[Game Review] Super Meat Boy

I'm not sure if I was born in the right time period to say I truly appreciate the history of video-games. I kind of missed all the early classics: Zelda, Castlevania, the original Super Mario Bros. and all that, and it has never been a niche genre for me either, I've grown up in a time where gaming culture has gone relatively main-stream for better or for worse. Look, all I know is that there was this game called E.T that screwed a lot of crap up, Nintendo pretty much saved the industry after that, and apparently, not that I was there, but there was a time when games were hard. Really freaking' hard. Fast forward to today, and you've got a couple of old platformers like Ghouls n' Ghosts that are generally regarded as some of the hardest games of all time. I grew up on Pokemon myself, and I'm not sure if you call that game hard besides from the incredible dedication it would take to "catch em' all", and generally, any game I could pick up a store right now probably won't pose too much of a challenge unless I stack the difficulty up. I guess what I'm trying to say is that sometimes it's good to play a game that takes gaming back to its apparently mind-numbing, hair-tearing and throw-our-controller-at-the-screen frustrating roots. And then realize just how hopelessly, hopelessly outclassed you are. 

     Hello people of "The Wired", my name is Quan, I woke up today to see that the snow fairly had kindly visited my driveway, and welcome to a new game review, and sorry that it has been so long. Today: Super Meat Boy, a single player platformer indie title developed by the aptly named Team Meat, and designed by two men by the names of Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes. It was published by Microsoft, so it is available on the Xbox Live Arcade or PC. Now let's get into it.

I won't go on for too long on the story of the game, because there really isn't here since it's not really important in the context of your enjoyment, but here it is. You are Meatboy, an adorable red cube that seems to spend his days cuddling with his girlfriend Bandage Girl, until one fateful day, when Bandage Girl is kidnapped by the evil Dr. Fetus(no really) for his nefarious schemes. Now, it is up to you and Meatboy to rescue Bandage Girl, even if that means chasing her and Dr. Fetus through salt factories, "The Wired", or the depths of hell itself. And that's it really. Clearly, it's the not the focus of the game, and the simple and formulaic story is probably just a love letter to the classic platformers like Super Mario Bros. that Super Meat Boy is obviously inspired by and trying to emulate. That's all right I guess, we've seen that a simple story is fine in games as long as the game-play is strong enough to hold up the game up on its own. And in the case of Super Meat Boy, does it ever. 

My, that's a lot buzz-saws.

Each level of Super Meat Boy is punishing, difficult, but short, if you know what you're doing. Using the super quick and agile Meatboy, you'll need to maneuver to avoid buzz-saws, bottomless pits, laser beams and all that fun stuff to reach Bandage Girl at the end of the level, at which point Dr. Fetus will appear out of nowhere and snatch her away again to the next level, eerily similar to how Donkey Kong will keep taking Pauline out of reach every-time Mario completes the level in Donkey Kong(that's three Mario references for those of you counting). These levels are so hard that you'll swear that every single one is impossible as you die over and over again, but the beauty of this game is that every time you die, it is completely and utterly your fault. The controls are so slick and sensitive that you're are able to control Meatboy's every twitch if you wanted, so if you get hit by a flying buzz-saw or fall into another damn bottomless pit, that is because you weren't quick enough or didn't jump high enough. There's absolutely no excuses, no, the game didn't kill you by unresponsiveness or something, you only die in this game because you suck at it. In fact, the game seems to relish greatly telling the player that they suck at the game, because every-time you do complete a level, the games replays all of your lives at the same time.

     On the harder levels, it's actually quite a sight to behold: watching a thousand Meatboys fling themselves towards the level from the starting point, and then see them all explode as they are struck down by one of the million obstacles, only to see one singular Meatboy limp across the finish line to the end of the level. 

