Super Meat Boy
Hey let's talk about Super Meat Boy, okay guys?
I got around to purchasing "Super Meat Boy" on XBLA. I thought I'd hold out of the PC version, but when $20 worth of MS points essentially fell into my lap, I knew what I had to play next.
When I bought the game, I at the very least I expected a well-done love letter to classic, retro gaming. A sort of homage to the classic NES era of gaming, a fun little retro-romp that borrowed and commented on a great deal of the classic gaming tropes.
Despite my expectations, I didn't get that.
No, instead of an homage or an interactive bag of references to classics, Super Meat Boy is a classic in its own right.
Super Meat Boy is an exemplary example of game design down to its very core. The game has fantastic, tight controls that are responsive to the point that it feels as though your thoughts themselves are being transmitted directly to the screen. On top of the extremely good controls, the game NEVER cheats. When you die(and you WILL die, many, many times), it's not due to the game being cheap or cheating you out of a life arbitrarily or artificially. It's always because you screwed up, you didn't time the jump right, you were too slow and unresponsive.
Already, that's the hallmarks of a great game. But it really doesn't end there by any means. The latency between death and starting the level back up again is a blink. You don't have time to scream and throw the controller in frustration in remembrance of the splattered, bloody remnants of your upbeat sack of meat because it's already time to go again not one second after your death.
This mechanic gives Meat Boy a really frantic pace and a license to GREATLY amp up the difficulty, and it would be REALLY easy to assume the game would be mostly cheap or random. Due to aforementioned controls though, in combination with some INGENIOUS level design, you very quickly come to feel like your last 20 deaths have taught you something. And you should have, because Super Meat Boy is an EXEMPLARY teacher. Due to the extremely low death-to-next-try latency, the small nature of the levels, and the extremely tight controls, you quickly realize that you start to easily skip past obstacles that once were insanely difficult, that you understand the path to success on a basic, rhythmic level. You LEARN the way to success and win, and you get better, because the game is designed in a way that teaches you to succeed without ever dropping handouts, because this game expects better from you.
This game is STUFFED with content. When you do succeed, and succeed quickly, you unlock an alternate, HARDER version of a level. There are also many hidden levels, including Warp Zone levels, where a Warp Zone is hidden inside a level and only appears at a specific time. This game sports over 300 levels, all of them relatively short but most of them extremely satisfying to play through and ultimately master. There are a wide variety of characters to unlock from many other fantastic indie titles(that you should have played). Super Meat Boy is not a game that leaves you thirsting for more due to a dearth of things to do. If it did, free levels come down to the XBLA version through "Teh Internets", and the PC version is getting a full-blown level editor.
The game's extremely fantastic design does not end with the gameplay, either. Meat Boy is incredibly atmospheric, with some of the best sound design in a game. Meat Boy's slushing sounds are incredibly responsive to his every action, it sounds different when he runs, walks, jumps, bounces off a wall, slides to a stop, or scrapes against a wall. His slushy meat steps can be used to time jumps, the sound of his jumps can be used to time midair movement. Everything about the sound design aids gameplay and adds atmosphere to the world.
Graphically, the game is extremely simple, but also very well done. The trail of meaty blood that Meat Boy leaves behind is persistent, as are the bloody remnants of Meat Boy's previous attempts at a level. Previously clean blades are stained red as a bloody reminder of your past failures(I actually used this in a level once, noticing that I'd never actually hit a certain sawblade in the past 40 attempts at the level, which let me realize that Meat Boy wasn't as apt to jump up into it as I thought).
Super Meat Boy also features an excellent soundtrack, quick and amusing cutscenes, iconic characters, and a beautiful overall look. Super Meat Boy is simply a MUST-OWN game, hands-down, and one of the very best-designed games not only in this generation, but in all of videogame history. Firing up Super Meat Boy is like getting a pleasant and comforting reminder that, yes, it's still okay to enjoy video games, and yes, there are still people who care about making something that is fun, challenging, and engaging as fuck. In short, BUY IT.
I got around to purchasing "Super Meat Boy" on XBLA. I thought I'd hold out of the PC version, but when $20 worth of MS points essentially fell into my lap, I knew what I had to play next.
When I bought the game, I at the very least I expected a well-done love letter to classic, retro gaming. A sort of homage to the classic NES era of gaming, a fun little retro-romp that borrowed and commented on a great deal of the classic gaming tropes.
