Super Meat Boy
Encyclopedia
Super Meat Boy is an independent video game
designed by Edmund McMillen
and Tommy Refenes
and developed by Team Meat. It is the successor to McMillen and Jonathan McEntee's October 2008 flash game
Meat Boy. Super Meat Boy was released on the Xbox 360
through Xbox Live Arcade
in October 2010, on Windows PCs in November 2010, and on Mac OSX
a year later in November 2011. A version for Linux
based operating system
s is planned for future release. Players control Meat Boy, a red, cube-shaped character, as he attempts to rescue his girlfriend, Bandage Girl, from the villainous Dr. Fetus. The gameplay is characterized by fine control and split-second timing as the player runs and jumps through over 300 hazardous levels
while avoiding obstacles. Additional player-created levels are available for free download.
Development of the game began in January 2009. McMillen worked on level design and artwork, while Refenes coded the game; it was tested primarily by the pair and their families. Initially intended for release in early 2010 for the PC and the WiiWare
download service, the release date was pushed back as the design was changed to include more levels and exclude multiplayer modes. The WiiWare version was canceled due to technical limitations of the service. The music for the game was created by Danny Baranowsky, who had also composed the music for Meat Boy. The soundtrack has been released as an album, and music from it has been included in Rock Band 3
.
The game was acclaimed by critics. In 2010, it received awards for Most Challenging Game from IGN
, and for Best Downloadable Game from GameSpot
and GameTrailers
. Critics lauded the game's precise control, retro artwork, and soundtrack. Reviewers generally praised the game's challenge, although some warned that not all consumers would appreciate the level of difficulty. The game has been a commercial success, and has sold more than 600,000 copies.
in which players control a small, red, cube-shaped character named Meat Boy, who must save his girlfriend Bandage Girl from the evil Dr. Fetus. The game is divided into chapters, which together contain over 300 levels
. Players must guide Meat Boy to the end of each level while avoiding spinning saw blades, crumbling blocks, and various other fatal obstacles. The player can jump and run on platforms, and can jump off or slide down walls. The core gameplay requires fine control and split-second timing, and has been compared to traditional platform games such as Mega Man
and Ghosts 'n Goblins
.
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. The player has an unlimited number of attempts to complete each level. If Meat Boy is killed, he immediately restarts the level, though the red blood left behind on surfaces that the player has touched remains. A replay function, which may be accessed after a level has been completed, shows all the player's attempts to complete the level simultaneously. Completing a level within a certain time earns an "A+" grade, which unlocks a harder alternate version of the level in the "dark world", an optional set of difficult levels. Hidden stages called warp zones are accessed by finding portals in specific levels. These warp zones feature bonus levels that have either the art style of older video games and a limit of three lives, or are patterned after another indie video game.
The Xbox Live Arcade
version features an unlockable mode called "Teh Internets", which is updated with new, free, officially curated levels. The PC version has a "Super Meat World" section, which allows users to play and rate additional levels that players have created with a level editor, released in May 2011. Players can also access an unsupported developer mode inside the game to edit their own levels using the "rough" tools that Team Meat used to create the game.
Character has multiple variations to choose from
Playable via a code
Exclusive to Steam
Exclusive to Ultra Edition
created by Edmund McMillen
and programmed by Johnathan McEntee. The game was developed over a three week period, and was released on Newgrounds
on October 5, 2008. By April 2009 it had garnered over 840,000 views at Newgrounds, and 8 million overall. A map pack for the flash version was released on December 8, 2008. McMillen began development of Super Meat Boy after Nintendo
and Microsoft
requested that he make a game for their download services, WiiWare
and Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA), as they were impressed by the success of his Flash games Aether
and Meat Boy. At the time, he was working with Tommy Refenes
on a Flash game titled Grey Matter. Although McMillen initially pitched the companies a sequel to Gish
or Aether, the pair decided to form Team Meat and work on an expanded version of Meat Boy instead. Team Meat also includes soundtrack composer Danny Baranowsky and sound effects designer Jordan Fehr. According to the developers, Super Meat Boy is "a big throwback to a lot of super hardcore NES
classics like Ghosts 'n Goblins
, Mega Man
, and the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2
", with the plot being "a mash-up of every videogame story from the early 90s". The game was explicitly designed by the team to be their version of Super Mario Bros..
