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Created by Team Meat in 2010. Available on Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Steam and Epic Store. (Read below about Epic version.)
With the impending release of Super Meat boy Forever on all platforms (except Steam), coming back reminds me there is so much more to this game than nostalgia. For all the dark-humor jokes, the rage-inducing (yet fun) hardships, and the dated-yet-tasteful callbacks to other games, Meat Boy embodies the idiom “how the sausage gets made” beyond the mere expression. Meat Boy, as iconic as he is to the face of indie games, has always been (and continues to be) a punching bag for the best and the worst qualities within the industry—and yet the game remains a classic in 2019.
From the game’s humble beginnings on Newgrounds to the frustration of its official release on the Xbox Live Arcade, Team Meat is one of the first developers to lay the foundations for future indie success stories. After earning critical acclaim, the game has been pressed through numerous controversies from discontinuing (officially) supported features to becoming another possible casualty between the Epic Store and Steam. While the game’s legacy cannot rival the likes of Mario, it’s poetically ironic how Super Meat Boy continues to stay relevant for reasons outside of the core game that undermine how great it truly is to play.
Still avoiding a close shave in 2019.
Two Sides of the Same Game of Epic Proportions
Now the rest of this review will not further discuss these outside matters as it’s still a review of the game itself. These topics are mentioned here to give you points of context behind Team Meat moving to the Epic Store with their history on Xbox and the developers’ cut on Steam. However, out of these possible discussions, the most important one to talk about further is the game’s staggering differences between the Epic Store and Steam.
Can you spot the immediate difference?
You may be forgiven in thinking there are no big differences, but if you dig further into each version you begin to see the problems accumulate. For starters, the most harmless missing feature on both storefronts is the omission of rebindable keys or controller support beyond Xbox controllers. (You can solve this problem installing X-input software for PS4 controllers, or you can use a Steam Controller to map out your own configuration.) Second, there are no leaderboards or achievements (for now) on the Epic Store, which are also forgivable oversights, but some people will see value in those features on Steam. The more egregious missing feature on the Epic Store is the lack of the split-screen race mode available on Steam, which only works for local-coop. Finally, the Epic Store lacks any official Level Editor that, while not made official, you can use on Steam as well as transfer levels with other users. The Super Meat World and all the “official” level packs are available on both versions, but with that Level Editor feature it adds significant long-term value to the game.
Wow, look what you CAN'T do on Epic!
If this side-by-side comparison hasn’t made the point clear, then let me be more blunt: Super Meat Boy on the Epic Store adds nothing you cannot get from Steam. Worse, one store continues to add features where the other adds none—and you cannot tell if certain features will ever come to the other because there is no announcements on the Epic Store, which is why Epic Store games post updates on Steam (ex. Metro Exodus). The only reason you would get the game from the Epic Store is if you got it for free, or if you want to give the developers a larger cut of the profits but receive significantly less value.
This image could be used unironically for Steam vs Epic with a simple edit.
Bite-Sized Portions for a Bit-Sized Hero
With all the muckraking out of the way, let’s make like Upton Sinclair and get to the real meat, the gameplay. Super Meat Boy comes from a bygone era of bite-sized platformers with an emphasis on creating levels that prioritize steep difficulty. These types of games, ranging from Super Hexagon, The Impossible Game and I Wanna Be the Guy, all rely on balancing a high skill-curve with precise controls to satisfy the masochistic urges of players. If you ever played any flash games on Newgrounds, the difficulty came with the turf, but typically games like Super Meat Boy were approachable enough while having no issues killing you for a mistake.
Never have charts been more accurate. (Illustration by co-creater of Super Meat Boy, Edward McMillan.)
Unlike some of the more notorious games, Super Meat Boy is one of the few where the fault almost always lies on the player. With The Impossible Game, you had to learn the rhythm and the precise timing from failing; with I Wanna Be the Guy, it took the Dragon’s Lair approach from pure memorization; and with Super Hexagon, you had to master one control scheme until you mastered it. Not only are the default Meat Boy controls so polished that you almost have too much control, but you also have nineteen other characters with different movement options to tailor the game to your preference. This difference allows players to tailor their experience while also challenging them to earn those extra characters, which can also further extend the game with each character no matter how sadistic the choice impacts the level design.
