42 people found this review helpful
1 person found this review funny
Recommended
0.0 hrs last two weeks / 10.1 hrs on record (9.2 hrs at review time)
Posted: Dec 3, 2014 @ 12:08pm
Updated: Dec 26, 2014 @ 10:40am

Super Meat Boy is a the creme de la creme of 2D challenging platformers. It stands out head and shoulders above the rest. It has a beautiful art style, cut scenes parodying old Nintendo games and a simple plot. A villain has taken Bandage Girl and you as Super Meat Boy must reach her at the end of every single level. When you get to her she gets whisked away time and time again. The 7 'chapters' each have around 20 levels that can get completed in 30 seconds or less. The real challenge here is that most everything causes instant death. Spikes, grinders, guns and pits. With each death, you respawn at the start with no load time. This keeps you in the game. Every chapter has its own theme including a forest, a hospital, a salt factory and even Hell itself. At the end of every level is a new and unique boss fight that usually consists of a race.

Even if people have branded it a difficult game, you will eventually get through the game with enough practice. Since there are no lives and you just respawn, there is no consequence. While completing a level just leads to the next level, there is an easy to use map so you can go back and replay areas. On top of that, for every 'grade A' (under par time) that you get for a level, you can play its dark world counterpart making levels tougher. In all around 300 levels.

Each level has their own gimmicks. Platform riding, touch bricks that dissolve, raising lava, shooting saw blades, conveyer belts and so on. Some levels even have keys that when touched they remove lock blocks automatically. There is a lot of variety here. The game ratchets up up the creativity with portals. Since Meat Boy is one block tall, he can fit most anywhere. Some levels have winding paths through factories. Others are broad jumps between conveyer belts that launch him into the area. There are warp zones to find in levels that will send you to far more difficult levels. All with simple controls.

As a square of meat, the controls are simple, left, right, jump and run. You can even jump off walls and slide down them. Sometimes your wall jump will slide you up from momentum. Other than that the game isn't slippery like other 2D platformers. Meat Boy can stop on a dime. Holding run and jump can fly you across the screen to where you need to be. The Steam version has plenty of unlockable characters from collecting band-aids in certain levels. You'll also get to play as other characters that have different abilities. At the end of each level you're treated to seeing all your failed attempts playing all at once.

There's not much to say about the game. Its charm, art and music make it more desirable to play than the average 2D challenging platformer. Super Meat Boy has a lot of content for your money, complete with a level designer to unlock. So many people like something that makes them throw their controllers.
Was this review helpful? Yes No Funny Award
13 Comments
.ĸιllerвαrвιe™ Dec 25, 2014 @ 5:43pm 
Good review, I shall never buy the game :)
sitebender Dec 25, 2014 @ 3:30pm 
A review is different than recommend / not recommend.

According to dictionary, a review is 'a critical article or report, as in a periodical, on a book, play, recital, or the like; critique; evaluation. '

Steam is asking for 2 things. A review and whether or not to recommend it. I don't recommend it, but I still bothered to review it. Instead of 'makes people throw controllers 10/10.'
Ratio Dec 25, 2014 @ 2:01pm 
The point of a review is to say weather you like it or not, and explain why.
Not to give your opinion and then downvote it just for the heck of it.
sitebender Dec 25, 2014 @ 4:52am 
Merry Christmas Spawk. Ah I see the game is now 75 cents. Let the comments flow in.

I did a hateful parody review of Super Meat Boy: http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198019205444/status/1417906392
Spawk Dec 25, 2014 @ 4:49am 
What a terrible, terrible review. Hated everything about it.

All in all, I'd give this review a 10/10.
sitebender Dec 25, 2014 @ 4:38am 
I don't recommend it. That doesn't mean its not a good game its the whole 'recommended / not recommended' thing that Steam forces people to use. I have a feeling if I just flip the recommended a lot more people would upvote the review. Like I did with my review of Sonic Generations went from 2 upvotes out of 25 to 50 out of 50. Same review.

35 out of my 37 Steam friends that own this have less than an hour into the game. I assume that means they buy it, then don't care for it. That's a lot of people that just don't care for it. Probably for the degree of challenge.
sass Dec 25, 2014 @ 4:31am 
It sounds like you're praising it. So do you recommend it or not?
sitebender Dec 6, 2014 @ 7:51pm 
Thanks. Someone gave me an idea to write a review parody. Since this was the last game I reviewed. I did a hateful parody review of Super Meat Boy: http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198019205444/status/1417906392
SuperSparky Dec 6, 2014 @ 7:47pm 
Thanks for the recommendations, I'll give it a try and good luck with your malicious review plans :P
sitebender Dec 6, 2014 @ 1:55pm 
I took a look at your games and saw a few other challenging platformer. If you get the time, you might want to give these a try: Love, VVVVV, You have to Beat the Game, Super Lemonaide Factory, Cloudberry Kingdom and even 8-Bit Boy. None is as polished as Super Meat Boy.

Plus when this review gets too many downvotes I'll just change it to recommended and watch it soar with upvotes.