McMillen worked on level design and artwork, while Refenes coded the game; it was tested primarily by the pair and their families. McMillen and Refenes lived on opposite sides of the United States
, and met only a few times in person while working on the game. They developed the control scheme by iterating through several designs, trying to find one that felt fluid and logical. Rather than use a pre-built game engine
, Refenes programmed an original one. The game was initially set to include around 100 levels, and to have both co-operative
and competitive multiplayer modes. However, the multiplayer option was dropped in favor of increasing the number of levels. The pair designed the game to be deliberately "retro", imitating the aesthetics of traditional platform games, but with a modern sensibility regarding difficulty. They wanted the game to be rewarding and challenging, rather than frustrating; to this end they included infinite lives, quick restarts of levels, obvious goals, and short levels. They felt the replay feature transformed death in the game into a form of reward.
Development of Super Meat Boy began in January 2009. Initially announced for WiiWare and PC, the game was set to be released in the first quarter of 2010. The release date was pushed back to the fourth quarter because the developers wanted more time to create extra levels, such as the dark worlds. A picture released on Team Meat's Twitter
page on February 22, 2010 revealed that the game would also be released for XBLA. The next day, they announced that, while all versions would be released in the same month, the game would be released for XBLA first because of "contractual obligations". In August 2010, the developers were contacted by Microsoft with the prospect of being included in Microsoft's 2010 Fall GameFeast XBLA promotion two months later. As they were almost out of money, they did not believe that they could financially support themselves until the Spring event. They had four months' worth of work left to complete on the game, so, for the final two months, they worked daily, slept five hours a night, and frequently forgot to eat—a process that McMillen said he "would never voluntarily go through" again. Due to Microsoft's low expectations for the game, Super Meat Boy was only lightly promoted. The level of promotion was not increased during the GameFeast, despite the game greatly outselling all of the other games in the event. The team described the effort required to finish the game for the promotion as "by far the biggest mistake [they] made during SMB's development". The game was released on XBLA in October 2010 and on PCs via Steam and Direct2Drive
a month later. The PC release was more heavily promoted than the XBLA version. A version for Mac OSX
was released in November 2011, while another version for Linux
operating system
s is planned for future release.
Because of Sony's initial disinterest in the game, Team Meat entered into contractual obligations that prohibited Super Meat Boy from ever being sold on the PlayStation Network. The WiiWare version was canceled as a result of the challenge of meeting the file size limitations imposed by Nintendo, primarily because of the expansion in the size of the game from the initial proposal. Team Meat looked into releasing it as a retail Wii
game, but were told by all of the third-party publishers they approached that a budget title would not be profitable so late into the Wii's lifecycle. A limited edition retail version of the PC game was released in April 2011. It included bonuses such as behind-the-scenes videos, a sample disc of the game's music, and a Super Meat Boy comic.
Team Meat released several pieces of merchandise related to Super Meat Boy. These include Super Meat Boy Handheld, an iOS app released on April 3, 2010 and styled on a Tiger Electronics handheld
. It was released as a joke after Refenes' game Zits & Giggles was removed from the iTunes
store following a statement by Refenes that likened the iPhone
to a Tiger handheld. McMillen has released a Super Meat Boy microgame for WarioWare D.I.Y.. Team Meat sells charms, plush toys, and posters related to the game, as well as t-shirts, stickers, stress balls, and a limited edition Super Meat Boy comic. In 2011 Voxelous released a set of four Super Meat Boy figures of Meat Boy, Bandage Girl, Brownie, and Tofu Boy.
, and Gravity Hook. He also composed the music for the original Meat Boy. McMillen knew of Baranowsky's other work, and approached him late in Meat Boys development, asking him to supply whatever tracks he had on hand. For the soundtrack of Super Meat Boy, Baranowsky incorporated the music he had provided for Meat Boy into an expanded soundtrack. He tried to ensure that the music would accompany the action on the screen without overpowering the sound effects. Baranowsky was given complete freedom for the game's music, and retained all of the rights to it; McMillen believed that being more invested in the game would let Baranowsky express the part of him that was "manic, obsessive, complex, and full of life". McMillen feels that the soundtrack "gets your heart rate up, complements every aspect of its gameplay, and stays with you for days".
On October 26, 2010, the game's soundtrack was released as a download-only
album via the online Bandcamp
store titled Super Meat Boy! Soundtrack. This release features 34 tracks and a 100 minute runtime, and includes several remixes of tracks from the game. On January 11, 2011, Baranowsky and Team Meat released a special edition soundtrack on Bandcamp as both a downloadable and physical release. This edition includes a second disc of songs not included in the original release, as well as additional remixes. The album, titled Nice to Meat You, has a total of 73 tracks, is 2'25
in January 2011.