Despite my expectations, I didn't get that.
No, instead of an homage or an interactive bag of references to classics, Super Meat Boy is a classic in its own right.
Super Meat Boy is an exemplary example of game design down to its very core. The game has fantastic, tight controls that are responsive to the point that it feels as though your thoughts themselves are being transmitted directly to the screen. On top of the extremely good controls, the game NEVER cheats. When you die(and you WILL die, many, many times), it's not due to the game being cheap or cheating you out of a life arbitrarily or artificially. It's always because you screwed up, you didn't time the jump right, you were too slow and unresponsive.
Already, that's the hallmarks of a great game. But it really doesn't end there by any means. The latency between death and starting the level back up again is a blink. You don't have time to scream and throw the controller in frustration in remembrance of the splattered, bloody remnants of your upbeat sack of meat because it's already time to go again not one second after your death.
This mechanic gives Meat Boy a really frantic pace and a license to GREATLY amp up the difficulty, and it would be REALLY easy to assume the game would be mostly cheap or random. Due to aforementioned controls though, in combination with some INGENIOUS level design, you very quickly come to feel like your last 20 deaths have taught you something. And you should have, because Super Meat Boy is an EXEMPLARY teacher. Due to the extremely low death-to-next-try latency, the small nature of the levels, and the extremely tight controls, you quickly realize that you start to easily skip past obstacles that once were insanely difficult, that you understand the path to success on a basic, rhythmic level. You LEARN the way to success and win, and you get better, because the game is designed in a way that teaches you to succeed without ever dropping handouts, because this game expects better from you.
This game is STUFFED with content. When you do succeed, and succeed quickly, you unlock an alternate, HARDER version of a level. There are also many hidden levels, including Warp Zone levels, where a Warp Zone is hidden inside a level and only appears at a specific time. This game sports over 300 levels, all of them relatively short but most of them extremely satisfying to play through and ultimately master. There are a wide variety of characters to unlock from many other fantastic indie titles(that you should have played). Super Meat Boy is not a game that leaves you thirsting for more due to a dearth of things to do. If it did, free levels come down to the XBLA version through "Teh Internets", and the PC version is getting a full-blown level editor.
The game's extremely fantastic design does not end with the gameplay, either. Meat Boy is incredibly atmospheric, with some of the best sound design in a game. Meat Boy's slushing sounds are incredibly responsive to his every action, it sounds different when he runs, walks, jumps, bounces off a wall, slides to a stop, or scrapes against a wall. His slushy meat steps can be used to time jumps, the sound of his jumps can be used to time midair movement. Everything about the sound design aids gameplay and adds atmosphere to the world.
Graphically, the game is extremely simple, but also very well done. The trail of meaty blood that Meat Boy leaves behind is persistent, as are the bloody remnants of Meat Boy's previous attempts at a level. Previously clean blades are stained red as a bloody reminder of your past failures(I actually used this in a level once, noticing that I'd never actually hit a certain sawblade in the past 40 attempts at the level, which let me realize that Meat Boy wasn't as apt to jump up into it as I thought).
Super Meat Boy also features an excellent soundtrack, quick and amusing cutscenes, iconic characters, and a beautiful overall look. Super Meat Boy is simply a MUST-OWN game, hands-down, and one of the very best-designed games not only in this generation, but in all of videogame history. Firing up Super Meat Boy is like getting a pleasant and comforting reminder that, yes, it's still okay to enjoy video games, and yes, there are still people who care about making something that is fun, challenging, and engaging as fuck. In short, BUY IT.
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The second one is a Goo Ball(World of Goo).
Edit: First one is a Headcrab(Half-Life).
"one of them sticks, one of them dashes, one of them changes form and one of them isn't organic."; and finally: "one of them might not be as indie as the rest."
The non-organic one was obviously Josef from Machinarium. For the "not-as-indie" one, I'm guessing Valve tie-in.
I am pretty sure the 3rd one is the "not as indie" one. Even my 7yo sister has seen his outline before.
Spongebob Squarepants.
I thought it was coming out for wii ware?
it was supposed to come out in november but due to data issues it is impossible.
(and for that there thinking of getting a publisher for retail
No, the Xbox has 6 exclusives and the PC has 6 other exclusives.
