Super Meat Boy is a clever reimagining of the timeless Super Mario Brothers, where you play as Meat Boy instead of the Mario Brothers, and you are required to rescue Bandage Girl rather than Princess Peach.

Gameplay: As is the case with many platformers, this game is fiendishly difficult. There is a steep learning curve as you progress through levels and the curve doesn't really slow at any point, which will leave the casual player banging their head against the wall. Having said that, at no point does the game make a jump in difficulty that is insurmountable, and the actual aspects of the game mechanics aren’t hard to work out. There are saws which you clearly have to avoid, pitfalls which must be jumped over, etc. The difficulty makes it very rewarding to complete each level, which is enhanced by the fact that when you finally complete the level, it shows an instant replay of all your previous lives running through the level in real time. I personally find it very satisfying to watch how many times you started the level and to watch the previous versions of yourself slowly get whittled down until it is only the one which completed the level still standing. The controls feel very fluid, which is necessary considering the intense and difficult nature of the levels. The various facets of movement including jumping normally with air control, and the wall jumps feel very precise. It is much better to play with a controller rather than keyboard.

Story/Content: Clearly, being loosely based on Super Mario Brothers, the plot is lacking - essentially taking the form of having to traverse through levels and get to the end goal, which is Bandage Girl. There are, however, a few cut scenes but they are mostly inconsequential and forgettable. This isn't particularly a complaint, however, as the game wouldn’t particularly be suited to a more in depth story. Within the game there are many references to other previous games and other media, and the retro theme is a very common theme throughout the whole game. The unlockable characters give it an interesting twist, as they can all be played in different ways in order to help the player get faster runs on levels. These are unlocked by collecting bandages throughout the levels which adds another difficult twist. There are also a host of bonus levels, including the "Dark World", where the gameplay takes a sinister turn and becomes even more difficult. In terms of the achievements, don’t expect to be able to complete this game to 100%. I expect very few people have managed to do this, as less than 1% of people have actually finished the game in itself, and of those I would imagine a small percentage of those have completed some of the more tricky achievements, which include completing 20 levels in a row without dying.

Music: The music created by Danny Baranowsky is fast paced and catchy which helps to drive you on in your pursuit of the next success. The retro feel is once again accomplished in the varied tracks which mimics older games but brings a unique style. The 34 different tracks will ensure that you don’t get bored of individual tracks.

Graphics: In spite of its 2 Dimensional nature, the graphics are very likeable. Each level has a nice design and the different worlds are completely different in their atmosphere which fit in nicely with the retro feel of the game.

In essence, a fantastic platformer!