Super Meat Boy Review

Super Meat Boy is the long awaited platform game that takes inspiration from games such as the great N+. You play the character Super Meat Boy, a chunk of meat, whose girlfriend Bandage Girl has been kidnapped by the evil Dr Fetus. Your quest takes you on a journey over hundreds of levels to rescue your girlfriend.

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The first thing that struck me about the game is the design and humour, from the menu screens presented in a retro console style to the references of games such as the Street Fighter 2 style cutscene in the first Chapter. There are many references and it is fun to find and realize them; the most obvious is the level select screen shown in a Mario World style. There are several chapters to complete which each contain twenty levels and a boss level. A typical level will involve plenty of platform and wall jumping with hazards along the way that require a combination of precision and timing to overcome. There is great fun in working out the best routes and then putting them into action.

Completing a level within the time limit will reward you with a A+ rating and unlocks a ‘Dark World’ version alternative. These levels are based on the original level but with more hazards at a much harder difficulty, think of it as an Expert mode. You effectively get double the number of levels if you can beat the recommended times.

Each chapter has a theme ranging from the starting Forest levels with chainsaw hazards, to lava filled peril in Hell and high in the sky action in Rapture. The themes work well and are not to simply provide a different look but are also use to present new level design styles and hazards. The initial stages ease you to the game with simple platform and wall jumping that gradually increases in difficulty adding hazards which all instantly kill you. Later levels, which by this time you should be well practised in your skills, include Portal style portals which have to be jumped through in certain directions to reach platforms. Laser guns track your every move so you must quickly find cover and rocket launchers fire homing missiles which fragment on impact adding an even greater challenge. The variety continues to grow as you progress in the game so there is always something new which keeps the game feeling fresh and challenging.

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Thankfully you have infinite lives so you can retry a level over and over with no penalties, and trust me you will die a lot! The controls work great with a simple two button design that allows you to run and/or jump, deaths will usually be a result of your failed efforts and not due to unresponsive buttons. The game really does ramp up in difficulty, especially in Chapter 5, and they may result in controller throwing and much swearing if you are not careful as you mistime a jump or fall off that hard to reach platform for the 20th 50th time!

At the end of each chapter there is a boss level which must be completed to progress to the next. Each boss takes on a different approach in design and a test of your skills. The first level sees you running and jumping along a side scrolling level which you must reach the end before the chainsaw wielding boss does. Later boss levels include a race against time to reach the above exit with a constantly rising flood of salt which will kill you on contact. Another boss appears to be straightforward but it actually requires you to dodge his pattern of attacks that will test your memory and reflex skills. The salt flood level took me *many* attempts and I have to admit at once point I nearly threw the Television out the window. After taking a break from the game, I returned and finally completed the level, the sense of accomplishment was nothing short of amazing!

If you did not think the game was hard enough, there are two additional challenges which can be found on a number of levels. Bandages are usually found in hard to reach places which if you collect and complete a level with one they count towards unlocking new characters including a few cameo appearances from other Indie Games such as Bit.Trip. These new characters have different abilities such as being able to stick to walls or float across the screen for a short distance. If you are stuck on a particular level it is always a good idea to try a different character as it will often make it easier to complete. For the skilled player, some levels contain a Warp Zone entrance which is only open for a few seconds so you must quickly enter them before it disappears. The warp zones are a wacky nod to classic consoles such as the NES and Gameboy with redesigned levels in their respective graphics, sound and play style. Unlike the main game, you have a limited number of lives to complete these levels, so you really do have to rely on your skills to complete them.

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The presentation of the game is as mentioned done in a retro style which seems to be a bit too overused at the moment with games such as Scott Pilgrim to name but a few also doing this. If it is done well then this is no problem and Super Meat Boy mostly succeeds well in pulling it off. The in-game graphics are more modern in style so it is a bit of a mishmash in terms of looks. Overall, the graphics look fine and are nicely detailed throughout the game with the changes in themes keeping it interesting. One minor annoyance is that sometimes the backgrounds can clash with your character, for example the lava levels make it at times hard to see where you are if you are playing as Super Meat Boy. The music is wonderfully done with a good variety of tracks to listen to, from the retro sounding cutscenes and warp zone music to the more modern sounding in-game tracks such as the industrial Rapture chapter music. They are great to listen to and never get repetitive.

Other features to the game include the ability to save replays of levels which can be later viewed for posterity. Online leader boards record your best times for each level as well as a global combined ranking, you can spend hours improving your times to beat others. There are two Avatar Awards and two gamer pictures to unlock as you progress through the game. It is also worth noting that free level packs will be added at a later date to the game.

At a launch price of 800 :MSPoints: until sometime in November when it will cost the original 1200, this is excellent value for money. You get a massive amount of content if you are prepared to spend a bit of time and effort to unlock the harder versions of each level. If you play straight through the game without distraction of unlocking hard levels or completing the extra challenges you can expect a length of around fifteen hours and countless more if you unlock everything. Super Meat Boy is a tremendously fun game that at times will leave you with tears of frustration and others with tears of joy.

Super Meat Boy is due for release on October 20th on Xbox Arcade. Wii and PC versions are to be released at a later date. You can find more information on the game at http://www.supermeatboy.com/