Super Meat Boy is a challenging 2D platformer with a cute character Meat Boy… who’s girlfriend has been kidnapped. The game is trying to go for a retro / nostalgia feel that works. That part is an awesome home run. The music and the cut scenes are all excellent.
You need to have precise timing and pinpoint accuracy for this challenging game. The first ‘world’ seems easy enough and you end up breezing through it, but then the game quickly amps up the challenge to frustrating levels with no break from the insanity. Push the jump too hard and die, push it to soft and die, jump over something and die. You die, die, die and die dozens of times in this hard to master game. The controls are simple enough. Left and right to move, space to jump and shift to run. A controller is highly recommended. The controls are basically Super Mario Bros only floaty. Like you can jump ridiculously long gaps. You can also use the walls to jump. The mechanics are fun, but sometimes the jump button doesn’t work. I would say its my controller, but I’ve tried on 3 controllers now.
The levels are short… very short. Some can be done and over with in a mere second. Other levels take longer and offer huge challenge. Longer in the way that it will take more attempts to conquer, but not really longer as in they are long levels. Another problem is there’s no break from the challenge. Even when you make it to the next level, you can either see a recap of the level you just did or automatically go into the next level instantly.
Another surprising thing is the video card specs for what looks like such a basic game. If you don’t have a good video card this game will go slow if not unplayable for you.
If you really like giant challenge, this game is for you. If you like some solid mellow platforming, go for Mario. Oh and since its been out for a while, you can find it for cheap. $5 cheap.
Games That I Play 