Super Meat Boy

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Super Meat Boy
Developer(s)Team Meat
Designer(s)Edmund McMillen
Tommy Refenes
Composer(s)Danny Baranowsky
Platform(s)Xbox Live Arcade, Windows
ReleaseXbox Live Arcade
October 20, 2010[1]
Windows
November 30, 2010 (Steam)[2]
December 2, 2010 (Direct2Drive)[3]
Mac
Q1/Q2 2011
Wii
Canceled[4]
Genre(s)Platform game
Mode(s)Single-player

Super Meat Boy is a platform game developed by Team Meat and is the successor to Edmund McMillen's and Jonathan McEntee's flash game, Meat Boy, originally released on the Newgrounds website in October 2008. It was released on Xbox Live Arcade on October 20, 2010, and on Windows on November 30, 2010. Versions for Mac and Linux are planned for future release. The game follows Meat Boy as he attempts to rescue his girlfriend Bandage Girl from the villainous Doctor Fetus.

The game received high praise from critics. The Xbox 360 version currently averages an aggregate score of 90/100 at Metacritic and 90.42% at GameRankings. The Windows version holds a similar score of 91.67% at GameRankings. It received the award for Most Challenging Game from IGN in 2010 and also received awards for Best Downloadable Game from GameSpot and GameTrailers that same year. Critics lauded the game's precise control and unique retro art style. Reviewers generally praised the game's high difficulty, though some warned that not all consumers would appreciate the difficult levels. The game has also been a commercial success, having sold more than 400,000 copies.

Gameplay

In Super Meat Boy players must navigate Meat Boy through over three hundred levels while avoiding traps and hazards.

The game sees players taking on the role of a small, skinless, cube-shaped boy named Meat Boy, who must save his girlfriend, Bandage Girl, from the evil Dr. Fetus. Players must guide Meat Boy to the end of each level, using his wall clinging ability, while avoiding buzzsaws, salt, and other various fatal obstacles. The core gameplay can be compared to many traditional platformers such as Mega Man and N, requiring fine control and split-second timing. The game contains about 310 levels, which are split across various chapters.[5] Levels in each chapter can be played in any order, but a certain number of levels need to be completed to access the boss stage, which unlocks the next chapter if cleared.[6]

Completing a level within a certain time will earn an 'A+' grade which unlocks a harder alternate level. In addition to these, there are hidden warp zones featuring retro styled bonus levels, most with a limit of three lives. Clearing certain warp zones or collecting enough hidden bandages unlocks guest characters from other indie games.[7] There is also a replay function, showcasing failed attempts simultaneously.[8]

The Xbox Live Arcade version features an unlockable mode called "Teh Internets" which will be freely updated with new levels.[9] A level editor for the PC and Mac versions will be released some time in early 2011, featuring a level portal where users can upload, download and rate created levels.[10][11] However, players can use certain means to access a developer mode allowing them to edit their own levels.

Characters

Along with Meat Boy, there are several unlockable characters appearing from various video-games, each with unique abilities. In April 2009, Team Meat announced that Tim, the protagonist from Braid, would be the first unlockable indie game character.[12] Later, Commander Video from the Bit.Trip series and Alien Hominid were revealed to be additional unlockable characters.[13][14] Flywrench from Flywrench and Ogmo from the Jumper series were also recently confirmed as playable characters for the game.

Each character has different attributes, such as Commander Video's ability to float midair. These characters can be unlocked by collecting enough bandages or completing certain warp zones. Some bandages can only be collected by using certain characters.[15] Some levels, such as warp zones and boss levels, can only be played with specific characters. Additionally, characters vary depending on the version played, or more specifically the game platform.

Development and marketing

Meat Boy began as a flash game created by Edmund McMillen and programmed by Johnathan McEntee, released on Newgrounds on October 5, 2008.[17] It has currently garnered over 840,000 views at Newgrounds (8 million over all) since its release. A map pack for the flash version was later released on December 8, 2008.[18] Super Meat Boy began development after Nintendo requested the game be brought over to WiiWare, having been impressed by the success of McMillen's Flash game Aether and the previous Meat Boy title.[5] According to the developers, the game is "a big throw back to a lot of super hardcore NES classics like Ghosts 'n Goblins, Mega Man, and the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2",[17] with the plot "a mash-up of every videogame story from the early 90s".[5] Meat Boy himself makes cameo appearances in Bit.Trip Runner and Bit.Trip Fate. He also makes an appearance in the Xbox Live Arcade game, ilomilo.[19]

File:SuperMeatBoy limitedCover.png
A limited edition was announced December 7, 2010 for the PC. It features box art by Dave Rapoza.[20]