Nice to Meat You tracklist
and GameRankings, respectively. The Windows version has similar scores, with a 91.25% at GameRankings and 88/100 at Metacritic. After being showcased at the Penny Arcade Expo
2010, Super Meat Boy was declared Game of the Show by Destructoid
and nominated for the same award by Machinima.com
. The game received nominations for the Grand Prize and Excellence in Audio awards at the 2010 Independent Games Festival
. It won the award for Most Challenging Game in IGN
's Best of 2010 awards, and received nominations for Best Soundtrack and Best Retro Design. It was voted GameSpot
's Best Downloadable Console Game of 2010, and won the Best Downloadable Game award from GameTrailers
. Sales were strong, with the Xbox 360 version selling nearly 140,000 units by the end of 2010. The Steam and Xbox 360 versions have sold over 600,000 copies combined as of April 2011; 400,000 of these sales were through Steam.
Critics praised Super Meat Boys platforming elements, and often commented on the game's difficulty. X-Play
reviewer Alexandra Hall said the game had "riveting platforming action", and added that "Super Meat Boys designers are masters of their craft." Henry Gilbert of GamesRadar
felt the platforming was "perfect". He wrote that "while it's always tough and demanding, it never feels cheap, or like the game is cheating you." A reviewer from GameTrailers
stated that "the difficulty rides the perfect line between driving you utterly bonkers when you fail and making you feel like a platform pro when you succeed." Joystiq
's Richard Mitchell echoed other reviewers' comments: "Super Meat Boy is tough, as tough as the toughest nails in the toughest universe." Gilbert cited the level of difficulty, which he believed made the game inaccessible to some players, as his reason for not awarding the game a perfect score. Tom McShea of GameSpot praised the game's "precise control", "excellent level design", and "smooth difficulty curve". 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."
Critics gave high marks to the game's retro art direction 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." Daemon Hatfield, a reviewer for IGN, noted the uniqueness of the game's visual presentation. He commented that the warp zone levels pay tribute to classic 8-bit
games, and lauded the game's soundtrack: "The rocking chiptune soundtrack is the best I've heard since Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game". Joe Leonard of 1UP.com
noted that the game's humor and over-the-top gameplay help to calm frustrations regarding the difficulty. "Super Meat Boys 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," said Leonard. Destructoid
's Jonathan Holmes wrote that the game's design was of "master level craftsmanship." MTV Multiplayer
reviewer Russ Frushtick praised the game's visual design. He appreciated the game's cutscene
s, which he noted are "hand-drawn animated [shorts] which [bear] more than a passing resemblance to a classic video game intro."
While the game received high praise, certain publications voiced complaints. Hatfield noted that the cutscenes had low production values, stating that "they don't have the polish of the rest of the game". The reviewer for PC Gamer
mentioned "a few minor, yet-to-be-patched bugs." Eduardo Reboucas of Game Revolution
said that "a lot of the levels in Super Meat Boy depend a little too much on twitch reflexes and trial-and-error memorization." He also stated that "there are some bits of toilet humor here and there that are duds", and that the game's high level of difficulty "will make most casual players shy away". Mitchell Dyer of GamePro agreed, saying that certain "absurdly difficult" levels broke the flow of the game, especially in the boss levels and the later chapters.
Meat Boy has made cameo appearances in the video games Bit.Trip Runner and Bit.Trip Fate, as well as in the XBLA game ilomilo
. A parody flash game, Super Tofu Boy, was released by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
(PETA) on December 1, 2010 to promote veganism
; in response, Team Meat added their own interpretation of Tofu Boy to the PC version on December 2, 2010.
Indie game
Independent video game development is the process of creating video games without the financial support of a video game publisher. While large firms can create independent games, they are usually designed by an individual or a small team of as many as ten people, depending on the complexity of the...
designed by Edmund McMillen
Edmund McMillen
Edmund McMillen is an American video game designer who is known for his unique visual style and innovative gameplay design, as well as his emphasis on the importance of careful level design and rewarding difficulty curves.-Early life:...
and Tommy Refenes
Tommy Refenes
Tommy Refenes is an American video game designer/programmer, best known for his work on the game Super Meat Boy, a platformer he co-created with developer Edmund McMillen.-Early life:...
and developed by Team Meat. It is the successor to McMillen and Jonathan McEntee's October 2008 flash game
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
Meat Boy. Super Meat Boy was released on the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
through Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
in October 2010, on Windows PCs in November 2010, and on Mac OSX
Mac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
a year later in November 2011. A version for Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
based operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
s is planned for future release. Players control Meat Boy, a red, cube-shaped character, as he attempts to rescue his girlfriend, Bandage Girl, from the villainous Dr. Fetus. The gameplay is characterized by fine control and split-second timing as the player runs and jumps through over 300 hazardous levels
Level (video gaming)
A level, map, area, or world in a video game is the total space available to the player during the course of completing a discrete objective...
while avoiding obstacles. Additional player-created levels are available for free download.
