Super Meat Boy

Super Meat Boy is unlikely to touch the sales records of the powerhouse physical releases. However it may well find itself as a surprise entry to may game of the year lists. What it does, it does to absolute perfection. Super Meat Boy is a game made by sadists, for masochists.

Super Meat Boy is one of the best platformers ever made. Yet that statement underestimates the game's achievement, which transcends mundane considerations of genre.

There are but a few ways to play with food, which are so fun, that we'd gladly welcome some kind of extra meat-based dessert coming from Team Meat. Addictive, funny, perfectly balanced, Super Meat Boy is all the way up there standing side by side with a famous plumber, or a well-known hero with no arms nor legs, in the world of the platformers. A game we'd prompt you to enjoy with friends on your couch, potato chips on the table, and a couple of bottles to drink from, so they can laugh at your demise, or dare to pick up the controller for you to do the same. Meat's yummy!

So, yes, it can be frustrating, but getting past those roadblocks also leads to the game's most memorable moments. If you give it a chance I'm sure you'll feel the same.

This may well be the best tenner you ever spend.

This game is most certainly not for everyone--if you can't handle extremely hard games, you're better off marveling at this spectacle from a distance--but those who can stomach the difficult and appreciate the bizarre will take every ounce of punishment Super Meat Boy dishes out and beg for more.

It's an absolute must-buy from Xbox Live Arcade and should be found on every hard drive of every Xbox in existence. While this all sounds like high praise, Super Meat Boy earns every word of it.

Super Meat Boy is without a doubt the new frontrunner for downloadable game of the year. From top to bottom, the game is a near-perfect experience. There's a great deal of challenge, but it never feels unbeatable.

If you've been looking for a good platformer that actually holds up and lasts for more than a few hours then this is the game for you.

Super Meat Boy is a strong contender for the best platformer this generation. While it does have some fairly difficult moments, all of them are a product of solid, legitimately challenging design.

This sublime platformer provides tons of challenge, precise controls, and incredible level design that will keep you glued to the screen.

First there was Donkey Kong, then came Mario, Mega Man, and Sonic. Now we have Meat Boy. The world's newest 2D platforming legend has arrived.

If precision perfect brick wall challenging platforming is your idea of a night well spent, or in simple N+ tickled your fancies, Super Meat Boy is sure to deliver and should be checked out right away.

It's not the first time that only two developers give life to one of the most enjoyable experiences of the year. Super Meat Boy is not only the greatest, complete and most polished indie game, but also one of the best platformer ever created. The controls are more than perfect, and everything feels incredibly natural. Of course, the high difficulty of the game will scare a lot of gamers, but the sense of satisfaction is incomparable. Moreover, Super Meat Boy is a wonderful tribute to all the indie developers and games, with its awesome cameos and inspired levels.

This is a finely tuned gaming experience that should be experienced by every modern gamer.

Super Meat Boy ScreenTight controls, a fantastic cartoon presentation, a huge amount of stuff to do, a difficulty so well-judged that it rarely feels unfair, and a speedy respawn that gives an intense one-more-go feel add up to make this an absolute must-have for anyone with a 360 who doesn't mind a challenge and who enjoys platform games.

We'll make no bones about it: Super Meat Boy is a masterful platformer packed with multitudes of cool stuff, and it will keep you playing well longer than its bargain price tag would suggest.

XBLA's best pure-2D platformer to date.

Oldschool-Jump and Run at its finest!

A 'rare' treat. [Feb 2011, p.91]

Super Meat Boy has a great power: it consumes your social life until you reach the final level. And after you beat it, it's not over yet: there are also the dark levels. Without any doubt, the best indie-developed game of the year: probably, the most addictive and one of the best platformers of this generation.

A near-constant flow of hardcore platforming, visual gags and references that span indie and retro gaming's rich histories makes Super Meat Boy a tireless entertainer. [Christmas 2010, p.119]

Super Meat Boy is a big, scary game but serves its challenges in sweet portions. The fact that you can die anywhere, anytime makes this a good challenge, but the balanced controls ensure there's no frustration involved.

A near-perfect mixture of frustration and joy, covering similar millimetre-accurate ground to N+, it's not entirely without problems. [Issue#66, p.105]

Super Meat Boy is overflowing with content that no other release can match and I wouldn't be surprised at all if it brings home Game of the Year accolades from many publications.

This is a great platforming game which would have turned it the best in years, had it included a difficulty selector.

A superb platformer that makes us both cry and laugh with its ruthlessness.

Super Meat Boy is simply one of the best games of the year, and we are not only talking about downloadable stuff. A brilliant return to the old-school mechanics.

No doubt. Super Meat Boy is one of the best platformers to play.

Super Meat Boy taps into the exact kind of things I want from a video game - it's bold, challenging and, above all, rewarding. I can certainly understand how people might not be attracted to a game that takes a sadistic delight in coming up with inventive ways to frustrate players, but you'd be missing out if you let Super Meat Boy pass you by.

With Super Meat Boy's cornucopia of offerings and irresistible charm, you'd be hard-pressed not to get your money's worth out of this title.

So after this glowing review why isn't it a 10? Mainly because Super Meat Boy may turn off some players who aren't looking to be tested, even if I believe that the quality of the SMB earns it the right to be that difficult.

Super Meat Boy comes down to personal skill, which might be the only reason I didn't fling the controller through the window. In other words, if you fail, it's your fault. If the levels weren't well-designed, or if the controls were off even by the slightest bit, Super Meat Boy would be an entirely different experience. As it stands, it's one of the best platformers I've ever played.

Super Meat Boy is a fantastic addition to the XBLA library and one of the most addictive games I have played all year.

Super Meat Boy is one of the best modern platformers.

Super Meat Boy starts out as just another indie game that revels in driving you crazy, but you end up crazy in love.

If you can appreciate all the other elements that make up a great game like music, style, gameplay, etc. then there is no reason not to insist that you grab some points to pick up Super Meat Boy immediately.

An essential but highly addicting platformer, made for super hard-core gamers who want to push their abilities to the maximum.

You just need to have an open mind about what's fun, and odds are Super Meat Boy will have you liking it provided you have enough patience to let its design philosophy sink in.

If you can handle the difficulty and don't mind an exercise in frustration, this is one of the best platformers out there and an honorable ode to the glorious days of old-school. If you prefer a more easy going experience, you may want to pass on SMB and save yourself the rise in blood pressure.

It brings back fond memories of a genre that is going through a renaissance on the Xbox Live Arcade and indie scene with darlings such as Braid, 'Splosion Man, A Boy and His Blob, Limbo, LittleBigPlanet and many others. With that said, Super Meat Boy is among the best in the genre in recent memory.

While it may feel painful, grueling, and even outright sadistic at times, there's no denying the skill and craftsmanship that went into Super Meat Boy.

There's a lot of value packed in this little package. It will take you hours upon hours just to beat the light world, and likely dozens more to master the dark world.

At the end of the day, Super Meat boy does a fabulous job at what it's intended to do: pay homage to the classic NES platformers.

Addictive and annoying in equal spades, Super Meat Boy is one of the most vexing games of the year.

The majority of SMB is a finely executed tightrope act of death and rebirth, as funny as it is fun and as precise as it is inventive. [Christmas 2010, p.103]

Quotation forthcoming.

Indie gaming at its retro-loving best, with some of the most cunningly-designed and purposefully infuriating 2D gameplay of the year.

Super Meat Boy is a thank-you card addressed to great game design. It recognizes and embraces everything we've come to love about the indie scene, even going so far as to include it – Braid's Tim and Gish's Gish, for instance, show up as playable characters.