in which Nick plays Games: Super Meat Boy
So, I downloaded the demo on a Wednesday, played through it once and didn't find it to be that gripping - it was a 2D platformer with some tight controls and significant challenge, sure, but $10? Please. Delete.
Then, over the weekend, I was explaining it to Laurel and just downloaded it again to show her. Played through it, laughed a bit, realized I had gotten much better. Hmm. Delete.
Monday rolled around, and I was bored. I downloaded the demo a third time, and while playing it I realized something - I was having a BLAST. I'd already played the hell out of these levels, though, so I banged through them again real quick, then had my roommate do the same. It was hilarious, and it occurred to me - $10 was exactly the perfect price for this. Purchase.
Things I Liked:
- Controls are tight.
- Soundtrack is excellent.
- Infinite lives!
- No level yet has taken more than a minute to beat. Of course, it takes some 50 lives to get to THAT minute, but whatever.
- Game is ridiculously, ludicrously hard, but appears (after 4 of the 7 worlds) to scale well. Also, no single level (save the bosses) are 'required' to pass on - you can skip around at leisure, flip over to the Dark World or go back to previously unbeaten levels, and constantly hone your time or collect bandages to unlock stuff.
- It's hilarious to watch - when everything can kill you, watching a sentient wad of meat slam face-first into a pile of salt and explode is amazingly funny.
- The developers are straight-forward and honest, which is sort of awesome.
Things I Didn't Like:
- Sick of looking for bandages, but I can't seem to stop.
- The load screens grow obnoxious between worlds, and you can't skip them.
- There's a glitch in the demo where the controls will lock up for exactly 10 seconds if you die too often and it has to remind you you can skip stuff.
- If you're downloading something else and it finishes, it will kick you to the main screen. Glitch.
Verdict:
Try the demo. Put it down, come back in a day or two, and try it again. If you're as much a child of the 80s videogame culture as I am, you will ADORE this game. It goes up in price to $15 on the 21st, mind.
Then, over the weekend, I was explaining it to Laurel and just downloaded it again to show her. Played through it, laughed a bit, realized I had gotten much better. Hmm. Delete.
Monday rolled around, and I was bored. I downloaded the demo a third time, and while playing it I realized something - I was having a BLAST. I'd already played the hell out of these levels, though, so I banged through them again real quick, then had my roommate do the same. It was hilarious, and it occurred to me - $10 was exactly the perfect price for this. Purchase.
Things I Liked:
- Controls are tight.
- Soundtrack is excellent.
- Infinite lives!
- No level yet has taken more than a minute to beat. Of course, it takes some 50 lives to get to THAT minute, but whatever.
- Game is ridiculously, ludicrously hard, but appears (after 4 of the 7 worlds) to scale well. Also, no single level (save the bosses) are 'required' to pass on - you can skip around at leisure, flip over to the Dark World or go back to previously unbeaten levels, and constantly hone your time or collect bandages to unlock stuff.
- It's hilarious to watch - when everything can kill you, watching a sentient wad of meat slam face-first into a pile of salt and explode is amazingly funny.
- The developers are straight-forward and honest, which is sort of awesome.
Things I Didn't Like:
- Sick of looking for bandages, but I can't seem to stop.
- The load screens grow obnoxious between worlds, and you can't skip them.
- There's a glitch in the demo where the controls will lock up for exactly 10 seconds if you die too often and it has to remind you you can skip stuff.
- If you're downloading something else and it finishes, it will kick you to the main screen. Glitch.
Verdict:
Try the demo. Put it down, come back in a day or two, and try it again. If you're as much a child of the 80s videogame culture as I am, you will ADORE this game. It goes up in price to $15 on the 21st, mind.