Development of the game began in January 2009. McMillen worked on level design and artwork, while Refenes coded the game; it was tested primarily by the pair and their families. Initially intended for release in early 2010 for the PC and the WiiWare
WiiWare
WiiWare is a service that allows Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications can only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii Shop Channel under the WiiWare section...
download service, the release date was pushed back as the design was changed to include more levels and exclude multiplayer modes. The WiiWare version was canceled due to technical limitations of the service. The music for the game was created by Danny Baranowsky, who had also composed the music for Meat Boy. The soundtrack has been released as an album, and music from it has been included in Rock Band 3
Rock Band 3
Rock Band 3 is a music video game, developed by Harmonix Music Systems. The game was initially published and distributed by MTV Games and Electronic Arts, respectively, with Mad Catz taking over both roles a year later. It is the third main game in the Rock Band series...
.
The game was acclaimed by critics. In 2010, it received awards for Most Challenging Game from IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
, and for Best Downloadable Game from GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
and GameTrailers
GameTrailers
GameTrailers is a media website that specializes in video game related content. It provides free access to original programming , game trailers and recorded game play. Along with standard definition , many of the video clips are offered in a higher resolution .Users can upload videos, create...
. Critics lauded the game's precise control, retro artwork, and soundtrack. Reviewers generally praised the game's challenge, although some warned that not all consumers would appreciate the level of difficulty. The game has been a commercial success, and has sold more than 600,000 copies.
Gameplay
Super Meat Boy is a platform gamePlatform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
in which players control a small, red, cube-shaped character named Meat Boy, who must save his girlfriend Bandage Girl from the evil Dr. Fetus. The game is divided into chapters, which together contain over 300 levels
Level (video gaming)
A level, map, area, or world in a video game is the total space available to the player during the course of completing a discrete objective...
. Players must guide Meat Boy to the end of each level while avoiding spinning saw blades, crumbling blocks, and various other fatal obstacles. The player can jump and run on platforms, and can jump off or slide down walls. The core gameplay requires fine control and split-second timing, and has been compared to traditional platform games such as Mega Man
Mega Man
Mega Man is a video game franchise from Capcom, starring the eponymous character Mega Man, or one of his many counterparts. The series is well-known and comprises well over fifty releases, easily making it Capcom's most prolific franchise. As of December 31, 2010, the series has sold approximately...
and Ghosts 'n Goblins
Ghosts 'n Goblins
is a 1985 platform game developed by Capcom for video arcades and has since been released on several other platforms. It is the first game in the Ghosts'n Goblins franchise.-Gameplay:...
.
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. The player has an unlimited number of attempts to complete each level. If Meat Boy is killed, he immediately restarts the level, though the red blood left behind on surfaces that the player has touched remains. A replay function, which may be accessed after a level has been completed, shows all the player's attempts to complete the level simultaneously. Completing a level within a certain time earns an "A+" grade, which unlocks a harder alternate version of the level in the "dark world", an optional set of difficult levels. Hidden stages called warp zones are accessed by finding portals in specific levels. These warp zones feature bonus levels that have either the art style of older video games and a limit of three lives, or are patterned after another indie video game.
The Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
version features an unlockable mode called "Teh Internets", which is updated with new, free, officially curated levels. The PC version has a "Super Meat World" section, which allows users to play and rate additional levels that players have created with a level editor, released in May 2011. Players can also access an unsupported developer mode inside the game to edit their own levels using the "rough" tools that Team Meat used to create the game.
