Super Meat Boy is not only insane, it's also the next revolution of 2D platformers.
The concept in Super Meat Boy is simple. You play as Meat Boy, who's in love with Bandage Girl, who's been kidnapped by Dr. Fetus. The goal in each level is to make it through the obstacles to get to Bandage Girl, and then move on to the next level. The gameplay itself is also simple. You can walk, run, jump, and slide and jump on walls. While the gameplay isn't revolutionary, the way it controls is.
The controls are incredibly precise, which means you never move an inch you don't control. This means if you die, it's your own fault, not the game. When you need to make a small jump, you slightly tap the A button, but if you need to make a long jump, or a high jump you hold down the A button. But as soon as you let go of the button, you start to fall. This applies to every other thing you can do in the game. You run until you let go of that stick, or D-Pad. You slide on a wall, until you jump away.
Super Meat Boy's level design is genius. The levels start out easy enough for you to get the hand of the precise controls. Then slowly ease you in the incredibly difficulty of a majority of the levels. But the levels themselves are never so difficult that no one can beat them. There is always just enough room to jump over a saw, always enough room to slide into the next platform. The trick is just figuring out the best way to get there. But while doing this you're going to die, a lot. But the levels usually only take about thirty seconds to run through, the platforming is so much fun, and most of all the satisfaction of beating a extremely challenging level is almost unparalleled.
While it can seem frustrating at times, Super Meat Boy does multiple things to make this a much less frustrating game than it could have been. Unlike many other games, you respawn instantly, hardly giving you any time to beat yourself up over the last death. The music also goes a long way in keeping you from getting frustrated. Super Meat Boy has one of the best soundtracks in a game in a long time. The music is incredibly fast, and keeps your blood pumping. And it never restarts between deaths, or levels, keeping you motivated throughout. The game also rewards you at the end of every level. The game records every attempt you make at a level, and then replays them all at once after beat the level. This helps you see all the progress you made at once, and is also entertaining because it's a lot of fun to see all the Meat Boy deaths at once.
Super Meat Boy is not even slightly short on content. There are around three hundred levels in the entire game, most of which are optional. If you beat a level with a set amount of time, you unlock the "Dark World" version of that level, which are even more challenging then the regular "Light World" levels. There are also portals hidden throughout the levels, which ether lead to a set of three levels that aren't as hard as the other levels, but you have a limited amount of lives to finish them. There are hidden "Zero World" levels, which are really difficult to find, and complete.
There are also portals that lead to a level where you can unlock new characters to play as. The characters you can unlock come from other indie games, such as Commander Video from Bit Trip Runner, or The Kid from I Wanna Be the Guy. To unlock them to use on any level, you have to play through a set of three stages, but you'll need to use that character's special ability to get through the level. Unlocking these characters can be handy, and make some levels a little easier to get through. You can also find band-aids throughout each level. While most of these are really hard to get to, it's really satisfying to finally get the band-aid and finish the level. In time these also lead to unlocking new characters, motivating you to find as many of them as you can.
Super Meat Boy also has a unique charm which is undeniable. The way the music combines with the light-hearted yet violent at time visuals is very appealing. Many of the cutscenes have a bit of nostalgia, as they all have a reference to some classic game, such as Castlevania, or the original Ninja Gaiden. Even the cutscenes that don't have a charm for their own reasons which I won't spoil for you.
Super Meat Boy is an incredible game. The extreme difficulty may turn off some players, but this game is incredibly well crafted. Super Meat Boy is so much fun, so addictive and such a step forward for 2D platformers that it's at least worth a look, if not an immediate purchase. Super Meat Boy is a classic game that is the new standard for 2D platformers.