Would you like it well done or bloody exceptional?
Why are we here? What is our purpose? Is there a hell, and would worrying about it be deemed squandering life away and not living to our fullest? These mysteries and concerns, backed up with religion, scientific research and Virgin Mary’s on toast, will never truly be answered until it’s all too late. In terms of video game characters, however, death is a simple issue and the answers lie behind 1-ups, checkpoints and continues. Life ain’t so bad either, as any character who is brought upon existence is confirmed a place in Wikipedia history. Where other protagonists may still whimper as the health bar drains, Meat Boy stands tall no matter how many of his corpses heap up, and that’s what makes him awesome.
The sexually frustrated ‘Dr Foetus’ couldn’t have just done several laps around the M25 though to make Meat Boy hopelessly dizzy and give up. Instead, he had to take the high road, the one filled with buzzsaws, lava, lasers and constant avalanches of industrial salt. Even the early levels are heavily laden with obstacles that would turn the health inspector revert inside out upon sight, yet Meat Boy has a trick under his sleeve. He’s a kid that simply can’t die. With an infinite disposal of continues behind you, how difficult can life be?
It’s not like the levels are particularly long, many not even lasting up to a minute to even the most inexperienced player. The plastered up damsel in distress can even be seen on the same screen on frequent occasion. It’s the Krypton Factor from hell journey through the middle of it all that’s set to quickly mince both Meat Boy and your nerves. You’ll be frequently required to undergo some treacherously close calls with rarely any way to cut corners about it. You’ll be forced to hit that perfect sweet spot near enough every time in order to make the process of dodging death look beautifully elegant. Touching anything remotely pointy leads to an explosion of raw steak and a gracious plodding back at the starting line. The imaginatively formed levels require an intuitive mind to breakdown and a quick eye for danger in order to traverse, and though many are puzzles in their own right, so much skill is needed that video walkthroughs will tremble as they attempt to aid.
The difficulty may prove simply to much for those who weren’t expecting it
So you’ll die. You’ll die a lot. Hell, it’s expected. Even after a victory, you’re played a single replay of all the previous attempts made with multiple Meat Boys flailing into death’s cold embrace before the final successful shot. It’s amazing that the monstrous arsenal leaves the simplicity of Super Meat Boy purely unscathed, and it’s here where the bloody beauty of the game lies. The fantastically rounded yet star strokingly high difficulty curve is relentless in its attention to detail, and teases it’s basic nature as if to suggest that it’s all completely possible. It fuels that fire in the brain that urges you to have one more go, and soon enough may be declared deadlier and more addictive than roast dinners served on bear traps.
The arrogant may need to step back in the face of danger and truly look about what a mammoth task must be taken on in order to even complete the game, let alone excel at it. The title guffaws at your podgy thumbs so hard that it even gives you the lifeline of skipping three stages out of twenty in order to move onto other worlds. With 300 levels on offer and almost a lifetimes worth of second chances, your perseverance can lead to many an hours worth of unforgiving, torturous fun. Those who exceed the expectations of the game and triumph can even unlock dark versions of levels they perfected…even harder incarnations where even standard platforms can be replaced by unclear hazards. Every kick to the stomach the game delivers to your gaming ego, it rewards you with yet another mountain to climb. And in a way, it feels good…in a way.
Some ridiculously addictive gameplay may be the succulent juiciness of Super Meat Boy, but it’s the sprinkles of polish that truly kick it up a notch. The Grim Reaper’s presence is so incredibly frequent that loading times between stages and deaths are practically skimmed down to milliseconds, and any major loading times are masked with comical cut-scenes. The art flair of the characters and level design makes everything cute, quirky and yet necessarily bloody. An Itchy and Scratchy cartoon come to life. The humour may be somewhat biased to the more wired audience familiar with artist and cartoonist Edward McMillan’s work, yet even if it may seem slightly alienated, it soon wins you back with a retro ping or absorb you again with it’s addictive gameplay.
The comical charm, the retro flair, the simple mechanics, the tight controls and the punishing yet forgiveable difficulty all reminds you of why you fell in love with video games. Those times say with a Mega Drive, where memory cards were but a mere dream. Where no matter how well you start, it could all fall apart at any time, forcing you back to the very beginning of the game. Where defeating Dr Robotnik and collecting all the Chaos Emeralds felt like the end of a miniature chronicle. Where you had that patience of steel to close your eyes, wipe the moisture of your fingers, have a few Pop Tarts and come back fighting. These are all the memories and experiences Super Meat Boy carries forward with a quirky and edgy coating to form one of the greatest downloadable games the XBLA will ever be graced with. It may not look like much in screenshots, but with loads of unlockables, fantastic level design and a brutal personality covered with funny characters, Super Meat Boy is a title that’s got a lot to stick your teeth into…even it be bloody and raw.
The Bad: Difficulty may prove to be just too much to some, Humour can feel more of an in-joke at times
