Gamespot score:9.5(Editor's choice)
my score:8.0
(+)Pros:-Outstanding level design,-great soundtrack,-fun and unique boss fights,-simple and fun gameplay mechanics,-tons of levels (and hidden ones too),-unlockable characters add replayability.
(-)Cons:-Erm......super hard,-linear gameplay.
Gameplay time:10-20 hours
Super meat boy doesn't really have a solid story. Its just like mario all over again. Meat boy likes bandage girl, dr fetus hates meat boy, so to make meat boy sad, dr fetus kidnaps bandage girl. Meat boy, not standing there and taking it, goes to rescue her, mario style. Simple right? Fetus flees from one area to the next, and meat boy chases him left and right to get his precious bandage girl back. Its not much, but its not a bad story either. Given the simple game that it is, it doesn't really need a deep story to shine. Instead, little clips of cartoon cinematics that play in between boss fights and levels show a bit of the comedic side of the game, and can be cool to watch.
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| Saws! Lots of saws! |
Super meat boy is easily one of the most linear platformers around, taking a straightfoward approach leaning more towards the side of mario. You traverse through levels world by world, each world having 20 stages, a couple of hidden ones, and a boss level. There are 5 worlds including a 6th finale world which is far shorter than the rest....so yeah, expect lots of stages. Not to mention that even after end game there are even more post game levels for you to attempt and die more. Each stage is short and can be cleared in a couple of minutes even after dieing to it many times, but combine that with the insane amount of stages....you get easily over a dozen hours of gameplay.
Not to mention, each and every one of these levels is well designed, introducing new elements exclusive to that world you are in, and including saws whenever possible. Each new level tests your skills and helps you improves on them to prepare you for future HARDER stages...and believe the stages DO get ridiculously hard....especially the omega. *shudder* The worlds you get taken to are well made too, giving a fresh new atmosphere different from the previous one. From forests to hostpitals, salt factories, hell and an apocalyptic world. Yeap, feels great. However, it would be better to use something else, instead of saws all the time.
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| Yeap, the bosses will clobber you. |
To go with the great levels, the gameplay itself is simple and addictive. Meat boy just slides along the ground and walls, being the piece of meat that he is, he is generally slippery. You jump and avoid hazards like any other platformer, and can wall jump like megaman X to get to higher or unreachable positions. And this can yield you to find stuff like bandages or secret levels, that make you go retro style. Awesome. Bandages are collected to unlock new characters, each playing differently from one another.
These characters are from other various games, and thier appearance in the game matches thier abilities in thier own game. Head crab from half life, tim from braid, the knight from castle crasher, commander bit trip....and many more. These cameos can be more than just fun to play, and provide new methods to solve levels. Another great thing, and probably the best thing about this game, is the great boss fights. These are scarse, but provide the game with its much needed variety, instead of just a ridiculously hard level after another one, bosses help loosen the pace and place you in a fun and engaging battle. While most of these are just dodging until you get an opportunity to get back at them, it doesnt change the fact that they are probably the stuff I look foward to the most when ravaging through the levels.
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| Presenting.....more buzz saws! |
The bad thing about meat boy is so obvious and simple. Its....hard. Its so ludicriously hard....I don't know why the creators made it so. Was it for us to become mashocists? This was even harder than shit like demons souls and maybe even prinny! WHY??!? The difficulty can be rage inducing at times and I turned off the whole damn game more than once due to dieing at a stage. Unreasonable difficulty at early levels and the level just keeps raising. By the end of the game stages become nearly unclearable, and some are long as hell. With no checkpoints or any other shit, it just pains me to play a stage over and over. Other than that, its the linear gameplay. There arent any different modes and variations, so the entire game is just you getting from point A to B, over and over. Now that, my friends, is linearity.
Inflicting pain and fear unto gamers, Super meat boy is one of the hardest games available out there. Even old school megaman fans will cringe when playing this game to the final stages. Even so, one cannot deny that the simple but solid platforming and wonderful level design make this title one thats much more than just decent. With some of the best boss fights available in platforming games, and a great soundtrack, PLUS the tons of levels and unlockable characters, you've got a game with a fairly good amount of content. Super meat boy, is a great game and platformer.
Happy gaming.
