Super Meat Boy: Pleasure and Pain

I avoided this game like the plague. Sure I had a lot of friends who played it, but everyone also said that it was one of the hardest games in existence. I can't say that I love things that are difficult just for the sake of being difficult and nothing more. However, the experience of playing this game was really pleasant.... and STRESSFUL. However, I enjoyed it so much that I powered through the game in a little over a week.

I did this play-through about a year ago. [Insert Training Montage Here] So as casually as is possible with a game like Super Meat Boy [SMB] I've been playing for about the past year. Not competitively or anything and I recently realized that I definitely should add SMB to my speedrunning repertoire. A couple weeks ago I started doing exactly that and it has been a blast! I figured that it was time for a mini review. SMB is one of the most polished games I've played. Everything has its place so it is easy to figure out what you need to do. The challenge isn't found in the 'What' of the levels, but in the how. The controls in SMB are super smooth, but so precise that at times it can feel like a handling a cow on rollerskates, a bar of soap in a ballpit, or a wad of raw.... you get the picture. That's exactly how the controls feel.

The difficulty of the game ramps up on a very reasonable scale. If you can make it through to 'THE END' levels of the game and can't pass them I would still commend you. Heck, if you can make it through some of the 'HELL' levels it's still a pretty solid accomplishment considering that most people I know quit around the 'SALT FACTORY' levels in the 3rd world.

The story in the game varies between brutal and adorable. You'll feel sad, shocked, amused, and happy over the course of the game. The animation style is very cute, and it has an incredible soundtrack that will keep your adrenaline going non-stop. I'm really surprised that I've never heard more about this soundtrack, because its really unforgettable, fun, builds the atmosphere, and quite frankly is just darn good.

While it's obviously not a game that was intended for children to play there isn't any real dialog, and the 'rude gestures' and such will likely go over their head for a good while. Honestly, it's not much worse than what you see on 'Tom and Jerry' or 'The Roadrunner'. Believe me when I say that there are worse things out there than Super Meat Boy. [For example: other games made by the same creator, Ed Mcmillan.] All in all this is a fantastic game that knows how to captivate people while presenting some really intense challenges. I promise that there will definitely be a level or two that will test both your skill and patience. The game's been out for almost seven years as of this year so it's not going anywhere any time soon. Go get it and enjoy the Super Meat Torture.