Flipping blocks and birds

Team Meat has lifted the lid on a brand new title set within the Super Meat Boy universe �Dr. Fetus' Mean Meat Machine is a brand new Match-4 puzzler currently in the works for PC and console platforms, with an ex??pected launch window of 2023.

The new title, a clear pun on the 1993 Puyo Puyo reskin Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, will similarly task players with clearing out a playfield of familiar Super Meat Boy iconography against a strict time limit. As new sets of characters drop onto the playing area, the player will have to use efficient forward-playing to match up the icons with the brethren, clearing out space while setting up the remaining characters for smart, chain-reaction results down the line. In addition, the playfield will feature its o??wn set of hazards, including rockets, pendulums, and those oh-so-pesky buzzsaws.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA??WZ14r93EU&ab_channel=PlayStati?on

Developed in cooperation with Team Meat and the original SMB artists, Dr. Fetus' Mean Meat Machine will feature over 100 levels of "one-of-a-kind" gameplay, packed out with elements of the seminal 2010 release Super Meat Boy and the... not-so-seminal 2020 sequel Super Meat Boy Forever. A soundtrack by the returning RIDICULON will feature both new a new score as well as remixes of the popular and memorable soundtracks from the original games. Of course, everything will be sp??lattered with the grotesque humor and strange, t??wisted aesthetic that helped make the original game such an incredible success story.

Dr. Fetus' Mean Meat Machine is coming to PlayStation, PC, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch platforms in 2023.

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Pre-orders open July 30 for Nintendo Switch, PS4, and PS Vita physical editions of Super Meat Boy

While not as skin-crawling as some of the nastier too-realistic-for-this-world close-up shots in Ren & Stimpy (or even SpongeBob), I feel like the box art for the Super Meat Boy Limited Run physical edition is very much on that same wavelength. It fits, though. It's the cover that this game, and fans of Edmund McMillen's worlds in general, deserve.

Announced in a jam-packed Twitter thread this morning, Limited Run is opening pre-orders for physical copies of Super Meat Boy for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita �it's $30 across the board, and there's a color manual tucked ins??ide.

All three versions are region-free. While the Switch and PS4 editions are "open" pre-orders, Super Meat Boy's physical Vita version will only have 1,000 copies?? up for grabs.

//twitter.com/LimitedR?unGames/status/14200?57477798842372?s=20

Pay special attention? (read: zoom in on) Bandage Girl, who's made up of chewing-gum-pink bandages, and Dr. Fetus, who has creepy little baby hands.

That standard release will cut it for most physical-game-likers, but there's also a physical Collector's Edition with a Meat Boy figure (from Fangamer), a veiny double-sided poster, and a "meat tray" for the capital-f Fans. It's $75, and Limited Run is hosting pre-orders for Switch, PS4, and yes, even Vita,?? on?? the same day: July 30, starting at 7:00 a.m. Pacific.

One last stop for the midnight meat train: Super Meat Boy Forever, the auto-running platformer, is getting a Limited Run release across Nintendo Switch and PS4 for $35.

I'm curious �have you gone back to replay Super Meat Boy in recent years? I truly don't know how I ever kept up with this game. While I can still remember what it was like to be good at it, my skills have completely evaporated. No muscle memory to speak o?f.

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If at first you don't succeed... die, die, again

Team Meat has announced that its sweat-inducing platformer Super Meat Boy Forever will finally be bringing its gooey, multi-death action to PS4 and Xbox One on April 16, following on from its release on PC and Nintendo Switch back in? January.

Super Meat Boy Forever sees our bloody, cubic friend, (accompanied by Bandage Girl and a battalion of unlockable guest stars), partake in a non-stop gaunt??let of procedurally generated levels, auto-running their way through buzzsaws, salt fountains, deadly drops, spike pits and other hazards as they attempt to rescue their mischievous child, Nugget, from the clutches of the returning Dr. Fetus.

While the style and aesthetic of Team Meat's seminal 2010 release is instantly recognizable, SMB Forever takes risks with its gameplay which do not entirely pay off. The sequel's dramatic cutscenes, wicked sense of humor, sharp visuals, and creative boss battles are a treat, but the lack of character control, auto-run mechanics, and world seed system might not be to everyone's taste. Regardless, SMB Forever is a decent, challenging p??latformer, and worth a few of your lazy afternoons.

Super Meat Boy Forever launches April 16 on PS4 and Xbox One. Check out our review right here.

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Prepare to die

It's a little sadist of Team Meat to make the m??asochists wait an extra month. But, I?? guess the masochists will appreciate that punishment.

During last week's Game Awards, we found out that Super Meat Boy Forever is launching on the Epic Games Store on December 23. It spurred us to email PR and ask about timing of the console versions. We got a big ol' "We're not talking about [that] right now." With this morning's announcement that Super Meat Boy Forever ??will be a Switch exclusive at launch, the vague?? non-answer made a lot more sense.

Other platforms won't have to wait too long to jump in the grinder. PlayStation and Xbox versions of Super Meat Boy Forever ?are expected about one month later. That presumably means either late January or e??arly February.

I, for one, am fine waiting another month. My reflexes go into hibernation at the end of the year. I just want to wrap up December with the least stressful games you can imagine. Then, once the new year hits, I'm back to peak performance. In fact, I might just wait until summer. Super Meat Boy Forever feels like it has big June vibes (or maybe my Vibe?-O-Meter isn't calibrated correctly).

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Plus, plans for a movie and a third game

Super Meat Boy Forever feels like it's taking, well, forever. Originally set for April, Team Meat had to delay and set a new imprecise launch date of "After but not too far after April 2019." Now five m??onths later, the clock keeps ticking and there's no end in sight. What's the deal?

"I'm terrible at estimating time," Team Meat head Tommy Refenes tells me at PAX West. "It's literally 'Oh yeah -- it takes a long time to make, test, and decorate thousands and thousands of levels.' That's what ??it is. You would think we got to a point where we had like a thousand levels and we couldn't do anything more with it. But we actually have to cut it down so that we can get the game out. Then, we'll expand on that. It's not that I'm unhappy with anything, it's that I'm ??terrible at estimating time."

