Super Meat Boy 3D Review (NS2)

Gameplay

Graphics

Audio

Narrative

Summary: Meat Boy's first foray into 3D sends him straight into the proverbial grinder.

3

Mechanically Separated

The elevator pitch for Super Meat Boy 3D is mind-numbingly simple; It’s Super Meat Boy, but in 3D. The clue is right there in the title.

The problem is that adding that extra dimension to what is arguably one of the finest 2D platformers ever made isn’t as easy as Super Mario 64 made it look, and unfortunately for Super Meat Boy 3D, it doesn’t boldly step into the third dimension so much as clumsily wheelbarrow straight into the nearest buzzsaw.

The basic premise is the same; you play as the titular Meat Boy on a quest to save his girlfriend Bandage Girl from the dastardly Dr. Fetus. Cue dozens of bite‑sized stages, packed full of tricky platforming challenges, devious traps, and so many meat grinders for our squishy little hero to scramble through as quickly as possible before reuniting with Bandage Girl at the end.

The original remains an incredibly challenging beast at times, and it was almost inevitable that our hero was repeatedly chewed up and spat out by various mechanical monstrosities until he eventually hit that perfect run. It was tough but fair. Tricky but never impossible. Super Meat Boy delights because, on a good day, disaster is always one failed leap away, and avoiding that is absolutely exhilarating, made possible by tight level design and even tighter controls.

Unfortunately, this does not ring true for Meat Boy in 3D. The levels don’t have the same feeling of cohesion, with each platforming section floating above what is effectively a void, like some sadistic version of Ninja Warrior, with admittedly pretty—though occasionally distracting—backgrounds. This, combined with a static camera, makes it difficult to judge depth, which is vital for successfully navigating a 3D space.

On top of that, though the controls are responsive, your movement isn’t completely analogue; instead, it’s locked to eight directions that are relative to the position of the camera. This led to Meat Boy leaping off walls at odd angles, or adjusting course mid-air in the wrong direction and plummeting to his death or diving headfirst into another meatgrinder.

“Oh, but it’s supposed to be difficult,” I hear you cry. “The entire point is to smash our meaty little head against the wall until you can eventually blast through the level in 20 seconds flat.” True, but since I’m spending half my time fighting the controls, although the game is still tough, it no longer feels fair.

In a game where speedrunning is par for the course, especially if you want to hit those A+ par times, accuracy of control is vital. It’s also incredibly irritating when you think you’ve found a shortcut and the game blows you up for being out of bounds.

On top of this, the levels feel too long. I know it’s a weird thing to say when you can still charge through one in a matter of seconds, but, as more complicated mechanics are introduced, along with you not always being able to see the exit, it becomes harder to puzzle out your next move, which breaks that sense of flow that all good twitch platformers (including Super Meat Boy) have.

However, I will say the presentation is pretty decent; each of the levels across Meat Boy 3D’s five main worlds (and harder dark‑world versions) is varied and quite colourful, and the backgrounds are packed full of fun details and life. The prerendered cinematics that have Meat Boy bounding through locales on his way to help Bandage Girl are technically proficient and look how you would expect, down to the unsettling meaty textures. Though the conversion to 3D also robs the cast of a lot of the charm of Edmund McMillen’s original character designs. (Note: McMillen didn’t work on Super Meat Boy 3D but wished the team well.)

Final Thoughts

Super Meat Boy 3D is a game where the old Jurassic Park adage rings true: the devs were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.

It’s enjoyable enough at times, but it lacks the level of reinvention necessary for Meat Boy to make a meaningful leap to 3D. Instead, playing it constantly feels slightly off, thanks to the 3D, which, rather than building on the experience, comes across as more of a gimmick that diminishes the otherwise tough but fair principles that made its predecessor a classic.

About the Author

Gareth Newnham

Super Meat Boy 3D Review (NS2)