With each passing year, I consider myself more and more of a gaming relic. As I remember the halcyon days of indie gaming as if they were yesterday. The days when the founding fathers, Ed McMillen, Jonathan Blow, and Phil Fish each put out their respective indie game hits and changed the landscape forever.
One of those games was none other than the original Super Meat Boy. A 2D platformer masterclass that pulled no punches and captivated the masses tired of cushy Mario outings.
Meat Boy has had other run-outs since then, but none have quite managed to live up to the spectacle of the original. However, the addition of a third dimension aims to change all that.
What That ‘D’ Do?
The elephant in the room we need to discuss is as inevitable as the various penis jokes I’ll be crowbarring in moving forward. Super Meat Boy is now in 3D, for better or worse.
Cards on the table right away, it’s a mixed bag. As you simply can’t make this change while retaining all that was special about the original. However, what must be commended is just how much of the Super Meat Boy DNA that remains intact.
Platforming feels very familiar for long-time fans, as the control scheme allows for a high-octane, risky approach right from the outset. With controls that are a breeze to pick up, allowing for the level design to provide the challenge the series is known for.
Additionally, the core art style and overall setup of the game feels true to the original. It would be lying if I said that this game feels like a continuation of McMillen’s work. But even if it is very much a third-party attempt, it’s one with a lot of heart. Meat Boy looks the part, the levels you bombastically run through look great, and there’s plenty of whimsical and silly detail that feels very Ed-coded.
However, veterans will need to accept that this hop, skip and a jump to 3D leads to some bold changes that you need to get on board with.
What must be commended is just how much of the Super Meat Boy DNA that remains intact.
On a positive note, the addition of a third dimension allows for more experimental approaches. In the 2D original, getting a good time was more or less down to perfect execution, as there was always a right and a wrong way to go about things.
Whereas in Super Meat Boy 3D, the ability to access that extra dimension allows you to take faster routes, find shortcuts, and shave off valuable fractions of a second, offering an experience that feels not too unlike something like Neon White at times.
But this does come at a cost, and that cost is precision. You simply cannot take a 2D game, make it 3D, and expect the same level of control over your character. Which, in practice, means that when you’re working through levels, things can end up feeling a little cheap.
There are countless moments where you’ll be unsighted when navigating one platform to the next. There will be moments where you misjudge things due to the added need for depth perception. Or, on some occasions, you just might fall victim to an environmental hazard that you were sure you dodged.
That’s the thing here. Things can’t be pixel perfect anymore. Which means that unlike the original where every single error felt like a mistake on the player’s part and a product of poor execution. In SMB 3D, you can do most things right and still end up a red splatter on a wall.
So, fair warning, as precision Platformers will need to endure a lot of frustration with this one, and accept some shortcomings out of their control. But overall, it’s a phenomenal leap from 2D to 3D. It’s one of the hardest things to do for a series, and truly, this feels like the first SMB product that can even be talked about in the same breath as the original.
Functional But Forgettable
This new SMB title deserves a lot of praise for looking and feeling like a modern take on the original. However, while the game excels in terms of functionality, its overall level design lacks the killer punch that made so many levels of the original game so memorable.
The game retains that quick respawn rate that makes repeat runs addictive. The game uses meat splatter to mark previous paths to help guide the player like a ghost in a racing game. Plus, you also have oodles of collectibles and secrets to find throughout each level, so repeat runs are usually worth doing.
However, on a level-to-level basis, very few really stood out to me. To the point that if you asked me to describe some of my favorite levels, I don’t think I could be all that specific beyond mentioning a gimmicky mechanic added into the mix for the level in question, or perhaps describing the biome. In all honesty, I’d probably mention the stupid secret levels like the Super Mario 64-inspired level before anything in the main line-up, which tells its own story.
Everything feels very paint by numbers in terms of level design, with just enough new ideas from one world to the next to avoid complete stagnation. But far from enough innovation to keep you enthralled from start to finish. Which is saying something, as there are only five worlds included in this game.
I think this would all be fine if I still felt that twisted, sadistic difficulty weighing me down with each run. But alas, this 3D iteration of Meat Boy has much less bite.
Meat That You Can Beat
One thing that helped SMB stand out all those years ago in a saturated platforming genre was the sheer difficulty on offer. I remember playing SMB for the first time back then and sweating buckets just trying to get through the first boss stage. It was unrelenting and uncompromising. You needed to be perfect, or you weren’t progressing. It was that simple.
Casual platforming players may love this, but I can assure you veteran SMB fans won’t. This new 3D outing is pretty damn easy in all honesty. I do say this as a very adept platforming player in fairness, but even through that lens, this is a very simple prospect for anyone who is even somewhat platfomer literate.
Partly because of the freedom of movement that the additional dimension offers. But ultimately, because of the rather forgiving level design, players won’t really endure a lot of strife to get through the game until the last world or two. Which is quite at odds with the traditional SMB experience.
To put it in perspective, I had A+ scores on the first two worlds in under an hour of playtime, and not once did I feel truly challenged. Often frustrated by cheap deaths, but never challenged. Leading to an experience that most players will be able to blitz through in its entirety in about 4-5 hours if they aren’t too concerned about A+ times.
The dark world content does somewhat bridge this gap, offering much more demanding remixes of each level you encounter. But even then, few of these levels truly felt like mountains to climb.
For me, Super Meat Boy should be a deceptively cute game that hosts some of the most ludicrously demanding challenges gaming has ever produced. But sadly, I feel like this 3D outing forgets that, and wants to be a game for everyone, even if that means sacrificing the monumental difficulty that helped SMB become the household name it is. But, as I say often. If you make a game for everyone, you end up making a game for no one.
What's commendable about this 3D iteration of Super Meat Boy is just how similar it feels to the 2D original. It's addictive, visually appealing, and the leap to 3D offers new ways to approach levels that the original could never. But, this comes with some drawbacks like cheap deaths, less precise movement, and levels that feel far less challenging overall. That said, this is still easily the best SMB game outside the original, and well worth checking out for newcomers and SMB veterans alike.
Pros
- A smooth transition to 3D
- Tonnes of optional content
- Offers more freedom of movement
Cons
- Platforming feels less precise
- Very few memorable levels
- Feels rather easy for a SMB game