As for an official update as to how close Super Meat Boy Forever is to being finished, Refenes offers "It's getting there." He elaborates "We have the entire soundtrack done, we have almost 55 minutes of fully-animated cutscenes all ??done. We're testing levels, making Dark World levels, and making adjustments. I think we're going to launch with 5,500 levels. I really underesti??mated with April. But I don't ever want to guess again until [all the content is finished] because then it's all me. It's just getting it through certification and fixing bugs and stuff like that. Then at that point, I'll go 'Okay, it'll be like two months' or whatever."

If that sounds like a massive undertaking, that's because it is. "It was really kind of dumb to [add that much content]," Refenes relents. "But the end result is a Meat Boy game that has more levels in the first three levels than the?? original had ??in the entire game. It's ambitious. I think that's the term for it."

In some ways, this development allows Refenes to spread his wings more than usual. He's branching out and trying some new things. "I got to actually split my talents a little bit?? because I wrote the script for all the cutscenes," he says.  [They're] like movie scripts, and I?'ve been working with the animators to actually direct them. That has been fun. In doing that, I actually planned the next game in the series because there is a third game I want to do."

These animated scenes may be a godsend for anyone who wants to see the Meat Boy lore without subjecting themselves to the grueling punishment of actually making it through Forever. Refenes plans to essentially adapt the game into a mov?ie. "When the game's out, we have all these cutscenes. They're like boss intro, you fight the boss, boss outro. We're going to animate the boss f?ights and then put it together in like an 80-minute Blu-Ray or something," Refenes teased. "Because why not? I'm excited about doing that because I've always wanted to make a movie, and then I kinda did."

As for the future, Refenes intends for Super Meat Boy to be a trilogy. "I mentioned the third game I want to do. I think we're gonna start on that pretty quick [after Forever is finished]," he says. "But it'll be a much more relaxed 'Let's just start a game.' It won't have been nine years since I launched the other one." Fans can expect the pace to pick up and the wait to be a lot shorter. ??"Every three years sounds pretty good for a giant Team Meat game," Refenes concludes.

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'I don't know who wouldn't take that deal'

When Super Meat Boy Forever eventually launches, the PC version will only be available on the Epic Games Store. That's a growing trend in the PC market, as Epic has made a concentrated effort to ink big-time names to exclusivity agreements. Super Meat Boy Forever was one of the first, with?? its year-long exclusivity announced shortly after the store itself was unvei?led.

Super Meat Boy co-cr?eator Tommy Refenes says Epic's offer was s??o attractive that he had no problem ditching Steam. In an interview with Destructoid at PAX West, Refenes reminisced on that initial pitch meeting.

"They told me they want Super Meat Boy Forever on the Epic Games Store but it would be a year exclusive. At first, I was kind of like 'Oh...okay," Refenes explained. "Then they said they would guarantee our sales. Even then, I'm ?kind of like 'I don't even know what to ask for. So, run the numbers and tell me what you would offer.' They did, and I was like 'Yes!' It was a total no-brainer. After I got the numbers, the level of fear of not launching on Steam for PC was immediately alleviated."

That's Epic's appeal. It's mitigating a lot of risk out of video game creation by guaranteeing that developers will break even at a bare minimum. It's a more sustainable model for developers. Refenes says "That's huge.&nbs??p;That's huge for anyone in any industry to be? like 'When you get done with your work, you're definitely going to make this much.' I don't know who wouldn't take that deal."

Refenes adds that Epic's level of support "is beyond anything [we've gotten before]." The promotion that Super Meat Boy Forever has received is something that generally doesn't happen without a major publisher's backing. "We announced at The Game Awards, and these are thin?gs that I'm not going to get anywhere else. To actually have Meat Boy on the screen at The Game Awards is nuts."

That being said, Refenes expected the pushback on the consumer side. "Gaming is a super important thing to a lot of people. It's a part of their lives," he explains.?? "When something comes up and challenges that, it's completely reasonable for the reaction to kind of assume the worst is going to happen. I can see the passion of having something that's near and dear to you change, and being averse to that change."

He continues "I was completely expecting that, and I was completely expecting people to brin???g up Tencent stuff. What's unfortunate is that the concerns some people have are reasonable. You have people who are like 'It's not that great of a store' or whatever. But then you have the wild bullsh??it of Chinese spyware conspiracy theory crap. It's like 'Okay, you people shut up' because the people who have actual con??cerns are being drowned out, and I think it's a shame. They all get lumped together."

At the end of the day, Refenes seems perfectly happy with his Epic deal and the safety net it affords -- even if he ends up losing some sales from people who refuse to buy on the Epic Games Store. It might not even make much of a difference. "I feel like people are going to buy games on PC because that's what we've done. Steam is a way to buy games, but it's not the only place that sells ?them and it's not the only place that's suc?cessful."

We'll?? have more fro?m our interview with Team Meat's Tommy Refenes next week.

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This steak needs a little more time on the grill

Super Meat Boy Forever was supposed to finally release in April after a de?velopment that seemed to take, ahem, forever. That's not going to happen.

Team Meat has announced that Super Meat Boy Forever is missing its launch window. The new official release date is "After but not too far after April 2019." Team Meat explains that it's working at a quick-but-healthy pace, and pushing to release by the end of the month would?? veer into unhealthy habits for the developers. That seems perfectly reasonable.

Along the way, Team Meat took a spicy swipe at Electronic Arts by saying it "isn't some studio owned by an Evil Asshat corporation that has say over what we do and how we do it." We don't need a cryptics expert to break down the initials spelling out "EA." This comes in the wake of Kotaku's report earlier this week that exposed the stressful working conditions BioWare employees endured to pump out Anthem on schedule.

So, sure -- take as much time as you need to finish Super Meat Boy Forever. A bit of disappointment from players is a sacrifice that's a drop in the ocean compared to the potentially harmful effects of needlessly crunching. We'll live. Well, until Super Meat Boy Forever actually launches; then we?'ll die over and over.

Here's Team Meat's full statement:

We're almost done, but not quite there yet. pic.twitter.com/vm7q10Xd0n

— Team Meat (@SuperMeatBoy) April 4, 2019

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PUSH THE BUTTON

If you've somehow avoided Super Meat Boy these last seven years, make sure to grab it over on the Epic Games store. The hit indie platformer is the second game that Epic will be offering for gratis, replacing Subnautica in the company's free game promotion. The promo switches out games every two weeks, though the next offer hasn't been announced yet. Super Meat Boy will be available until January 10, 2019.