The game was initially announced for WiiWare and PC, set to be released in Q1 of 2010, but this was pushed back to Q4 Of 2010 because the developers wanted more time to create extra levels in form of the dark worlds in the game. A picture released on Team Meat's Twitter page on February 22, 2010 revealed that the game would also come to Xbox Live Arcade.[21] They announced the next day that, while all versions will be released in the same month, the game would be released for XBLA first due to 'contractual obligations'.[10] Due to Sony's initial disinterest in the game, Team Meat entered into contractual obligations that prohibit the game from ever being sold for PlayStation Network.[22] The XBLA version features an exclusive mode called 'Teh Internets' which allows players to play new levels as Team Meat releases them free of charge.[23] The PC and Mac versions of the game will feature a level editor, to be released 'no more than six months' after the game ships. There are plans to incorporate select user-made levels for release on Teh Internets.[11] A limited edition printed version of the PC game will be released in April 2011, including bonuses such as behind the scenes videos.[20] The WiiWare version was ultimately cancelled due to the challenge in meeting the filesize limitations. Although Team Meat did look into releasing it for retail, they eventually gave up since third-party publishers didn't believe a budget title would be profitable so late into the Wii's lifespan. [24][4]

In response to the removal of Tommy Refenes' iOS app, Zits & Giggles, from the iTunes store, a week after Refenes criticised the App Store, likening the iPhone to a Tiger Electronics Handheld,[25] Team Meat created Super Meat Boy HANDHELD, an iPhone app styled on a Tiger Handheld, which was released on the iTunes store on April 3, 2010.[26] Edmund McMillen has also released a Meat Boy microgame for WarioWare D.I.Y. A Meat Boy shirt is an avatar reward,[27] replicating the one available in the Newgrounds store and Edmund's Etsy shop.[28][29] In response to a parody flash game, Super Tofu Boy, released by PETA on December 1, 2010 to promote veganism,[30] Team Meat added their own interpretation of Tofu Boy to the PC version on December 2, 2010. Tofu Boy in Super Meat Boy is not as agile and much slower, due to a "major iron deficiency".[31] Additionally, Refenes said that "Meat Boy isn't made of animal meat, he's simply a boy without skin whose name is Meat Boy."

Soundtrack

No.TitleLength
1."Boy Meats Girl"01:04
2."Super Meat Boy!"00:38
3."Forest Funk"03:00
4."Ballad of the Burning Squirrel"02:51
5."The Battle of Lil' Slugger"02:14
6."Betus Blues"03:12
7."C.H.A.D.'s Broken Wind"03:46
8."C.H.A.D.'s Lullaby"02:25
9."Can o' Salt"03:20
10."Rocket Rider"03:00
11."Fast Track to Browntown"02:24
12."Hot Damned"02:54
13."Devil N' Bass"02:40
14."Meat Golem"02:45
15."It Ends"03:23
16."Dr. Fetus' Castle"03:02
17."Larries' Lament"02:49
18."It Ends 2: End Harder"03:06
19."Carmeaty Burana"04:25
20."Escape!"02:36
21."End Credits"01:38
22."McLarty Party People"03:00
23."Meat Spin"01:41
24."Forest Funk RETRO"03:00
25."Betus Blues RETRO"03:12
26."Can o' Salt RETRO"03:20
27."Hot Damned RETRO"02:53
28."It Ends RETRO"03:24

Super Meat Boy's soundtrack was composed by Danny Baranowsky, who has also composed soundtracks for games such as Canabalt and Gravity Hook. The game contains 29 tracks. On October 26, 2010, the game's soundtrack was released via Bandcamp.[32] Three music tracks from the game will be released as downloadable content for Rock Band 3 in January 2011.[33] On November 6, 2010, Danny Baranowsky and Destructoid made a podcast playing Super Meat Boy for over 10 hours in a row with 50% of all the earnings from the soundtrack going to the National MS Society, a charity for the disease multiple sclerosis.[34]

Reception

Super Meat Boy was received with many favorable reviews from critics. The Xbox 360 version of the game currently has an aggregate score of 90/100 at Metacritic and 90.42% at GameRankings.[35][38] The Windows version has similar scores, with a 91.67% at GameRankings and 91/100 at Metacritic.[37][36] It won and was nominated for awards at Penny Arcade Expo 2010[48] and was awarded Game of the Show by Destructoid.[49] It also received a nomination for Game of the Show from Machinima.[49] The game also received nominations for Grand Prize and Excellence in Audio in the 2010 Independent Games Festival.[50] It won the award for Most Challenging Game in IGN's Best of 2010 awards and also received nominations for Best Soundtrack and Best Retro Design.[51][52] It was voted GameSpot's Best Downloadable Console Game of 2010,[53] and won Best Downloadable Game from GameTrailers.[54] Sales have been strong, with the Xbox 360 version moving nearly 140,000 units as of year-end 2010.[55]