Characters
The player may control characters other than Meat Boy, many of whom first appeared in other indie video games. Each character has different attributes, such as Commander Video's ability to momentarily float in midair. These characters can be unlocked by collecting bandage items placed throughout the game's levels or completing certain warp zones. Some bandages can only be collected by using certain characters. Some levels, such as warp zones and boss levels, can only be played with specific characters. The available characters vary depending on the version of the game played.| Character | Xbox Live Arcade | Windows/Mac OS X | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meat Boy | Meat Boy | ||
| Bandage Girl | Meat Boy | ||
| Brownie | Super Meat Boy | ||
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Character has multiple variations to choose from
Playable via a code
Exclusive to Steam
Steam (content delivery)
Steam is a digital distribution, digital rights management, multiplayer and communications platform developed by Valve Corporation. It is used to distribute games and related media online, from small independent developers to larger software houses...
Exclusive to Ultra Edition
Development and marketing
The original Meat Boy is an Adobe Flash gameAdobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
created by Edmund McMillen
Edmund McMillen
Edmund McMillen is an American video game designer who is known for his unique visual style and innovative gameplay design, as well as his emphasis on the importance of careful level design and rewarding difficulty curves.-Early life:...
and programmed by Johnathan McEntee. The game was developed over a three week period, and was released on Newgrounds
Newgrounds
Newgrounds is an American entertainment and social media website. Founded on July 6, 1995 by Tom Fulp, the site primarily hosts Adobe Flash animations and games, but also features a music-oriented page, along with an art portal...
on October 5, 2008. By April 2009 it had garnered over 840,000 views at Newgrounds, and 8 million overall. A map pack for the flash version was released on December 8, 2008. McMillen began development of Super Meat Boy after Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
and Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
requested that he make a game for their download services, WiiWare
WiiWare
WiiWare is a service that allows Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications can only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii Shop Channel under the WiiWare section...
and Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA), as they were impressed by the success of his Flash games Aether
Aether (video game)
Aether is a video game designed by Edmund McMillen and Tyler Glaiel and published by Armor Games. Released on September 3, 2008, it can be played for free online or downloaded for offline play. Players control a lonely boy and an octopus-like monster that the boy encounters, solving puzzles on...
and Meat Boy. At the time, he was working with Tommy Refenes
Tommy Refenes
Tommy Refenes is an American video game designer/programmer, best known for his work on the game Super Meat Boy, a platformer he co-created with developer Edmund McMillen.-Early life:...
on a Flash game titled Grey Matter. Although McMillen initially pitched the companies a sequel to Gish
Gish (video game)
Gish is a 2D PC platform game developed by Alex Austin, Edmund McMillen and Josiah Pisciotta and distributed by Chronic Logic, Stardock and other distributors. A sequel was announced, but subsequently canceled in late 2009 when Edmund left Cryptic Sea....
or Aether, the pair decided to form Team Meat and work on an expanded version of Meat Boy instead. Team Meat also includes soundtrack composer Danny Baranowsky and sound effects designer Jordan Fehr. According to the developers, Super Meat Boy is "a big throwback to a lot of super hardcore NES
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
classics like Ghosts 'n Goblins
Ghosts 'n Goblins
is a 1985 platform game developed by Capcom for video arcades and has since been released on several other platforms. It is the first game in the Ghosts'n Goblins franchise.-Gameplay:...
, Mega Man
Mega Man (video game)
Mega Man, known as in Japan, is a video game developed and published by Capcom for the Nintendo Entertainment System . It is the first game in the original Mega Man series and the entire Mega Man franchise...
, and the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
, also known as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, is a platforming video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Family Computer Disk System...
", with the plot being "a mash-up of every videogame story from the early 90s". The game was explicitly designed by the team to be their version of Super Mario Bros..
McMillen worked on level design and artwork, while Refenes coded the game; it was tested primarily by the pair and their families. McMillen and Refenes lived on opposite sides of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and met only a few times in person while working on the game. They developed the control scheme by iterating through several designs, trying to find one that felt fluid and logical. Rather than use a pre-built game engine
Game engine
A game engine is a system designed for the creation and development of video games. There are many game engines that are designed to work on video game consoles and personal computers...
, Refenes programmed an original one. The game was initially set to include around 100 levels, and to have both co-operative
Cooperative gameplay
Cooperative gameplay is a feature in video games that allows players to work together as teammates. It is distinct from other multiplayer modes, such as competitive multiplayer modes like player versus player or deathmatch...
and competitive multiplayer modes. However, the multiplayer option was dropped in favor of increasing the number of levels. The pair designed the game to be deliberately "retro", imitating the aesthetics of traditional platform games, but with a modern sensibility regarding difficulty. They wanted the game to be rewarding and challenging, rather than frustrating; to this end they included infinite lives, quick restarts of levels, obvious goals, and short levels. They felt the replay feature transformed death in the game into a form of reward.