All you'll need to do to grab Super Meat Boy is log-in to your account from the website and add the game to your account. You don't even need to have the Epic Games launcher downloaded, though obviously, you'll need that to play the game. Once done, Super Meat Boy will be yours forever. You really can't beat that deal, especially since?? the title is a mo??dern day classic.

Team Meat [Twitter]

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Another Epic exclusive

One of the big takeaways from The Game Awards last week is that every child of a celebrity is playing Fortnite. Also, this new Epic Store is in it to win it. Several games have pushed back Steam releases to give the Epic Store PC launch exclusivity and, as we learned during the Kinda Funny Games Showcase, Super Meat Boy Forever is among those titles. The runner, which we've loved every time we've tried it out, will launch?? this April on consoles and in the Epic Store.

Obviously, some people on Twitter were not happy with the news, but I contend nobody is ever happy on Twitter. According to PC Gamer, Team Meat confirmed on the game's Discord Channel that Super Meat Boy Forever will remain PC exclusive to the Epic Store for a year. The planned mobile version of the game will also not be supported at launch as according to the Team Meat Twitter feed, it is "not a priority at this time."

Super Meat Boy Forever release date window set, will b?e Epic St?ore exclusive for a year [PC Gamer}

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PUSH THE BUTTON

When Super Meat Boy came to Switch earlier this year, it brought an exclusive "Race Mode" with it. This allowed players to verse each other in a split-screen race to the finish line with Super Meat Boy's signature difficulty intact. If you weren't keen to drop more money on another version just to try it, then you can rest ??easy. Race mode is finally making its way to PC.

The Team Meat Twitter account posted a teaser yesterday with the message, "Maybe check out Steam tomorrow..." and an image of Race Mode. If that isn't a confirmation of an update, then I'm not sure what is. Further comments below the main one have confirmed this will also be heading to the Humble version of Super Meat Boy, though not simultaneously.

This may not beat the portability factor of the Switch po?rt, but having race mode in another version of the game is never a bad thing.

Team Meat [Twitter]

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Eat, Sleep, Breathe, Isaac

Upon the release of Super Meat Boy in 2010, independent game creator Edmund McMillen had finally struck it big. After years of making obscure and much smaller projects, he and Super Meat Boy co-creator Tommy Refenes became overnight successes. Both critics and fans were in agreeance that Super Meat Boy was one of the greatest games ever created.

In the years since, a lot of things have changed for Edmund McMillen. Most people would assume that after a smash hit, plans for its follow-up would be fast-tracked, but that hasn't happened. The continuation of Meat Boy's journey is only now happening eight years later and it doesn't even involve McMillen. Instead of resting on his lau?rels, he decided to forge his own path forward.

His follow-up to Super Meat Boy was The Binding of Isaac. Another incredibly personal tale from McMillen, the game combined different aspects of his life and interests into an infectiously clever roguelike with strong religious overtones. Isaac went on t??o renew interest in the decaying genre while also propelling him forward as a creative force to be reckoned with. To say it was monumental in cementing him as a visionary is an understatement.

In the years since its release, though, McMillen has essentially only worked on Isaac related material. There have been a few odd games here and there (one being The End is Nigh, which is also based on a period of his life), but it seems Isaac has become his magnum opus. Is it even possible for that to happen, considering Super Meat Boy is often heralded as the b?est indie platformer ever ??made?

When I was given the chance to sit and talk with McMillen about his work, I immediately wanted to know what was next. Both Super Meat Boy and The Binding of Isaac were hugely influential in getting me to recognize that smaller games can b?e more meaningful than titles triple-A studios release every year. Without having played either of them, I may have given ?up on gaming entirely.

But how does one go about planning a follow-up to such a monumental game like Super Meat Boy? It turns out that not believing it was your best effort is the key to pushing yourself. While McMillen knows that Super Meat Boy is a good title, he still felt there was more he could have d?one with i??t.

"I've heard people have issues with having success and then making something after and, psychologically, that wasn't a barrier for me," McMillen stated. "I didn’t think Super Meat Boy was all that great." To say I was floored to hear that doesn't ??do the statement justice. I can't imagine anyone ever uttering those words, let alone the creator of the game in question.

He continued, though, by saying, "I mean, it was a good game and I hit the hell out of that thing and we worked on it for a really long time and did a really good job. In terms?? of its design, it was the most simplistic thing I could have ever done to find success with." McMillen then elaborated that he had been making platformers for years and knew he could make a good one. If he was going to risk everything on a single project that could shape his life, why develop a game that would only?? appeal to a smaller audience?

As for developing a successor, McMillen knew that the bar was set pretty low for him. People were probably expecting something similar to Super Meat Boy, but the ceiling had been busted wide open. He now had the freedom to experiment with ideas and give birth to a title that w??as beyond?? what people were anticipating.

"I strongly believed that nothing I made after Super Meat Boy was going to find the success that Super Meat Boy did. So I already had come into it [Isaac] thinking, 'I'm not going to worry because whatever I make next isn't going to be as big as what I made previously'". With that hurdle already crossed, McMillen knew his next move was just to push himself as a creator. He wanted to work on things that were bigger, weirder, and that forced him to tap into his true potential. With that, he set out to realize The Binding of Isaac without limitations.

Despite not thinking it was possible, Isaac is now what Edmund McMillen is known for. His first taste of success didn't stunt his career and he has now become an indie darling with millions of fans. People love his games for their personal touches and oft-kilter themes, though it also helps they are wonderfully designed titles with rewarding feedback loops. Isaac, though, has almost taken on a life of its own.

Since creating the Zelda/roguelike inspired baby simulator, McMillen has basically only worked on expansions and a remake of the game. His ludography contains more Isaac than any other property he has created. For all intents and purposes, he has become entwined with Isaac. It m?ight possibly be impossible for him to creativel??y top.