In addition to heavily refined controls, Super Meat Boy’s other major achievement is the progression of its levels that constantly build on old and new mechanics in interesting ways. Many indie-games have gotten this process down to become a staple, but the pace for Super Meat Boy is still commendable. The first twenty stages will familiarize you to the controls and the most common obstacles, but within those stages it also teaches you fundamental skills from replaying them. The most obvious one is that there is always a quicker way to achieve the goal, sometimes by running in the opposite direction (Level 1) or by going a different route (Level 7). There is also the Warp Zones to find hidden in the level, which can unlock more bandages or additional characters from mini-challenge stages. Some of the less obvious skills include using a normal wall jump versus always holding the run-button down and slowing down to open opportunities for the rest of the level. Like the stages themselves, these lessons are in bite-sized chunks that you chew in the back of your head while enjoying the frustration of learning from your errors.
Good thing she packed those bandages.
As much as the core gameplay may appear to be as mindless as bashing your head against the wall until the wall breaks, there is a little more thought than simply holding the run button. Unless you play these stages out of order, which the game never forces you to complete one level—you simply have to finish 17/20 to unlock the boss fight—there is nothing to catch you off guard as new obstacles are introduced in isolation before being combined with older ideas. Each chapter has more of a distinct color palate rather than a central mechanic, and each chapter tends to introduce three or four new mechanics that will show up more often in future stages. When people get frustrated with the later stages, the key questions they should ask themselves are: “Does this approach make every level enjoyable?” and “Does this approach make every level fair?” In most cases, most people will not agree with the former question, yet they will likely agree with the latter.
To Seize the Memes of Our Distribution
Out of all the games targeted to the Fortnite audience on the Epic Store, Super Meat Boy makes the most sense in an era where kids have grown up on YouTube. Given the compact nature of the level-design, the compact nature of its comedy is a natural fit with mostly references or dark comedy that never quite crosses into the parental-guidance zone. (It’s no more bothersome than most classic Disney films if you ignore explaining Dr. Fetus.) That comedy is the cornerstone of memes, audio or visual bites of “common sense” information that can easily be made to elicit the same emotional response out of the viewer by association. If that sounds too smart for a dumb topic, imagine my face here saying, “Much info, such reaction. Wow.”
The game of tasteful references 101.
Now this isn’t some exposé of a master-plan strategy to convert Fortnite kids over to the Epic Store versus Steam, which most children I work with don’t even know Epic is a digital store too; it’s a Fortnite launcher to them. The point is more of an observation about how Super Meat Boy can still resonate with younger audiences who only now have heard about the game. The jokes throughout Super Meat Boy are simple, short, and sometimes require an inference to comprehend, or they are often nostalgic callbacks used subtly to make Boomers say aloud, “Oh, I remember that game!” It’s the type of comedy that can be easy to appreciate as easy as it is to ignore. This strength is also one of these unexpected circumstances that reaches two audiences who typically have nothing in common, and it’s why this game can continue well past its age with the sequel.
Valve is such a monopoly they let their IP go on another storefront.
If the sequel can maintain this type of humor with perhaps a more substantial storyline like the Creepypasta-esque narrative for The Binding of Isaac, then there’s no reason Super Meat Boy cannot resurface into the spotlight. (If you had expected me to go into the discussion of the “damsel in distress” trope, I am not going to open that can of worms nor mention you-know-who.) You do have to wonder, however, what other indie icons would stand beside Super Meat Boy today for modern audiences as well as if its first-year exclusivity deal will present problems for those icons to stand beside him.
Whether Here or There, Don't Skimp Out on Every Portion
Substantiated or unsubstantiated concerns aside, Super Meat Boy has yet to truly be recognized as a timeless classic precisely because it hasn’t yet gotten out of the spotlight to age. The game itself certainly deserves the warm reception today despite all the hot takes you can also rightly make. Whether or not that quality dissuades you or whether the humor will rub off on you, if you care about the core gameplay itself that aspect will never be tarnished (unless you want to use a non-Xinput controller.) The sequel, however, will have to prove itself on another platform while also lacking many core features that people have expected over the years on Steam. Wherever you choose to buy that package of meat, you can probably rest assured it will be fresh enough before other people spoil it.
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Community review by Brian (February 11, 2019)
Current interests: Strategy/Turn-Based Games, CRPGs, Immersive Sims, Survival Solo Games, etc. |
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