Development of Super Meat Boy began in January 2009. Initially announced for WiiWare and PC, the game was set to be released in the first quarter of 2010. The release date was pushed back to the fourth quarter because the developers wanted more time to create extra levels, such as the dark worlds. A picture released on Team Meat's Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
page on February 22, 2010 revealed that the game would also be released for XBLA. The next day, they announced that, while all versions would be released in the same month, the game would be released for XBLA first because of "contractual obligations". In August 2010, the developers were contacted by Microsoft with the prospect of being included in Microsoft's 2010 Fall GameFeast XBLA promotion two months later. As they were almost out of money, they did not believe that they could financially support themselves until the Spring event. They had four months' worth of work left to complete on the game, so, for the final two months, they worked daily, slept five hours a night, and frequently forgot to eat—a process that McMillen said he "would never voluntarily go through" again. Due to Microsoft's low expectations for the game, Super Meat Boy was only lightly promoted. The level of promotion was not increased during the GameFeast, despite the game greatly outselling all of the other games in the event. The team described the effort required to finish the game for the promotion as "by far the biggest mistake [they] made during SMB's development". The game was released on XBLA in October 2010 and on PCs via Steam and Direct2Drive
Direct2Drive
Direct2Drive is an online game store offering PC videogames via direct download. On May 25, 2011, Gamefly acquired Direct2Drive from IGN Entertainment Group .- Competition with Steam :...
a month later. The PC release was more heavily promoted than the XBLA version. A version for Mac OSX
Mac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
was released in November 2011, while another version for Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
s is planned for future release.
Because of Sony's initial disinterest in the game, Team Meat entered into contractual obligations that prohibited Super Meat Boy from ever being sold on the PlayStation Network. The WiiWare version was canceled as a result of the challenge of meeting the file size limitations imposed by Nintendo, primarily because of the expansion in the size of the game from the initial proposal. Team Meat looked into releasing it as a retail Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
game, but were told by all of the third-party publishers they approached that a budget title would not be profitable so late into the Wii's lifecycle. A limited edition retail version of the PC game was released in April 2011. It included bonuses such as behind-the-scenes videos, a sample disc of the game's music, and a Super Meat Boy comic.
Team Meat released several pieces of merchandise related to Super Meat Boy. These include Super Meat Boy Handheld, an iOS app released on April 3, 2010 and styled on a Tiger Electronics handheld
Tiger Electronics
Tiger Electronics is an American toy manufacturer, best known for its handheld LCD games, the Furby, and Giga Pets. When Tiger was an independent company, Tiger Electronics Inc., its headquarters were in Vernon Hills, Illinois....
. It was released as a joke after Refenes' game Zits & Giggles was removed from the iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
store following a statement by Refenes that likened the iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
to a Tiger handheld. McMillen has released a Super Meat Boy microgame for WarioWare D.I.Y.. Team Meat sells charms, plush toys, and posters related to the game, as well as t-shirts, stickers, stress balls, and a limited edition Super Meat Boy comic. In 2011 Voxelous released a set of four Super Meat Boy figures of Meat Boy, Bandage Girl, Brownie, and Tofu Boy.
Music
Super Meat Boy's soundtrack was composed by Danny Baranowsky, who previously composed the soundtracks for the indie video games Canabalt, Cortex CommandCortex Command
Cortex Command is a 2-dimensional side-scrolling action game developed by Data Realms. In the game, the player takes the role of a disembodied brain, who controls various clones and robots to achieve his aims. There is no campaign as of yet, so there is no main objective the player works towards...
, and Gravity Hook. He also composed the music for the original Meat Boy. McMillen knew of Baranowsky's other work, and approached him late in Meat Boys development, asking him to supply whatever tracks he had on hand. For the soundtrack of Super Meat Boy, Baranowsky incorporated the music he had provided for Meat Boy into an expanded soundtrack. He tried to ensure that the music would accompany the action on the screen without overpowering the sound effects. Baranowsky was given complete freedom for the game's music, and retained all of the rights to it; McMillen believed that being more invested in the game would let Baranowsky express the part of him that was "manic, obsessive, complex, and full of life". McMillen feels that the soundtrack "gets your heart rate up, complements every aspect of its gameplay, and stays with you for days".