As far as McMillen is concerned, he doesn't believe that sentiment. "I have faith in myself," he firmly stated. "I think I can beat The Binding of Isaac. It is almost impossible, but either way, I'm just going to be as comfortable as possible and make something new." He then mentioned that for his creative process, he is always writing out and sketching potential sequels to practically every game he has ever worked on, including Super Meat Boy, Gish, and Aether. The chances of those sequels happening are pretty much zero, but McMillen is constantly prototyping ideas to prevent ??him from becoming stagnant.

With Isaac, he even admitted that the only way he'll ever likely top the original is by making a sequel to it. "I love the game a great deal. It is definitely one of my favorites that I've done. So I can see myself making a sequel to it in the future. I don't know when, but I'd like to do some different games. I don't want to get stuck in that Isaac hole." He then laughed as 2018 seems to be the year of Isaac all over again.

The main impetus for this interview was in relation to the then-in-progress Kickstarter campaign for a card game version of The Binding of Isaac. Since then, another expansion to The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth was announced. While that is taking a fan campaign and integrating it into the Isaac mythos, it seems McMillen can't escape that crying baby. He does see himself moving on from Isaac soon, but the reason he has stuck around this long is?? simply that he finds it enjoyable.

"Isaac is kind of more like a universe to me," McMillen said, "and I want to just keep expanding it and making it cooler." That being said, he is thinking about possibly reuniting with Tyler Glaiel (of The End is Nigh fame) and producing some other weird offshoot. With regards to this particular game, though, McMillen is not anticipating another platformer. He wants to mak??e something really different and out of left field.

As for what a sequel to Isaac would look like, the only bit of information he was willing to give me was a general quote: "If the original Isaac is The Legend of Zelda, then the sequel would have to be Link to the Past." As for why he is being so vague, McMillen put it very bluntly. "If I mention something mechanically and there are a bu??nch of modders out there, they will just mod it into the old game."

That is actually how the fan mod Antibirth (which is now becoming an official expansion called Repentance) came to be. He told me that the logical expansion of ideas for a sequel would be obvious to the more creative minds out there. In fact, a lot of the ideas he wrote down for The Binding of Isaac 2 are exactly what fans had crafted for their visions of Isaac's adventure.

That isn't to say McMillen isn't appreciative of what fans do to Isaac. When the founder of Nicalis (publisher behind Rebirth), Tyrone Rodriguez, suggested mod tools, Edmund was excited for everyone. It even got him thinking about what new things he could concoct for Isaac, which led to the release of Rebirth's second expansion. The main idea, though, was to create smaller updates so he could constantly be tweaking instead of d?elivering massiv?e content drops at once.

What then happened was a chapter of his life that was wrought with turmoil. He didn't get into any specifics, but due to his child being born around the time of Afterbirth's development and a bunch of other personal issues, McMillen wasn't as closely involved with Afterbirth+ as he wanted to be. This led to the initial release feeling lackluster and almost like a stain on Isaac's legacy. Even I felt similar, though I rated the expansion quite highly due to the potential for what mod tools could bring (namely some ridiculous Pokémon expansion I saw th??at was all ?the right kinds of awesome).

The process behind all of that is what sprouted The End is Nigh, actually. "It was a really, really, really shitty time and all of that comes through in The End is Nigh, because I wrote about it," McMillen said with a heavy bre??ath. "That’s what I did to purge the experie??nce. It's one of my most proud moments."

After all of that trouble, yo??u'd think he would have wanted to leave game developme?nt behind. Instead of starting work on another video game, however, McMillen shifted gears to the physical realm. His reactions and experiences bonding with other people over game creation are what spurred his fascination with board and card games.

For The Binding of Isaac: Four Souls, he started prototyping the idea when he fell ill after releasing The End is Nigh. He didn't have the energy to look at a computer monitor, but he was able to draw out ideas and create makeshift cards to produce a card game. While he had initially turned down a pitch from Robert Bowling (of Call of Duty fame), ??after prototyping the game with his wife, McMillen came back around to the idea producing a physical card game.

However, this happened about a year later. For all he knew, Bowling could have moved on from wanting to adapt Isaac into another format. As McMillen put it, "Regardless of whether or not the offer was on the table, I still would have don?e it. I ??was already excited about the project and was happy with the design." What he didn't expect was that waiting for so long would end up requiring him to shift into high gear.

"When I approached them to do this," McMillen recalled, "they told me, 'We've got to do this now.' I'm thinking now means within the next couple of months, but literally within a week, I had signed a contract. After that moment, within days they were at my hou??se." It was a scary realization for him, but only because of h??is prior experiences working with people.

"For all the projects that I've worked on, for the most part, I'm the one that pushes,?" McMillen told me. "I'm the one that carries. I'm the one that drags people along and motivates them. With Studio71, those people are so fucking serious and so professional. It was nice to be able to work with people like that. They were moving so much faster than me and it was kind of inspiring in a way." In our conversation, he gave a special mention to Garima Sharma and Javon Frazier for their excellent work.

What McMillen believes is that a lot of the programmers he has worked with just burnt themselves out. While that hasn't personally happened to him, he knows it can be hard to constantly motivate someone if their heart isn't in it. For himself, he has a burning desire to create all the time. He needs to be working to keep himself sane and alive, so he doesn't believe there is a point where burnout will hit him. If anything, shifting focus to Four Souls after The End is Nigh was ?likely him realizing he was reaching a tipping point in video game development and needed a new break.

"The thing with creative people," he explained, "is that we have to remember we are creative. That doesn't tie us into one medium. You have to be creative with how you inspire yourself. Be creative with how your work day goes and how you reward yourself. My majo??r motivator is that I designed, in a creative way, not ju??st the things I'm working on, but the way I'm working on them."

He then went on to list the different ways he kept himself sane while knee-deep into development on Four Souls. Along with doing creative blog posts on the Isaac website and even some podcasts, he also took to Tw??itter to do some "AMA" type requests where fans would send in questions. Even interviews, like the one? you're reading now, were an outlet to prevent him from locking himself up in a box with the lights off.

He continues to stress that, too. From playing Magic The Gathering with his friends to spending time with his wife playing Pokémon Go, McMillen is constantly pushing himself in different directions to maintain the light in his life. "You've gotta never lock yourself in a room unless you want to die. To stay mentally healthy and sound as a creative person, you have to get outside and you have to interact with other people and the social environment. If not, you're going to be chewing?? bullets really fast."

