Super Meat Boy – Review (Switch)

“It’ll rip out your balls and then kick you when you’re down.”

This is the opening line to a review I wrote for Super Meat Boy when it released in October of 2010. Its subsequent releases on other consoles were also brutal, but the quality remained consistent.

Super Meat Boy is a precision platformer created by indie developers and featured in the documentary Indie Game: The Movie. The critical success that Super Meat Boy had been became a larger phenomenon and the game soared forward on to more consoles… and in to your heart.

The story of Super Meat Boy is just like every other meat-centered narrative you’ve ever encountered. A boy made of meat is attempting to save his girlfriend, an entity made entirely out of band-aids and named Bandage Girl, from the evil monocle-eyed Dr. Fetus. Pretty typical, right? Throughout the crushingly difficult levels you jump over fires, scale walls, and dodge giant sawblades strategically placed to simply drive you insane.

The controls in Super Meat Boy are incredibly tight and responsive, and you’ll find that to be just as true on the newly released Nintendo Switch version as you will on any other console. Levels are designed to cause you angst, and they will. You will probably die at least once during most attempts, but it’s about learning the level and its hazards. The payoff is always totally worth the aggravation… that is until Dr. Fetus steals your girl. The controls are simple, but not easy.

It’s unlikely you haven’t at least seen some gameplay from Super Meat Boy but, just in case, you should know that the platformer looks like some fantastic pixel art, but is really much more deep than it looks at first glance. Meat Boy leaves behind a trail of… well, meat… everywhere he goes. The result on some more difficult levels is a reminder of your mistakes and successes as your previous trail is always visible.

There are two things about the Switch version of Super Meat Boy that you should know.

1. The music is different than the original releases of the game. If you played anything before the PS4 version, you’ll probably notice that things sound a bit different. If you’re like me, the soundscape was one of your favorite parts of Super Meat Boy. DON’T FRET! Even though there’s a new soundtrack due to some inability to reach an agreement with the original composer, you’ll still love it. The soundtrack perfectly matches the game and you likely won’t really care.
2. There’s a new split-screen mode called Race Mode and it’s really great. Grab a controller and hand your friend one as well to battle it out throughout a level or fifteen. Having played SMB so many times on various consoles throughout the years, it’s refreshing to see a new feature work so well on an older game. Also, nothing beats roaring past your opponent as they fall prey to a giant buzzsaw.
3. Yeah, we know we said there were only two items that you should know, but it’s worth lying to you over. Super Meat Boy on Switch is likely getting a physical release at some unknown date in the future. You’re going to want to buy it.

Overall, the Switch release of Super Meat Boy is an improvement on an already amazing game. Everything about the game is better on the Switch – from the resolution to the fact you can carry it around with you to the controller scheme to the fact that we may now get a SMB Amiibo collection. We might have made that last part up… but a guy can dream.

In summary, it’s really hard and you’ll hate it but, like… you’ll hate it in a really good way.

Stay tuned for the sequel to Super Meat Boy entitled Super Meat Boy Forever coming sometime in 2018. And while you’re at it, check out our awesome interview with Tommy Refenes from PSX 2017!

*Super Meat Boy was provided to the reviewer by the publishing company but this fact did not alter the reviewer’s opinion*