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e3 2018

14 Reasons Super Meat Boy Forever Looks Like A Great Sequel

by Ben Reeves on Jun 13, 2018 at 01:20 AM

Super Meat Boy was a challenging platformer and a big hit in the indie scene when it released back in 2010. The sequel has been in the works for a long time. First announced back in 2014 as a mobile-only sequel, the project originally began development as an auto run platformer for mobile platforms. However, the game has evolved a lot over the last few years. I once thought it was going to be an inferior mobile offshoot that wouldn’t live up to its name, but after playing several levels at E3, I now know that I was wrong.

 

Don’t be like me. Here are several takeaways from my hands-on times.

  • Meat Boy and Bandage Girl now have a kid named Nugget who has been kidnapped by Dr. Fetus, which is why you’ve set off on this crazy adventure.
  • Team Meat is still considering adding additional characters, but right now it’s just Meat Boy and Bandage Girl who both control the same.
  • The controls are as tight and precise as the original.
  • The game features more story cutscenes, usually before a boss.
  • This is still an auto run game, but the levels are very polished, and honestly I almost didn’t miss being able to control the movement.
  • A randomization element pulls from over 100 premade level chucks to construct all of Super Meat Boy Forever’s levels, which means that each level could be completely different every time you play it.
  • I know procedurally generated games get a bad rap, but these levels all felt very polished, like real levels.
  • Team Meat is considering a mode that will let players play through all 100 of a level’s premade segments as one ultra-level.
  • The checkpoints are very forgiving, which is good because these levels are a bit longer than the original Meat Boy’s levels.
  • You now have an attack button. Attacking enemies gives you a bit of an extra time in the air, which is useful for platforming. You can also use this attack to hit switches, which opens new doors and activates buzzsaws and other deathtraps.
  • Sliding also functions as an attack.
  • The game is challenging, and I was playing on the easiest of the three base difficulties. It also feels fair.
  • The soundtrack is good, but it will be hard to live up to the original’s soundtrack.
  • Super Meat Boy Forever is being developed for Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC, and eventually mobile. The Switch version is set to release later this year, and the rest will follow.
  • This isn’t a detail about the game, I’m just here to tell you that the article is now over.
  • I’m sorry, but all good things come to an end.

Products In This Article

Super Meat Boy Forevercover

Super Meat Boy Forever

Platform:
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC, iOS, Android
Release Date:
December 23, 2020 (Switch, PC), 
April 16, 2021 (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One), 
April 20, 2023 (iOS, Android)