On October 26, 2010, the game's soundtrack was released as a download-only
Digital distribution
Online distribution, digital distribution, or electronic software distribution is the practice of delivering content without the use of physical media, typically by downloading via the internet directly to a consumer's device. Online distribution bypasses conventional physical distribution media,...
album via the online Bandcamp
Bandcamp
Bandcamp is an online music store, as well as a platform for artist promotion, that caters mainly for independent artists. Artists on Bandcamp have a customizable microsite with the albums they upload. All tracks can be played for free on the website and some artists offer free music downloads...
store titled Super Meat Boy! Soundtrack. This release features 34 tracks and a 100 minute runtime, and includes several remixes of tracks from the game. On January 11, 2011, Baranowsky and Team Meat released a special edition soundtrack on Bandcamp as both a downloadable and physical release. This edition includes a second disc of songs not included in the original release, as well as additional remixes. The album, titled Nice to Meat You, has a total of 73 tracks, is 2'25
Rock Band 3
Rock Band 3 is a music video game, developed by Harmonix Music Systems. The game was initially published and distributed by MTV Games and Electronic Arts, respectively, with Mad Catz taking over both roles a year later. It is the third main game in the Rock Band series...
in January 2011.
Nice to Meat You tracklist
Reception
Super Meat Boy was critically acclaimed. The Xbox 360 version of the game has aggregate scores of 90/100 and 90.41% at web sites MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
and GameRankings, respectively. The Windows version has similar scores, with a 91.25% at GameRankings and 88/100 at Metacritic. After being showcased at the Penny Arcade Expo
Penny Arcade Expo
The Penny Arcade Expo is a semi-annual gamer festival held in Seattle and Boston. PAX was created by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, the authors of the Penny Arcade webcomic, because they wanted to attend a show that gave equal attention to console gamers, computer gamers, and tabletop...
2010, Super Meat Boy was declared Game of the Show by Destructoid
Destructoid
Destructoid is an independent video game-focused blog based in San Francisco, California that was founded in March 2006. It has since grown into one of the most widely read video game sites on the Internet, reaching more than 3 million unique visitors per month...
and nominated for the same award by Machinima.com
Machinima.com
Machinima.com is a gaming and media streaming website, that aims to be a hub for machinima, the art of creating animated videos in real-time virtual 3-D environments. The site features machinima-related articles, and news. Machinima productions can be submitted for possible redistribution after...
. The game received nominations for the Grand Prize and Excellence in Audio awards at the 2010 Independent Games Festival
Independent Games Festival
The Independent Games Festival is an annual festival at the Game Developers Conference, the largest annual gathering of the indie video game industry. It was founded in 1998 to assist and inspire innovation in video game development and to recognize the best independent video game developers...
. It won the award for Most Challenging Game in IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's Best of 2010 awards, and received nominations for Best Soundtrack and Best Retro Design. It was voted GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
's Best Downloadable Console Game of 2010, and won the Best Downloadable Game award from GameTrailers
GameTrailers
GameTrailers is a media website that specializes in video game related content. It provides free access to original programming , game trailers and recorded game play. Along with standard definition , many of the video clips are offered in a higher resolution .Users can upload videos, create...
. Sales were strong, with the Xbox 360 version selling nearly 140,000 units by the end of 2010. The Steam and Xbox 360 versions have sold over 600,000 copies combined as of April 2011; 400,000 of these sales were through Steam.
Critics praised Super Meat Boys platforming elements, and often commented on the game's difficulty. X-Play
X-Play
X-Play is a TV program about video games, known for its reviews and comedy skits...
reviewer Alexandra Hall said the game had "riveting platforming action", and added that "Super Meat Boys designers are masters of their craft." Henry Gilbert of GamesRadar
GamesRadar
GamesRadar is a multi-format video game website featuring regular news, previews, reviews, videos, and guides. It is owned and operated simultaneously in the UK and US by worldwide publisher Future Publishing...
felt the platforming was "perfect". He wrote that "while it's always tough and demanding, it never feels cheap, or like the game is cheating you." A reviewer from GameTrailers
GameTrailers
GameTrailers is a media website that specializes in video game related content. It provides free access to original programming , game trailers and recorded game play. Along with standard definition , many of the video clips are offered in a higher resolution .Users can upload videos, create...
stated that "the difficulty rides the perfect line between driving you utterly bonkers when you fail and making you feel like a platform pro when you succeed." Joystiq
Joystiq
Joystiq is a video gaming blog founded in June 2004 that has since become one of the most successful sites within the Weblogs, Inc. family of weblogs. It is the centerpiece of WIN's own network of video gaming blogs, which also includes a blog dealing specifically with the popular MMORPG World of...