You can see that sentiment applied directly to Four Souls, as well. When the project was announced as the Kickstarter went live, some people were upset that a digital version of the game wouldn't be available. While it is certainly possible to adapt into a video game, McMillen doesn't want that. When I asked him about how he'd consider bringing Four Souls to the digital realm, he bluntly said, "I wouldn't??".

As he stated numerous times around the Kickstarter's launch, the social elements that are so integral to Four Souls cannot be translated to a digital space. There is a completely different dynamic of looking into a person's face and reacting to them that you won't get over the internet. While he won't stop people from porting the game to the popular Tabletop Simulator, he won't be producing an official version in the for??eseeable future.

As for what is coming next, Mewgenics is still on the table. McMillen hasn't given up on the project, but Four Souls did sidetrack him from pushing it further. He didn't elaborate too much on the ideas he wants to bring into Mewgenics, but it has certainly evolved beyond whatever the concept was a few years prior. Tyler Glaiel is now involved and he tossed around the idea of it being a brawler hybrid with roguelike elements alongside the Animal Crossing-style hoarding aspects of the original idea.

"It's a big project, though, and that's the thing: it is very daunting," McMillen stressed. Following up the card game, he isn't sure if he wants to go for a project that will take six months or two years, so he isn't committing himself to a firm date for Mewgenics. What he did tell me was The Legend of Bum-Bo would likely release by the end of this year. "Both [Bum-bo and Four Souls] will probably be finished by the end ??of this year. After that?, my plate will be pretty clean."

Even if he does miss those dates, I have yet to play a game by Edmund McMillen that doesn't stimulate some part of my soul. People like to associate creators such as Hideo Koj??ima and David Cage with the term "auteur," but Edmund McMillen is just as much of a driving force behind his projects as those two big names. You will not find a title in his ludography that doesn’t immediately scream, "I was worked on by Edmund McMillen."

Even if some people can't get behind that or his projects start to lapse in quality, they will always be reflections of his life and the state of his being during the period they were created. That, for me, is far more important than sim?ply ?being a good game.

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Reunited and it feels so good

One of my favorite parts of covering expos is watching developers refine their games over the years, especially when it's smaller projects that blossom into something much more substantial. That's definitely the case with Super Meat Boy Forever. The game has grown from a neat little spin-off to what now feels like a full-blown sequel. It's still an auto-runner, but don't let that scare you off -- Forever captures the spirit of Meat Boy through and through. Team Meat is look?ing to subvert expectations.

We've spoken at length about Super Meat Boy Forever, so I'll try not to retread familiar ground. At PAX West, I pla??yed several early levels in an updated build and faced a boss. It feels fantastic. The auto-run?? format might seem like a simplification, but the platforming is no less intricate or demanding.

You're still strategically bouncing between walls and dodging swirling sawblades, but now Meat Boy can punch. The move acts as an air-dash of sorts, and you'll need to make a lot of snap judgments on precisely when to use it to clear obstacles. It will also come up in boss fights, which are less about surviving  and more about, well, fighting. I took on Dr?. Fetus in a tank-like contraption with spiky arms.

While I couldn't quite finish out the fight (it's still being tuned for difficulty), and it's better seen than explained, the gist is that you have to hop between the arms and punch weak points on the tank while not getting cut up or fall?ing to your death. It was a proper boss in an auto-runner of all places.

I was also im??pressed with the elaborate new animated cutscenes??. They're super cute.

It's easy to imagine Team Meat sticking to its original plans for Super Meat Boy Forever and people liking it just fine as a breather between more ambitious projects. I would've been perfectly fine with that too. Instead, we're getting a thoughtful and worthy follow-up that isn't just more of ?the same. It's okay to be skeptical of some of the changes, but don't write off this game until you've played it for yourself.

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One meaty CCG

PAX West weekend is here and I know one game many people are eager to check out is Super Meat Boy Forever. Team Meat is bringing an Xbox One build to the big show, but it isn't the only game it'll have for event goers to try out. Anybody who stops by booth #835 will also get a chance to test Super Meat Boy: Rival Rush, a one vs. one collectible card game making its debut at PAX. The game will feature familiar characters from the Super Meat Boy franchise as well as some new faces.

The full game will be for sale at the booth and anybody who stops by will receive a limited edition card for free, a statement I'm sure ??people who are never able to attend these types of trade shows just love to read.

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Maybe it's time to put that chicken dinner on your LinkedIn profile?

Long gone are the days when playing computer games was seen as the reserve of teenagers or people with less "respectable" hobbies. People from all walks of life enjoy sitting down with their favourite console or indulging in some PC gaming, and explaining to your coworkers that you spent all weekend powering through Far Cry 5 doesn't a?ttract the same looks of derision or confusion as it perhaps once did.

What's more, it's widely accepted that a person's hobbies can make them more suited to certain types of employment, through the wonderful world of "transferable skills". While I wouldn't suggest putting your burning passion for League of Legends on your CV for real, it is interesting to think about how our ?interactive shared hobby hones our various skill sets. So, which talents can you improve or forge for the first time by being a gamer? I've selected just a handful of these skills and explained why they are so useful below.

1. Being able to solve puzzles under time pressure

Most games really are just a big puzzle that you have to pick apart and solve, but some games use concrete riddles are part of their gameplay. And it spans all different genres – Ratchet and Clank has its door-opening puzzles where you have to use mirrors to align beams, while Silent Hill and Resident Evil ar?e both famous for building tension through a gruesome mix of monsters and brain-teasers. Some of these puzzles are head-scratchers to match any Sudoku book, and can really improve your critical and logical thinking – as long as you don't reach for a guide every time.

The idea for this entire piece actually came from digging back into Catherine yesterday. That is a game where you cannot brute force or cheat your way through puzzles: the blocks are falling fast, and you have to react quickly or die. A lot of jobs call for thinking up solutions with next to no time, and I think a few sessions climbing up the Tower of Babel can actually be good practice for thinking on your feet. And hey, at least if everything falls down around your ears when trying to solve problems in real life, you're not stuck in an otherworld nightmare running away from butt babies or murderous brides, ay?

