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Super Meat Boy is a platformer that is very challenging. You play as a cube of meat who is trying to save his girlfriend (who is made of bandages) from an evil fetus in a jar wearing a tux. It’s also no coincidence that Super Meat Boy shares its initials with Super Mario Bros. It is a pure platformer that, at its core, it’s nothing but running and jumping. Meat Boy’s goal is always the same: reach Bandage Girl who always gets snatched by Dr Fetus at the end of the level.
To anyone who has played an old school platformer, you know what is to come; you will leap from walls over buzz saws, crumbling caves and pools of needles (sounds delightful). The meaty hero sacrifices his own well-being to save bandage girl. So, in a game like this, you have to make precision jumps and turns; so… making the controls right is essential for this type of game – which it does. The game is a delight to control and Meat Boy feels responsive to the commands given.
Super Meat Boy brings back the difficulty of retro games such as Mega Man 2, etc. So you know that you will be dying… a lot… and, to show you how many times that you had to do it, it replays them after you accomplished the level, showing all the tries at once. So, having done a level a fair amount of times, it appears as a blood bath on your screen, and is very amusing and shameful at the same time.
The style of the game is also reminiscent of the old NES days, where it keeps it simple but is a delight to play. But, as I said, it is extremely difficult; make the smallest mistake and you will have to start the level over. And this will happen many times as there are no checkpoints, so, dying a hundred plus times at one level is going to happen – even for a hardcore gamer. The game also keeps a record of every death in the statistics menu; it became so tense that I had to use a controller to keep a grip of something as the tension rose after every death.
On your first play through the game, you'll be so focused on completing each stage that many of the secrets held within the level will be missed. There are warp zones that take you to a secret area where you could find a new playable character from indie games such as Commander Video from the Bit Trip games. These characters that can be found have their own behaviours that might help in a level, so this is much welcomed replayability. There are also warp zones that take you to a different level where it changes the art style of the game – it may turn into a 8-bit game emulating the NES, Atari 2600 or Game Boy, and even has its own splash screen when entered the warp zone.
The developers make their influences obvious, as the hilarious cutscenes have references from Ninja Gaiden to Mega Man 2. Even a Donkey Kong-themed level is called “Weibe” after Donkey Kong champion Steve Wiebe. Also, the soundtrack has a retro feel, and this has to be my personal favorite part of the game. The chiptune background music immerses you in the retro styled world that is Super Meat Boy.
In conclusion, Super Meat Boy is a fantastic game, and it should definitely be purchased by anyone seeking a challenge. But be prepared to curse a lot, and be ready to shake your screen as precision is needed. With lovable characters and an amazing soundtrack as well, this game cannot be missed.
BIO : David is a relative newcomer to the Ubuntu scene and really enjoying it so far. He loves games and is pursuing a career as a Games Designer. You can follow his exploits at: rhysforward.carbonmade.com