1.How does $20 of XBLA points fall on your lap?
2.FREE UPDATES on XBLA along with 300 LEVELS?
NEXT XBLA BUY I SWEAR!
By the way this game used awesome advertisement. Look at this commercial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQZeQSaXwR8&feature=related
I look forward to playing this game. I have to wait for the PC release.
It's a kind of japanese geisha doll. Look at the shape of the hair and with brooch on top.
Is that kid in the cape The Kid from, *shudder* IWBTG?
Yep. Here's a list of the known characters, if anyone wants them:
Top: Meat Boy.
Middle: Commander Video(Bit Trip), Jill(Mighty Jill Off), Ogmo(Jumper), Flywrench(Flywrench), and The Kid(I Want to Be The Guy).
Bottom: Mr. Minecraft(Minecraft), Captain Veridian(VVVVVV), Josef(Machinarium), Headcrab(Half-Life), Goo Ball(World of Goo), Unknown, Unknown.
Funfact: Because you think it's Goo Ball doesn't make it goo ball. It could be the planet Jupiter for all we know.
Also: His name is Steve, not Mr. Minecraft.
2D Boy was thanked in the credits along with the other companies who gave their characters. Also, he's called Mr. Minecraft in the game, so that's what I'm calling him here.
you are right. That might be it.
I dunno, that third one is shaped sort of like them.
from steam descrption
Then I loaded up the Steam store page, one of the main bullet points was:
"A story so moving you will cry yourself to sleep for the rest of your life"
And that sold me. it's stupid, but I love good writing. The only reason I started playing TF2 after neglecting it for so long was just reading the blog posts on the website, they were just absurdly well written and literally laugh-out-loud funny.
A company that makes games that takes time to add good writing and entertainment to everything will more than likely take the same approach (moreso) to make the game of great quality. So i'm getting it
Unless it's expensive, then they can suck a dick
Anyway, I can't pay my $10 yet, but I DID NOTICE A BULLET POINT that reveals the not-indie character.
It has almost no writing, but the game is great(and $10).
Also, Dashing, Ribs got to it first.
Also, Riatngmaster, I'm fairly certain that JedExodus is well aware of the nature of the game. The point was that he sees someone who writes well, even in snippets, as someone who will probably care about the experience they're crafting in terms of a game.
By the way, JedExodus, I recommend you take a look at the Team Meat blog. Well-written posts all-around, and it has made following this game pre-development a lot of fun. I'm linking directly to one of my favorite posts in the blog, and actually seeing this design in action, I can testify that it works brilliantly.
Another developer whose blog posts I love is Frictional Games. Right now they're running a series of super-technical blog posts(that I find extremely hard to read, actually!), but their non-technical blog posts are almost always insightful and interesting as well.
You know, I didn't like IWBTG. Not that it was hard. Just that it was a trial and error platformer that everyone made out to be hard. The most a screen took me to finish was 5 tries. I eventually got bored of trying to go through it my self, and upset with the lack of direction [never understood why people praised it for that] and eventually just would beat the stages all my classmates got stuck on. My teacher had me do the Mike Tyson boss fight for him.
I get it, but ...what?
No, it's fine. That was just a weird one.
I've been checking out the Frictional Games blog for a wee while now myself, some really good stuff on there, the post about the sales numbers and piracy was a great read
Team Meats blog's pretty darned nice, not only is it funny, but it's unapolegetically frank and honest, something more companies really should be doing. Less bullshit, more answers... or good reasons as to why you're not giving answers.
Another good source of developer insight is the commentaries on the Valve games, learning why they make certain design choices is fascinating. It also teaches the golden rule it seems of development, playtest like it's going out of fashion
I'm going to hazard a guess and say the unknown character on far right is Naija from Aquaria.
a.I get the half life series(trying to get half life 1 source)
b.Get a 3ds(need to save money now)
Uhh, it will only be $10 for the "pre-purchase" period before release. It will normally be $15.
1. Headcrab will be a slightly better Gish, and he's replacing in the Steam version...
2.Goo Ball. I was kind of right, but one will only be playable in the non-Steam versions. Has exact same powers as Gish, meaning that Steam users get a slightly better character.
Also, their Twitter said pre-orders start Wednesday, but their site now says the 23rd.