2. Juggling complicated ethical choices

We all know right from wrong, without having to play games to learn that, right? Well, as many recent games show, morality is more complicated than simply "good" and "bad". Always going the virtuous route can have unintended consequences, and always playing the nice guy can result in getting trampled on. This can extend into the world of work, where we of course all try to react within the boundaries of what is moral, but s??ometimes, and in some jobs, difficult decisions  have to be made that can have a significant impact on people's lives, no matter what you choose. 

A whole host of games contain intricate and complex morality systems, but the first group that sprung to mind for me were the original Mass Effect trilogy. There's a reason some people went full Renegade, and it wasn't always to be a bad-ass motherplucker. Sometimes being a little tougher on the exterior can get the job done. The SimCity series and many of the Telltale decision tree games are also a good exercise in striking the balance between utilitarianism and taking care of the in??terests of in?dividual people.

3. Perseverance in the face of overwhelming frustration

The new-ish wave of super-difficult games, in which m?ultiple deaths are welcomed as much as they are expected, is a golden opportunity to?? develop nerves of steel. Many a time, a program will crash on your office computer over and over again, or a process won't work no matter what you try, and the end result is that you want to throw your entire workstation out of the nearest window and start a new career as a travelling busker. But if you've had to replay the same level of a game 30 or 40 times within the space of an hour just to get to the end, then it lowers your tension when you hit roadblocks at work.

There are plenty of (super cheap!) games you can try out to deaden your emotional response to stress, but a particularly fun example is Super Meat Boy. If you want to crank the violence up even further, Hotline Miami is a good place to start. Super Hexagon is an extremely infuriating game you can even play on your phone, for toilet-based anger that doesn't involve a ?lunchtime chi??cken vindaloo. 

4. Working to a long-term plan

If your work is project-based, then chances are, you have to work to short-term, mid-term and long-term goals. Being able to plan in advance and not defaulting to doing everything on the fly is crucial, unless you want to get your final payslip handed to you faster than a stapler sets in jelly.

Inventory management comes to the rescue here – if you've played any sort of survival horror game, you will know that rationing resources is something you can't avoid if you want to live. I recently screwed myself over majorly in Resident Evil 4 by eating through shotgun ammo like nobody's business, then realising I had nothing before than a couple of handgun bullets and a knife at my disposal during my first face-off with Chainsaw Man. Nice going, doofus. The same principle applies to a lot of RPGs:? making sure that you have everything you need immediately on your person, and everything you might need two hours later conveniently stowed away, is paramount if you don't want your ass handed? back to you in tatters.

5. Nurturing a strong stomach

Some jobs require taking a no-nonsense approach to people are their, well, functions, such as cleaning or nursing. Others involve dealing with the slightly grosser aspect??s of humanity just by being in close proximity with so many people for eight-plus hours a day. Quite a few games deals in the visceral and the slightly squelchy, and playing a few of those will help toughen you up when it comes to relatively boring human behaviour and biology.

One game that I recently heard was incredibly violent and graphic, even for people used to graphic games, is The Darkness II. But really, a lot of horror games can be of assistance here, whether it is Saw: The Video Game, Outlast or a bog-standard Silent Hill classic. Basically anything where you wouldn't want to be tucking into a plate of spaghetti bolognese w??hile playing.

Which skills do you think you've picked up from playing games? How has playing games helped (or even hindered) your work life (e.g. Diner Dash helped you wait tables)? Let me know in the comments down below!

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Let me clarify...

If you're looking for a detailed preview of Super Meat Boy Forever, Peter has you covered. This post and video are more of a supplement to his post. I happened to stumble upon him playing the game at PAX, and before you knew it, we were chatting with Team Meat boss Tommy Refenes, level designer Kyle Pulver, and Dtoid's own Rich Meister in a?? profoundly distracting way. Peter somehow still managed to get his assignment done on time, with glowing ??praise for the game no less. What a pro. 

We also got some additional details on the game from Tommy. He told us exactly how this new game manages to cram more levels into its first chapter that its predecessor had in its entirety. We also heard about the Cartoon Network animators he hired for the game, how this toughened up Meat Boy manages to run through broken glass with only a drained life meter to show for it, and the open invitation to Suda51 to consider a Super Meat Boy Forever t-shirt for Travis Strikes Again. 

Off camera, Tommy went even further, showing us a few cutscenes, some plans to implement the classic Super Meat Boy replay system in Forever, and The Betus, a new enemy that symbolizes Tommy's longtime struggle with diabetes. It eats Meat Boy whole, but it can't digest him because he's 100 percent sugar-free lean cuts of meat. Instead of finishing him off, The Betus just moves forward in a daze until the player punches their w??ay out of his maw. This makes this new foe both an obstacle and a means of transportation.

That's just one of the ways that Super Meat Boy Forever takes a new spin with the Meat Bo??y mythos. It's a real treat! ?;

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Running Man

Super Meat Boy meant a lot of things to a lot of people. While talking with Tommy Refenes of Team Meat at PAX East in Boston, a random fan came up and explained how Super Meat Boy basically changed his life. I?t was a great moment that showed how the power of a really good game can mean the world to just about anyone.

Not so many people are aware that the duo that created the original best-selling title are no longer working together. While that split has already been publicly documented, knowing the newest installment in Meat Boy’s journey is only ??being made by half of the talent behind the original could have spelled disaster.?? Things weren't looking up when the game was revealed to be an auto-runner style game.

??Talking it ?over with our own Jonathan Holmes, I expressed my trepidation. I wasn’t sure what I felt, because I’m just not big on games that, essentially, play themselves. Holmes then said to me, “Tommy is the kind of guy that prioritizes control and would agonize over it being right, so I’m sure the game plays well.” I don’t know why I doubted him, because Super Meat Boy Forever is as tight as the original.

As a matter of fact, it is the original. While going through a few levels of the PAX build, I was surprised at how damned similar Meat Boy felt here compared to his previous adventure. Turns out this is the same physics engine from Super Meat Boy, just stripped of fat like directional controls. That doesn&rsquo?;t mean the game becomes simplified, but the approach to gameplay is more focused.

From the trailer above, it might look like this is yet another runner, but applying that label to it is a gross simplification of what Team Meat has actually made. Super Meat Boy Forever is more a two-button platformer that's actually built around the idea of two-buttons. Since Meat Boy can only jump, thrust punch or dive, the level design exploits these mechanics to their fullest. If you thought Super Meat Boy was great in the way it taught mechanics through gameplay, Forever has it beat.

