Platform: Switch
Publisher: BlitWorks
Developer: Team Meat
Genre: Action, Adventure, Platform
Series: Super Meat Boy
Players: 2
Release Date: January 18, 2018
Indie games have seen massive success on the Nintendo Switch and Super Meat Boy is no exception. On the Friday after its release, the developers behind Super Meat Boy shared on their official Twitter account that Switch day-one sales nearly rivaled the sales of its original launch on the Xbox 360 in 2010. The portable pick-up-and-play nature of the Nintendo Switch is perfect for indie platformers and Super Meat Boy shines in this regard. Super Meat Boy fits right at home on the Switch and I can honestly say there’s nowhere else I’d like to play this game.
When A Meat Boy Loves A Bandage Girl
Super Meat Boy starts off by showing us the loving and caring relationship between Meat Boy, an acrobatic wad of sentient meat, and Bandage Girl, a girl made out of bandages. Dr. Fetus, a villainous baby fetus in a mech suit, hates Meat Boy and kidnaps Bandage Girl out of jealousy and spite. Dr. Fetus forces Meat Boy to traverse through increasingly hazardous and torturous stages in order to save Bandage Girl. Unfortunately, Dr. Fetus always swoops in and kidnaps Bandage Girl again before Meat Boy can save her. Meat Boy refuses to give up and continues to work towards saving Bandage Girl from Dr. Fetus, despite the horrors he has and will continue to face on his journey.
A Lesson in Mindfulness Through Trial and Error
Super Meat Boy is by far the most challenging platformer I’ve played in recent memory, but it is by no means impossible. The controls in Super Meat Boy are so satisfyingly tight and precise, they feel like a natural extension of your thoughts. Meat Boy glides tactfully and gracefully through menacing buzzsaws, spikes, and lava pits as you learn how to dash and jump with perfect precision. Learning to get through these one-hit-kill obstacles will be intimidating at first, but this is a game of trial and error. Failing is a part of the process and as you keep failing you will learn how to succeed. The short levels and instant loading times facilitate this process by putting you right back in the action almost as quickly as you are sure to mess up again. The tight controls and consistently fair gameplay mechanics of Super Meat Boy provide a rewarding experience not based on XP or the grinding of a special ability but based on the virtue of naturally learning how to master the level in one piece.
Lots O’ Meat (Minus the Lasagna)
For such a small game, Super Meat Boy boasts a huge amount of content. For every level you achieve an A+ score in the “light world,” there is a devilishly ultra difficult version of that level in the “dark world.” Achieving an A+ in itself is a difficult process, as it requires you to beat the level under a record time which is usually under several seconds. Once you master the light world level, the newly unlocked dark world version will make the journey to get an A+ feel like a joke. These levels are unforgivingly brutal and will put your skills (and sanity) to the ultimate test. Scattered throughout the light world levels are warp portals that take you to 8-bit levels where you have a limited number of lives. These levels are not as difficult as the standard game, but obstacles and enemies are still a one-hit-kill so every move should be done with absolute precision. Each standard level, minus boss fights, has a bandage you can collect. Bandages can be used to unlock new characters like Commander Video from Bit.Trip Runner. There are more than 300 levels for you to master and plenty of challenging collectibles for those completionists out there.
Super Meat Boy lets you show off your skills to your friends in local race mode and online leaderboards. Race mode has you racing to complete levels faster than your opponent in a split-screen view (and it has individual Joy-Con support). These races are just as fun as they are tense, but if one of you gets stuck it’s exciting to see how your opponent overcomes the level and goes on ahead (until they get stuck on a later level). The online leaderboards record your best times and stack them up against your friends and the world, showing you your ranks and challenging you to get a better time.
Final Thoughts
Even though Super Meat Boy is almost a decade old at this point, its timeless retro aesthetic, masterful controls, and thoughtfully challenging level designs are worth experiencing and/or revisiting for new and old players. It’s a bummer the original soundtrack is nowhere to be found in this version of the game, but that should not minimize the excitement of running through difficult gauntlets as an acrobatic wad of sentient meat. Super Meat Boy fits right in on the Nintendo Switch and serves as a great addition to its ever-expanding indie library. Super Meat Boy is available on the Nintendo Switch eShop for $14.99.
Review Copy Provided by Team Meat
