However, the game itself is a series of platforming challenges bookended by vast expanses of nothingness. The only justification I can find for that overworld is both padding out the length and including collectibles to jack up the price. 
 
What's worse is that the game starts loosing it's focus about 3/4 of the way though. The challenge stops being about your mastery of the flipping mechanic and about how you deal with wonky screen interaction (going in one side and coming out on a random place on the other side. 
 
I also found the controls unnecessarily imprecise. Your character has a strange amount of momentum that's hard to gauge and deal with, and leads to many unnecessary deaths.

The music is good, I will admit, but I feel like was falsely advertised. Many people claim it to be the "best 8-bit soundtrack ever," but anything beyond a cursory listen and it's clear it's actually bordering on electronica territory. Not that it's a bad thing, but like I said... false advertising. Or maybe it was false hype. 
 
So yeah, take out the overworld and it would be the greatest flash game ever made. But I don't think it anywhere near worth the full asking price. If you're going to get it, get it on sale.

I also found it really enjoyable, but it's the only 2d platformer I've finished in years, so I can't really compare it against Super Meat Boy(tried to play...but it's so hard...).

I bought it and beat it yesterday (snow days are awesome), and I would agree entirely. The music was incredible and the level design was challenging without being overtly frustrating. I wouldn't take it over Super Meat Boy (my personal Game of 2010), but it's a quick, clever game that at the current price of 5 dollars is a steal.

" I also found the controls unnecessarily imprecise. Your character has a strange amount of momentum that's hard to gauge and deal with, and leads to many unnecessary deaths. "

" @SoldierG654342 said:

" I also found the controls unnecessarily imprecise. Your character has a strange amount of momentum that's hard to gauge and deal with, and leads to many unnecessary deaths. "

This is my key problem. It plays like a flash game and I felt like a good majority of my deaths had little to do with on screen challenge. "

It's an awesome game with an awesome soundtrack. It's well balanced, I finished it but I didn't collect everything owing to the challenge involved so I will be returning to give that another go.

I loved it as well. Soundtrack probably my favourite part of the game but the difficulty was also welcomed. Even though it was really hard in places everything felt achievable since you had so much control over your character. For $5 it's a bargain!

According to steam, I've played it for 6 hours and I'll probably never play it again, but I still really enjoy what I played of it. I don't care about the time trial stuff, but I did collect all twenty trinkets. $5 for 6 hours of entertainment isn't a bad deal, though I actually bought it as part of the Indie 2D pack during the holiday sales.

The nothingness somebody mentioned here really bothers me. Too few challenges per minute if you want to say it like that.

There's lots of tricky stuff, Veni Vidi Vici is possibly the best example. There are some empty screens but most of those you'll probably only see for a second or two since you're falling from a great height.