Before I even stepped up to play the game, I watched the demo reel of footage and basically understood everything I needed to know. Meat Boy will never stop running, so you need to have lightning fast reaction speeds to succeed (which I h?appen to have). The controls will never be why you fail because they are as tight as ever and are so uncomplicated you can’t mistakenly forget to run (or forget to&??nbsp;do anything). You just need to look ahead and react accordingly, which is incredibly varied for a game where your character has a compulsion to move forward all the time.

I made the comparison to Refenes about how Super Mario Run was similar in style but didn’t stick the execution. “Run didn’t feel like Nintendo making a mobile Mario game," he eloquently explained to me "but a mobile game with Mario.” He is absolutely correct because Super Mario Run doesn’t really capture the essence of what the Super Mario series was always about. Super Meat Boy Forever feels remarkably similar to Super Meat Boy and even has the same style of level design.

Curiously, the levels are procedurally generated and still feel tailor-made. As Refenes explains in the video that will go up eventually, there are segments crafted by his team that are then filtered in based on difficulty level (yes, Forever has multiple levels of difficulty). Each segment is randomly selected in an effort to? create unique runs each time.

Since I’m apparently a hot shot, I just walked up, said, “Fuck it” and started on Cruel Mode. Refenes was blown away by how I was sight reading segments and doing incredibly well -- we joked that a new difficulty would have to be made for me -- but as I said above, this was due to my reaction speed. Since I’ve been a big fan of first-person shooters my entire life, my reaction time is pretty damn fast and the mechanics of Forever are simplified to the? point where your raw skill is what determines your success.

That doesn’t mean Forever isn't for you if you suck at twitch games though, because you don’t need to best levels in a single, continuous run to reach the finish line. I’m not exactly sure how the checkpoint system works, but it appears the game creates one after each major challenge. Refenes did explain that individual levels are long, but each segment is about the length of a level from the first Super Meat Boy. Theoretically, each world has more content than the entirety of Super based on difficulty and random generation.

With the varying levels of? difficulty (which starts with Hard and progresses to Cruel), it means everyone is bound to find a mode that suits them. If you really are an ace and want to tackle things in a single run, the game will also accommodate that playstyle with a nightmarish mode requiring players to beat an entire world without dying. I can’t imagine doing that (even with my skill, I still died a lot), but the choice is yours.

That choice is what helps alleviate a lot of the apprehensions I had before playing Forever. I’ve never been a fan of auto-runner games, but I’m definitely on board with this new version of Meat Boy. It still has all the beautiful artwork from the first game and the physics are literally the same, but the game feels tighter and it provides a stark challenge for those that want it. That sounds exactly like what a sequel to Super Meat Boy should be if you ask me.

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Still fun after all these years

Having owned my Switch for just under a month now, I’ve come to terms with its idiosyncrasies. The button and joystick layout isn’t exactly perfect but I’m used to it by now. The Joy-Con controllers are effing small but I know which of my games I can adequately use them with. The battery doesn’t last as ?lon?g as I’d like it to, but I also have to sleep at night so that one’s really a wash. Like with most gaming devices, I just needed some time to get used to it. Now that I have, it’s on its way to being my favorite Nintendo product ever.

The one issue that is still stuck in my craw is the lack of a traditional directional pad on the Joy-Con. A mainstay since the NES, it’s almost unheard of to have a Nintendo device launch without one. I understand gaming’s reliance on it has fallen greatly since the medium went 3D, but I still think every 2D game is more enjoyable when I control my character with a d-pad. That’s probably why I haven’t completed Metroid: Samus Returns or Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King yet. I thought the lack of a d-pad would keep me from enjoying Super Meat Boy too, but if anything, I love it far more on my Switch than I do m??y Mac.

Booting it up on my Switch over the weekend, any qualms over troublesome controls proved to be imaginary in the very first level as the four-button replacement more than handled the tough jumps, dramatic turns, and tightly designed nature of the game. Through the Forest, Hospital, Factory, Hell, and Rapture stages, the controls have yet to fail me. I mean, I die a lot, but no more than I did playing it on PC. Like with Dark Souls, 1001 Spikes, and La Mulana, dying is just part of the e?xperience. It’s just this time ?it’s the part that scares me the most.

There is something truly mesmerizing watching all of my previous attempts at a level and seeing those little ??meat men meet their untimely ends. It’s cathartic, which is exactly what I need because more than likely 15 seconds earlier I was ready to break my Switch in half. In my 27 years of gaming, I’ve never had such a negative or frustrating experience that I broke my controller. The worst I’ve done is thrown a controller to the ground and run out of the room screaming like the little bitch I am during one very specific part of Resident Evil 2. But with Super Meat Boy, I find myself on m??ultiple occasions having to stop myself before I make an incredibly expensive mistake.

For anybody wondering about double or triple dipping at this point, the Switch port’s timed-exclusive feature is RACE MODE. This isn’t just some quick and dirty add-on but a truly enjoyable new way to experience the game. Two players can run through individual chapters, random levels, or the entire game in a competition to beat each other to? the finish line. I played this mode with a neighbor and was forced to use an individual Joy-Con. The joystick works fine but I much prefer the directional buttons. Really, the only pang I have about this mode is playing on the Switch screen makes everything itty bitty. But on the big screen, it’s just as smooth and flawless as when running through it single-player.

I can totally see why Super Meat Boy is nearly selling as well on the Switch as it first did when it first released on the Xbox 360 more than seven years ago. It’s brilliant, beautiful on either screen I play it on, and arguably still the standard-bearer for challenge-oriented platformers. Super Meat Boy Forever may not exactly be what fa?ns want as a follow up to this game, but if Team Meat can do for that genre wh?at it did for this one, it’ll be one hell of a game.

_{[This hands-on is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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The man behind the meat

I had the chance to speak with Tommy Refenes, one of the co-founders of Team Meat, and he gave me a much clearer understanding of just how much Super Meat Boy Forever has changed over the years. 

