Regardless of what I or others may say, I've always been weird as hell. Obsessed with most things that are outside of the cultural "norm", the idea of playing a video game as a blob of blood and tissue sounded like a riot and a half. Super Meat Boy came out in 2010, and it was one of the first true "indie" games that I ever played. Actually, to put it in a better term, it was one of the first games I became completely and utterly obsessed with. Seriously, Super Meat Boy took over my life, and any other game I was playing at the time was shelved for the foreseeable future.

Even now, 16 years later, I can look back at the time that I spent playing Super Meat Boy with nothing but incredible fondness. Now that the titular character has made his debut in 3D, and I've once again become obsessed with this little guy, I wanted to take a moment and gush about my love for this peculiar little platformer, and the moment I knew it was going to be a life-altering gaming memory for me.

Two People, One Goal: Creating One of the Most Difficult Precision Platformers Ever Made

To say that I was obsessed with Super Meat Boy would be an understatement. At first glance, this game looks like it would be nothing more than your typical precision platformer. Death after death, retry after retry. It was all about trying again and again, until you finally win. But once you won, it was time to do better to get that A+ stage rating. And after you did that? Play through the level again and find the bandages and secret warp rooms. After that, do it all over again and again. It was pure bliss, packaged together with love and care by two of the most masochistic men on the face of the planet, and I was in love.

To be honest, I don't remember how I even came across Super Meat Boy in the first place. At that time, indie games were starting to finally peek their heads out on burgeoning online storefronts. The Xbox 360 store, at the time, was my favorite place to search for these lower-budget and, more importantly, lower-priced masterpieces. At the time Super Meat Boy was released, I was 18 years old. Impressionable, full of life, and ready to sink an unhealthy amount of time into a game that would define my gaming tastes for years to come.

Too ”Old” for Mario, but Still Craving That Platforming Action

Look, I know we've all been there. When we get to this point in our lives, we've "grown" out of our Nintendo phases. We don't want anything to do with Mario anymore, and we want something more mature and exciting. Only to crawl back to the plumber once we realize that we're not getting any younger and want a hit of nostalgia. But at the time, I was craving platforming action, and Super Meat Boy delivered that in spades. It was one of the most difficult games I had ever played, requiring absolute precision on every walljump. Every pit of spikes could quickly end my run, causing me to start over after considering spiking my controller onto the floor.

It was pure, frustrating bliss. The soundtrack inspired me to keep pushing forward; the tight controls and impeccable level design still rest within the halls of my mind. Even now, I could likely boot this game up on my old 360 and still rock the shit out of it. It's ingrained in my mind and muscle memory forever, even if my aging fingers may need a bit of time to warm up. But one part of this game, more than anything, made it a generational experience. Stage 5-7. A secret warp zone here led me to the most frustratingly difficult stage that I've ever played in a video game, and my proudest gaming accomplishment to date. The Kid. If you know, you know.

Funny Enough, I Never Used ‘The Kid’ After Unlocking Him in Super Meat Boy

This is yet another callback that my Flash-game bros will love and adore. Remember I Wanna Be The Guy? That game that subverted everything we knew about platformers, and one of the first examples of a properly built and managed rage game? Yeah, he's also in Super Meat Boy, and his stages are some of the most frustrating you'll ever encounter. Don't let this video above fool you. They make it look incredibly simple. Back in the days when I had more patience, I spent what felt like months trying to perfect this.

I remember when I beat the first stage for the first time, I was beyond thrilled. I could have jumped for joy, that's how happy I was. Only to discover that there was another stage waiting behind it. If I died? I'd have to do that first stage all over again. And again. And again. But it was at this moment that I realized that if I could beat this? I would have done something that most other players couldn't even fathom. So it became my goal to finally make it happen, and eventually, it did.

Beating These Stages Woke Some Sort of Demon up Inside of Me

But after I beat these stages, I knew that I needed to go back to the beginning. I needed to get an A+ rank in every level along the way. So, I set out on my quest to make this happen. For at least all of the regular stages, there is a proper A+ ranking on my Xbox 360 profile, and I need to eventually do the same across the PC port in the future. It's a game that fundamentally changed my approach to the platforming genre, and a game that has an incredibly meaty spot in my heart. So, you can only imagine how I felt when I saw that they were coming out with a sequel.

No, I'm not talking about Super Meat Boy Forever. I've actually never played that game, because I'm not a fan of "endless runner" games, even if they have an adorably meaty coat of paint on them. I'm talking about Super Meat Boy 3D. A jump into the 3rd dimension sounded risky, especially considering how precision-based this series is, but after dumping hours into the game at this point, I'm pleasantly surprised with how well the formula has translated to a new perspective.

Super Meat Boy 3D Is Far Better Than I Could Have Ever Expected It To Be

I'mma keep it a buck with everybody reading this. After the initial excitement for Super Meat Boy 3D when it was revealed, a pit emerged within my stomach. How were they going to make this happen? Most 3D platformers, even the tightest of them, could be sluggish at times. And for a game like Super Meat Boy, where being even a moment late on your inputs results in your immediate death, I was a little scared. I think that Sluggerfly and Team Meat were also in the same boat, and they wanted to squash that beef as quickly as they could. After I downloaded the demo and went to work mastering these new stages, I was immediately sold.

At this point, I'm 5 hours into the game. I'm working on A+'ing every stage here, just as I tried to do in the original Super Meat Boy. I'm hopelessly entertained by this 3D sequel, and I was scared to death that it was going to be a mess. Even after seeing some of the Critic Reviews, I was still a little worried. The original game was scoring in the 90s, and this was pulling in the 80s at best. Was my platforming kind cooked? No, it was the children who were wrong.

Even Though Super Meat Boy 3D Isn’t Perfect, It’s More Meat Boy Than I Thought It Could Be

Horizontal wall running, dashes, ground pounds, and more have been added to this iteration of Super Meat Boy, and it works far better than I thought. At first, I was confused as to why they would alter what made the incredible platforming work so well in the original. But seeing the wider variety of stages here, and how much these tools come in clutch, I understand now. It's like when your favorite restaurant changes something on your go-to order. At first, you don't know how you feel about it, but then you realize that it's better than it was before.

Some parts of Super Meat Boy 3D aren't perfect, though. It's hard to translate the charm and wit of Flash Animation to a 3D space, and some parts of the game look a little "soulless" compared to the original. But even putting those faults to the side, it's an incredibly well-produced game with challenging levels and a fantastic soundtrack. All the things that are needed to make a Super Meat Boy game... well, a Super Meat Boy game. Oh, do yourself a favor and turn of 45 degree snapping if you play. Thank me later for that.

Onward and Upward to More Super Meat Boy in the Future

At this point in time, Super Meat Boy can 100% be attributed to my adoration of the indie games genre. The sheer number of times that I watched Indie Games: The Movie back in the day should be studied, and the sheer amount of Super Meat Boy merch that I bought back then is also quite impressive overall. I still have my original Super Meat Boy shirt, the red one with his face grinning away on it, even though it's seen many better days since I purchased it. It's a wonderful property, and Super Meat Boy 3D has done an excellent job of bringing it into the future, while retaining what made it so great in the past.

From here, I don't know what else they can do with the series, but as long as it's not an endless runner? I'm going to be there and eager to see what the developers behind the games are going to cook up. It's brutally difficult and unafraid to be unabashedly weird and disgusting. And I love it for all of those reasons and more. A superb meat boy, indeed.