's Richard Mitchell echoed other reviewers' comments: "Super Meat Boy is tough, as tough as the toughest nails in the toughest universe." Gilbert cited the level of difficulty, which he believed made the game inaccessible to some players, as his reason for not awarding the game a perfect score. Tom McShea of GameSpot praised the game's "precise control", "excellent level design", and "smooth difficulty curve". Reviewer Tom Bramwell of Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
warned that Super Meat Boy is "a hard game. It should make you want to throw the pad across the room."
Critics gave high marks to the game's retro art direction and presentation. Official Xbox Magazine (UK)
Official Xbox Magazine
Official Xbox Magazine is a monthly video game magazine which started in November 2001 around the launch of the original Xbox. A preview issue was released for E3 2001, with another preview issue for November 2001. The magazine is bundled with a disc that includes game demos, preview videos and...
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." Daemon Hatfield, a reviewer for IGN, noted the uniqueness of the game's visual presentation. He commented that the warp zone levels pay tribute to classic 8-bit
History of video game consoles (third generation)
In the history of computer and video games, the third generation began on July 15, 1983, with the Japanese release of both the Nintendo Family Computer and Sega SG-1000...
games, and lauded the game's soundtrack: "The rocking chiptune soundtrack is the best I've heard since Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game". Joe Leonard of 1UP.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
noted that the game's humor and over-the-top gameplay help to calm frustrations regarding the difficulty. "Super Meat Boys 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," said Leonard. Destructoid
Destructoid
Destructoid is an independent video game-focused blog based in San Francisco, California that was founded in March 2006. It has since grown into one of the most widely read video game sites on the Internet, reaching more than 3 million unique visitors per month...
's Jonathan Holmes wrote that the game's design was of "master level craftsmanship." MTV Multiplayer
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
reviewer Russ Frushtick praised the game's visual design. He appreciated the game's cutscene
Cutscene
A cutscene is a sequence in a video game over which the player has no or only limited control, breaking up the gameplay and used to advance the plot, strengthen the main character's development, introduces enemy characters, and provide background information, atmosphere, dialogue, and clues...
s, which he noted are "hand-drawn animated [shorts] which [bear] more than a passing resemblance to a classic video game intro."
While the game received high praise, certain publications voiced complaints. Hatfield noted that the cutscenes had low production values, stating that "they don't have the polish of the rest of the game". The reviewer for PC Gamer
PC Gamer
PC Gamer is a magazine founded in Britain in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future Publishing. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games magazines in their respective countries...
mentioned "a few minor, yet-to-be-patched bugs." Eduardo Reboucas of Game Revolution
Game Revolution
Game Revolution or GR is a gaming website created in 1996. Based in Berkeley, California, the site includes reviews, previews, a gaming download area, cheats, and a merchandise store, as well as webcomics, screenshots, and videos...
said that "a lot of the levels in Super Meat Boy depend a little too much on twitch reflexes and trial-and-error memorization." He also stated that "there are some bits of toilet humor here and there that are duds", and that the game's high level of difficulty "will make most casual players shy away". Mitchell Dyer of GamePro agreed, saying that certain "absurdly difficult" levels broke the flow of the game, especially in the boss levels and the later chapters.
Meat Boy has made cameo appearances in the video games Bit.Trip Runner and Bit.Trip Fate, as well as in the XBLA game ilomilo
Ilomilo
ilomilo is a puzzle game developed by SouthEnd Interactive and Microsoft Game Studios. It was released on Windows Phone 7 on November 8, 2010 for AT&T customers...
. A parody flash game, Super Tofu Boy, was released by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is an American animal rights organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. A non-profit corporation with 300 employees and two million members and supporters, it claims to be the largest animal rights...
(PETA) on December 1, 2010 to promote veganism
Veganism
Veganism is the practice of eliminating the use of animal products. Ethical vegans reject the commodity status of animals and the use of animal products for any purpose, while dietary vegans or strict vegetarians eliminate them from their diet only...
; in response, Team Meat added their own interpretation of Tofu Boy to the PC version on December 2, 2010.
External links
- Original game via NewgroundsNewgroundsNewgrounds is an American entertainment and social media website. Founded on July 6, 1995 by Tom Fulp, the site primarily hosts Adobe Flash animations and games, but also features a music-oriented page, along with an art portal...