Super Meat Boy has finally been released on the Nintendo Wii U after being out on other systems for a rather long time. Was it worth waiting for its arrival on a Nintendo console?
It’s hard to believe that Super Meat Boy was initially released six years on the Xbox 360 and PC. Ever since then different generations of players have attempted to tackle its many challenging levels. Imagine the number of controllers that have been replaced after being thrown across the room. Despite its hardcore nature, Super Meat Boy manages to offer a welcome challenge that is hardly seen in a world where most developers prefer to guide players by the hand.
The basic idea is to guide Super Meat Boy to the current location of his kidnapped girlfriend in each level. This is a lot harder than it seems given that each level is filled with deadly traps. Then there is the fact that the character will die right away if hit once.
Whilst it makes sense that dying results in having to start a level from the beginning, it does feel like more intricate levels could benefit from the odd checkpoint. After all, it’s nerve-wracking to have to start all over again from the start. Specially once it starts getting really complicated with all kinds of deadly traps popping up in later levels. One wrong move and it’s necessary to then have to go through the same sections in a level several times.
There is no point in denying that this is a title that requires a lot of patience. Every move must be carefully thought out. Obstacles such as missiles will not hesitate to kill the fragile character. Life or death split second decisions occur on a regular basis when playing Super Meat Boy.
Despite the steep difficulty curve it’s still a highly addictive title to play. It’s actually impressive to witness how the game design is relevant after all these years. Being able to get through some of the tougher levels in later worlds feels rewarding. It’s the sort of title that stubborn players will want to complete. The frustration and pain it brings will make players feel alive and realise that sometimes it’s the simplest concept that can bring you joy.
Super Meat Boy isn’t lacking in content with plenty of levels for player to try their best to complete. It’s handy that not every level must be completed in order to get to the boss stage and move on to another chapter. The boss battles are usually interesting and a worthy reward for completing the required number of levels needed to unlock each boss fight.
Whilst Super Meat Boy seems fragile like a porcelain doll, at least he has the ability to run faster. Once this temperamental ability is mastered it makes it a bit easier to play advanced levels.
The level design is quite creative with new ideas (although usually deadly ones) being successfully added in new levels on a regular basis. It helps that the visuals are still inspiring after all these years with some nice looking backgrounds.
Those with a competitive streak can make use of the different ways most levels can be completed to improve the completion time for each level. This version of the title even comes with online leader-boards. There are also hidden bonus zones amusingly called Warp Zones that are found in some of the levels and more levels to play in the Dark World.
It’s worth noting that the title benefits from the use of the GamePad to play it. This is due to the fact that it feels like the response time when controlling the character is quicker than when playing on a bigger screen.
The current soundtrack is still decent despite all the controversy involving the use of a new soundtrack in versions of the title released on other hardware after the Xbox One/PC release. However, there are a few times where at least one music track doesn’t loop properly when playing the levels it plays in. A rather unusual performance issue no matter how minor.
Although this port doesn’t seem to come with any extras, it is highly recommended for anyone who hasn’t played it before. Super Meat Boy is still one of the most challenging titles to have been released in recent years.