Critics praised the game's platform elements, with specific commentary often directed at the game's difficulty. X-Play reviewer Alexandra Hall said the game had "riveting platforming action" and added "Super Meat Boy's designers are masters of their craft."[46] Henry Gilbert of GamesRadar felt the platforming was "perfect". He stated that "while [Super Meat Boy is] always tough and demanding, it never feels cheap, or like the game is cheating you."[41] The reviewer from GameTrailers stated that "the difficulty rides the perfect line between driving feel utterly bonkers when you fail and making you feel like a platform pro when you succeed."[42] Joystiq's Richard Mitchell echoed other reviewers comments and stated "Super Meat Boy is tough, as tough as the toughest nails in the toughest universe."[13] Tom Mc Shea of Gamespot praised the game's precise control, excellent level design, and smooth difficulty curve.[56] Reviewer Tom Bramwell of Eurogamer warned that Super Meat Boy is "a hard game. It should make you want to throw the pad across the room."[39]

Critics also gave high marks for the game's unique retro art style and presentation. Official Xbox Magazine (UK)'s Mike Channel appreciated the variety found in each set of levels. He stated that "while the graphics may look crude, the presentation is exceptional. Each level has a distinct visual style."[44] Daemon Hatfield, a reviewer for IGN, noted that the game's visual presentation is unique. He commented that the warp zone levels pay tribute to classic 8-bit games. He also lauded the game's soundtrack. "The rocking chiptune soundtrack is the best I've heard since Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game", he stated.[43] Joe Leonard of 1UP.com also noted that the game's humor and overall over the top gameplay help to calm the frustrations of the difficulty. "Super Meat Boy's greatest strength has to be how it never takes itself too seriously -- as maddening as some of the levels got, I could never stay angry at the game for too long" stated Leonard.[57] Destructoid's Jonathan Holmes stated that that the game's design was of "master level craftsmanship."[58] MTV Multiplayer reviewer Russ Frushtick praised the game's visual design. He appreciated the game's cutscenes, which he noted are "hand-drawn animated [shorts] which [bear] more than a passing resemblance to a classic video game intro."[59]

