Super Meat Boy is a serious contender for becoming the best 2D platformer the PC has to offer.
- Outstanding, brilliant 2D platforming with fantastic controls
- Super varied level design allowing more than a single possibility to beat a stage
- Perfect use of trial and error, without almost never being frustrating
Negative
- May have benefited if the graphics were slightly better
It is indeed a rarity that PC owners are offered a platformer. But if that void is filled with one, only one superb platformer that should be enough. Super Meat Boy fills that void with stellar 2D platforming, the imaginative and creatively good use of the trial and error, and magnificent controls to sum it up. To say it in short, Super Meat Boy is the kind of platformer you mustn't miss, almost at all costs.
The story is at its simplest, but simple doesn't always mean bad and not charming. You can controls of the cube-shaped, made of red meat, Meat Boy in his quest to save his lovely girlfriend Bandage girl from the clutches of the evil Dr. Fetus. You will guide Meat Boy and eventually several other unique characters through level filled with incredible level design and perfectly adapted controls ensuring that death will only be caused by your carelessness or misjudge. The game lets you get used to the gameplay and controls before beefing the difficulty up, and it goes up a lot, making Super Meat Boy a very, very challenging game.
To have jumped from the XBOX 360 to the PC, Super Meat Boy didn't sacrifice anything. Believe or not, the keyboard controls are flawless. The gameplay is relatively simple. The whole game is played in 2D, and only involved jumping, running and jumping from platform to another platform, wall jumping and climbing with wall jumping on one side, and avoiding all kinds of hazards and death traps. There is no hitting enemies involve, meaning this is a pure and classic platformer. The controls are made so the instant you press the shift button you accelerate the speed of Meat Boy, allowing you to maybe swiftly and barely survive a long jump. There should be absolutely no complain whatsoever that the controls are some of the most responsive you'll ever use of the PC.
Death is a very common thing in this game. Checking your statistic you may probably see the death rate exceeding one thousand and more by the end of the game. Levels are generally less than 30 seconds short and there are no checkpoints throughout. But thanks to the incredibly good use of trial and error the game is never, almost ever frustrating. Each time you die, you are instantly teleported at the beginning of the stage. And you can retry the stage. It's ultra fast loading. You have unlimited lives, and each level has possibly more than one way to finish it. In all my years of gaming, I've never seen such perfect and anti-frustrating use of trial and error. It is a fact that you'll be dying a lot. The difficulty ramps up gently, allows allowing you to get used to the game before unleashing inconsistently challenging level which may take a good deal of your time to finish.
There are other characters to use in Meat Boy. Getting bandages in some levels, or finding hidden warp zones and finishing them unlock another character. Each character has a surprising difference from one another. This will allow you to complete some levels with other characters besides the super fast, made of meat, Meat Boy. Warp zone levels are even more challenging than the regular levels, and these levels have a different, retro background and different soundtrack. They have different powers as well, which can either be assets in some levels, or complete doom in others. After finishing a level, you can watch the replay of all your tries, sometimes there will be countless Meat Boys meeting their doom as only one reaches destination safely.
There is possibly nothing really bad to say about Super Meat Boy. The graphics are ok, but could use some more depth and could be brighter. The level design is really varied and splendiferous making each level very different than the one before it. This merit mostly goes to the retro levels and amusing boss battles. The music is at the same level. There is no voice acting and the sound effects are a bit lacking, but the soundtrack is pretty catchy and entertaining.
Super Meat Boy is one of the toughest games you'll play this year. It could quite possibly place with those addictive, you can't let go until you beat this game kind of game. For PC owners this is quite a treat. This 2D platformer's infernal difficulty is quickly extinguished by the absolutely world class use of trial and error, imaginative levels and countless hours of fun with this boy made of meat. Super Meat Boy is a serious contender for becoming the best 2D platformer the PC has to offer.
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Graphics = 8.3
Probably the only thing you may complain about. If it was a little brighter and a little more detailed, this could have been more than you could handle. The level design is striking.
Sound = 8.6
The soundtrack is quite catchy and good. Nothing much aside from that.
Presentation = 9.2
It is a pure classic, with some nice retro levels. Perfect controls.
Gameplay = 9.4
It is incredible how Super Meat Boy manipulates the boring old trial and error to make the game worth retrying after hundreds over hundreds of deaths. So that you know, this is a very challenging game.
Story = 8.5
The story is minimal but what's there is goofy and entertaining.
OVERALL = 90 / 100
Super Meat Boy is a serious contender for becoming the best 2D platformer the PC has to offer.