You'll also find that as you traverse the 6 worlds of the game, that there's a very definite difficulty curve as well. The game will always feel extremely difficult, but that's because it introduces two or more game mechanics per world to shake up the game-play, and you are in fact, slowly mastering the game. Yes, I know, I was amazed myself when I revisited the first world after being stuck on a particularly hard level in World 4, that I could do all the levels hardly dying at all. I think it just goes to show how perfectly structured  the whole game is. You don't get to move onto new levels and mechanics unless you master the old ones, and not master by doing one tutorial, but mastering by the endless practice that all the levels combined provide. It's good that the game gets that right too, for obviously reasons, but also because things get pretty ridiculous in the final levels, and you will need to call upon all of those skills you've honed throughout the game at least once to prevail. And at last, I really do need to give the game credit for making those final levels as hard as were, because once you finally finish the game, the sense of accomplishment I got was greater than almost any other video-game I've ever played. In fact, it's almost a strategy for the game in general, since it's hard not to view any individual level in the game as impossible when you first attempt it, the euphoria that flows onto your being once you beat it is just enough to make you try the next impossible level, and then the next impossible level, and then the next. It's a game that's very easy to play for hours on end and get lost in, this experience made easier by the fact that re-spawning in the game is instantaneous, which keeps a fast pace about the game, but also means that your concentration and flow aren't broken by a slow loading screen. That's just another thing that the game does right.  The boss battles you'll find at the end of each world are also pretty creative, as they range from a race, to running for your life, and all that stuff. 

An example of the games' varied level designs.

Another thing I need to give the game credit for is its almost ridiculous amount of replay value. Without even touching on the amazing level designs, the game has a plethora of unlockable characters and levels for you to test your skills with. Each character forces you to change your play-style, for instance, while Meatboy is extremely fast and lithe, if you choose a character like Commander Video who can briefly float across the screen, you'll need to use that feature instead of Meatboy's quickness. It keep things interesting, an in addition, in each level, there is an optional bandage to collect, which you can bet will be placed as precariously as humanly possible, but once you get enough of those, it unlocks characters and the such. In addition to that, in certain levels, warp zones are hidden, which transport you back to the 8-bit era(quite literally, as the games' graphic literally change to match the look of old-time platformers), and challenge you to beat three levels in a row with a certain amount of lives to win fabulous prizes. And just in case, that wasn't enough extra content for you, each and every level of the game has a "Dark World" counterpart, where the level becomes even more difficult. And before you ask, yes, I only beat the game in the "Light World", but give me a break, I do have a life to live after all, and those last few levels were hard enough on their own, thank you very much. Needless to say, 100%ing this game is no easy task, there's enough extra content to keep you entertained for weeks, and should you beat every level, collect every bandage and complete every warp-zone, I will personally grant the title of "Platforming Meat God", and direct you to go outside for a bit since you probably haven't got enough sunlight recently.
   
Another thing I like is the game's attitude, which shows up in the cut scenes or occasionally inter-spliced with game-play. It's an attitude that loves to throw in dark and slightly vulgar humor, and this combined with the game's design gives it a very distinctive personality, which I like. It also made me laugh, which is always a good thing, since otherwise I might be so frustrated at the game that I might break my console in half. But seriously, that does keep a nice balance, having a game super-hard, but also very light-hearted, so it never feels like a chore to do any of the levels.

The colorful cast of Super Meat Boy. Yes, that is Steve from Minecraft and Pink Knight from Castle Crashers.

The music for Super Meat Boy was composed Danny Baranowsky, a fellow who has done other indie-game soundtracks such as The Binding of Isaac and Canabalt. The OST is extremely cool and energetic, each world gets its own distinctive style and thus feel, even if every song fits together into the over-arching theme. That theme is electronic music, something Danny Baranowsky seems to be very fond of, as this OST and others he has done are completely made up of this style of music. That's fine too, that just means that there is a little bit of a repetitive nature to the music, however the differences in sound between the worlds is enough. The highlight of the OST is undoubtedly the music which plays during the boss battle portion of each world. The music is always more distinctive than the rest of the soundtrack, but also ties into each world's own sound, and crafting and detail such as this are something that must be applauded. 

World 2-The Hospital (Dark World)

World 3-The Salt Factory

World 5-Rapture (Dark World)

Needless to say, I thought Super Meat Boy was excellent. It gave me a legitimate challenge, but never made me too frustrated since I was always knew what I did wrong, and how I could avoid the mistake next time. It's a truly remarkable mix of jolly fun and nail-biting difficulty, against of backdrop of dark humor and clear fondness for the 8-bit platformer era. I loved it, and if it sounds like anything close to something you'd enjoy, I would recommended to get it in your meaty hands as soon as possible. Goodbye for now guys.

Final Verdict: 9/10

P.S: Don't research this game's lore, by the way. It's pretty messed up.



Looking for more game reviews? Click here for a game review of Thomas Is Alone.

If it's anime you're looking for, click here for a completely subjective review of Kanon(2006).

Unless you're more of a book person, in which case click here for a review of Coraline.