References

  1. ^ "Super Meat Boy - xbox.com". xbox.com. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
  2. ^ "Super Meat Boy on Steam". Steam. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
  3. ^ "Super Meat Boy Download". Direct2Drive. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  4. ^ a b "Twitter / @Team Meat". Team Meat via Twitter. 2010-12-23. Retrieved 2010-12-24. There will not be a Wiiware version of SMB. we are looking in to retail Wii, bit its also looking grim.
  5. ^ a b c Meunier, Nathan (2009-04-05). "Indie Queue: Meat Boy Gets Supersized". The Escapist. Retrieved 2010-12-16. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ "Exclusive Meaty Commentary". GameTrailers. 2010-10-04. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
  7. ^ Casamassina, Matt (2009-10-14). "Super Meat Boy's Hidden Depth". IGN. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
  8. ^ bluebaby (2009-09-29). "Super Meat Boy coming to Steam!". Newgrounds. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
  9. ^ "Playing Teh Internets levels?". Steam. 2010-12-09. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
  10. ^ a b bluebaby (2010-02-23). "Meat Boy on XBLA!". Newgrounds. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
  11. ^ a b Refenes, Tommy (2010-09-22). "Teh Internets!". Team Meat. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
  12. ^ Davis, Ryan (2009-04-29). "Super Meat Boy/Braid Crossover Event!". Giant Bomb. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
  13. ^ a b c Mitchell, Richard (2010-10-06). "Super Meat Boy Review". Joystiq. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
  14. ^ "Twitter / @Team Meat". Team Meat via Twitter. 2010-11-07. Retrieved 2010-12-16. Its official! The Machinarium Robot (Josef) will be replacing Alien Hominid in the Pc Version of Super Meat Boy!
  15. ^ McMillen, Edmund (2010-09-18). "Character roster update!". Team Meat. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
  16. ^ McMillen, Edmund (2011-03-02). "GDC announcement time!". Team Meat. Retrieved 2011-03-03.
  17. ^ a b Dillard, Corbie (2009-09-01). "Team Meat Interview - Super Meat Boy". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
  18. ^ bluebaby. "Meat boy (map pack)". Newgrounds. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
  19. ^ "Bit.Trip Runner Video Game, Debut Trailer". GameTrailers. 2010-03-08. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
  20. ^ a b Caoili, Eric (2010-12-07). "Awesome Cover For Super Meat Boy's Special Edition PC Box". Game, Set, Watch. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
  21. ^ "Its a secret to everyone!". Team Meat via Twitter. 2010-02-22. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
  22. ^ Sterling, Jim (2010-11-12). "No Super Meat Boy on PS3, and you can blame Sony". Destructoid. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
  23. ^ Zimmerman, Conrad (2010-09-02). "First shots of Super Meat Boy's 'teh internets'". Destructoid. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
  24. ^ McWhertor, Micheal (2010-11-01). "Size Limit Spoils Super Meat Boy's November Release On WiiWare". Kotaku. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
  25. ^ Tolito, Stephen. "Apple Bans Game, Days After Developer Publicly Trashes App Store date=2010-03-19". Kotaku. Retrieved 2010-12-17. {{cite web}}: Missing pipe in: |title= (help)
  26. ^ Nagata, Tyler (2010-04-05). "Tiger Handheld version of Super Meat Boy is supposed to suck". GamesRadar. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
  27. ^ McMillen, Edmund (2010-09-14). "ESRB and more!". Team Meat. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
  28. ^ "Super Meat Boy Shirt". Newgrounds. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
  29. ^ "EdmundM on Etsy". Etsy. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
  30. ^ "Play PETA's Super Meat Boy parody game, Super Tofu Boy". PETA. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
  31. ^ McMillen, Edmund (2010-12-01). "Super Meat Boy vs Peta!". Team Meat. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
  32. ^ "Super Meat Boy! Soundtrack". Bandcamp. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
  33. ^ McMillen, Edmund (2010-10-22). "Peace, Love and Save bugs". Team Meat. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
  34. ^ Ernst, Dave (2010-12-06). "Super Meat Boy Music Creator Donating Half of Sales to Multiple Sclerosis Research". ripten.com. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
  35. ^ a b "Super Meat Boy for Xbox 360 Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  36. ^ a b "Super Meat Boy for PC Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 2011-03-03.
  37. ^ a b "Super Meat Boy for PC - GameRankings". GameRankings. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  38. ^ a b "Super Meat Boy for Xbox 360 - GameRankings". GameRankings. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  39. ^ a b Bramwell, Tom (2010-10-18). "Super Meat Boy Review". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  40. ^ Marchiafava, Jeff (2010-10-21). "Super Meat Boy!". Game Informer. Retrieved 2010-12-18. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  41. ^ a b Gilbert, Henry (2010-10-20). "Super Meat Boy". Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  42. ^ a b "Review Pod - Super Meat Boy". GameTrailers. 2010-10-25. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  43. ^ a b Hatfield, Daemon (2010-10-18). "Super Meat Boy Review". IGN. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  44. ^ a b Channel, Mike (2010-10-19). "Super Meat Boy". Official Xbox Magazine (UK). {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  45. ^ Wilde, Tyler (2010-10-12). "Super Meat Boy Review". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  46. ^ a b Hall, Alexandra (2010-10-21). "Super Meat Boy Review". X-Play. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  47. ^ "Most Challenging 2010 - Super Meat Boy - Overall - IGN". IGN. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  48. ^ McElroy, Griffin (2010-07-15). "PAX 10 winners announced for PAX '10". Joystiq. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  49. ^ a b McMillen, Edmund (2010-09-08). "WE WON SOMETHING!". Team Meat. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  50. ^ "2010 Independent Games Festival Winners". Independent Games Festival. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  51. ^ "Best of 2010 - Most Challenging". IGN. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  52. ^ "IGN's Best of 2010 Awards Nominations". IGN. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  53. ^ "Best Downloadable Console Game". GameSpot. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
  54. ^ "Best Downloadable Game". GameTrailers. 2010-12-27. Retrieved 2010-12-27.
  55. ^ Langley, Ryan (2011-01-28). "XBLA: In-Depth: Xbox Live Arcade Sales Analysis For All Of 2010". Gamerbytes. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
  56. ^ Mc Shea, Tom (2010-10-21). "Super Meat Boy Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  57. ^ Leonard, Joe (2010-10-18). "Super Meat Boy Review". 1UP.com. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  58. ^ Holmes, Jonathan (2010-10-17). "Super Meat Boy Review". Destructoid. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  59. ^ Fruschtick, Russ (2010-10-07). "'Super Meat Boy' Review - It Builds Character". MTV Multiplayer. Retrieved 2010-12-18.

External links

Template:XBLA Summer of Arcade

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