As an adamant fan of the original title, on the Xbox 360, I’ve been following development on its follow-up for years now. I remember hea??ring the very first rumblings of a possible sequel, and I remember just how confused I was when I eventually found out that it was being developed for mobile. My naïve, much-less-bald, younger self couldn’t help but wonder, “How the hell is that even going to work?”

It turns out that Mr. Refene??s was just as dumbfounded by the concept as I was at first. 

Around the time Super Meat Boy launched, late 2010, the iPhone craze was in full swing... Every major game development company was trying to figure out how to bring their IPs to the phone, and the result was some pretty terrible ports o??f games that didn’t fit the platform at all, but it didn’t really matter because people wanted to play games on their new devices. 

Super Meat Boy was fresh in people’s minds, and our newly realized fans were no exception to the calls for Super Meat Boy on their phones. We had emails CONSTANTLY asking us when it was coming to iPhone and Android. For me, I always viewed this as odd. I knew these players were fans because they want “more Meat Boy,” but I didn’t understand the desire to play “Super Meat Boy” on their phone. My thinking was that it was a twitch platformer, with precision controls, that would in no way work without but?tons. I always hated the idea of “cash in” iPhone games that weren’t designed for the platform but were made anyway... In fact, I gave a GDC talk about it in 2010. In that hatred though, I was actually just being kinda dim, and I wasn’t correctly interpreting what the fans were asking for.

I headed to GDC 2011 with tons of “When’s it coming to iPhone” messages in my brain, and while I was in my hotel room one evening it hit me... This realization that “People don’t want Super Meat Boy as it exists now on their phones... They want a Meat Boy game on their phones... They want a game that FEELS like Meat Boy and makes them feel like they feel when they play Super Meat Boy,” and immediately I thought “this is a challenge! I can do this!” With this new realization (that took me WAY too long to get to), and being bored in a hotel room (I don’t go to parties), I pulled out my laptop that had all of the Super Meat Boy code on it and set out to make a “1 button Meat Boy game.”

After a night of messing around with controls and making a few prototype level concepts, I felt I had something with the potential to feel like Meat Boy but playable with one button or two buttons, which would translate to a phone screen or any?? other thing with at least two buttons.

Fast forward three years, and they were readying a build of the game to show off at PAX Prime (now PAX West). They even put together a small, surreal slice of video called, “A Voyeur for September.” This turned out to be a teaser of sorts for the new game. The title was an anagram for “Super Meat Boy Forever,” a??nd Mr. Refenes stated, “I was legit surprised that people figured that out almost immediately!?” 

By then, he should ?have known just how rabid and obsessed the fan base was, but I’m sure that was a real wake-up call. 

They initially intended the new game to be a? “palette cleanser in between big projects,” containing around three chapters and nine levels. However, life had other plans in store, and the two founders of Team Meat, Edmund McMillen ??and Tommy Refenes, parted ways. 

Development on Super Meat Boy Forever stagnated, mostly due to everyday life getting in the way, and Mr. Refenes ended up showing a near-identical build of the game for the next two years at PAX, with minor technical improvements. While they were met with plenty of delays, it would ha??rdly mark the end for the studio.

Near the very end of 2016, Super Meat Boy and Team Meat moved to me to continue. Work began again on Super Meat Boy Forever in early January 2017. After almost 3 years, I was aching to realize this game. All I had at that time was the prototype from 2014 but no longer was this going to be the palette cleanser game in between big projects…. This was now going to be the big project.

So... I scrapped everything and re-approached the development with “This is Super Meat Boy 2” in mind. I kept the base controls and feel I’d designed, I got rid of all the assets, I got rid of my level generation code, I got rid of the few prototype levels we had, and I started over. Not quite a blank C++ project, but pretty close. I did keep the music because Ridiculon is awesome and timeless.

This time around, Refenes is handling the story, and he’s using it as a means to deal with some of his own insecurities. He managed t?o turn this into a reflection of his potential future with his wife, Shannon, and their hopes to one day have a child.

I wanted Meat Boy and Bandage Girl to grow as a couple, and I didn’t want to do the exact same story as last t?ime. Shannon and I have always planned on having kids, but to be completely honest, the idea was terrifying to me. I knew that was an irrational fear. I’m a dude with money that lives in a nice place and has good health care... Having a kid s?houldn’t make me scared, but it did (and still does a little bit).

I think deep down I created “Nugget,” the daughter of Meat Boy and Bandage Girl, as a way to “get over myself” when it came to my children fears. In writing Nugget’s character, I’ve made her personality what I would want my child’s to be like. She’s happy, she’s funny, she thinks everything’s ?a game, and there is an air of joy around her that Dr. Fetus doesn't understand, and it drives him nuts.

While Nugget is a tremendous source of happiness for Meat B??oy and Bandage Girl, she is going to be the exact opposite for Dr. Fetus, and that is really fun to write. She’s a great impetus for Meat Boy and Bandage Girl to kick some serious ass.

According to Mr. Refenes, 2017 marked a major “reset” for Super Meat Boy Forever. Team Meat has been expanded to six other individuals, and he’s even found that he enjoys writing the story this time ??around, on top of his many other duties.

When asked about Edmund McMillen’s past involvement in Super Meat Boy Forever, despite the fact that he’s no longer a member of Team Meat, Mr. Refenes replied, “I alway??s give credit where credit is due, and having worked in shitty industry jobs with questionable crediting practices, I'm a strong believer in acknowledging the work people have done.”

That’s a refreshing ??stance in an indu?stry plagued with cynicism. The new game is still scheduled for a 2018 release date, and I can’t wait to finally get my hands on it.

The post The evolution of Super Meat Boy Forever appeared first on Destructoid.

'That's nuts'

The Switch is a perfect home for platformers it seems, as another tried and true classic has done very well for itself on the system. According to developer Team Meat, Super Meat Boy's day-one sales for the game have come "shoc?kingly close to its debut on Xbox 360 back in 2010."

These  numbers make sense. New gamers who just started their gaming career on the Switch have probably heard tales of its difficulty and quality. And as one of the pioneers of downloadable gaming on the Xbox Live Arcade many years back, Meat Boy is a perfect candidate for double, triple, or even quadruple dippi??ng.

It seems like the waters have been tested, and now Team Meat has confirmed a phys??ical edition of the game down the line.

Team Meat [Twitter]

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It's something the team wanted to do 'since 2010'

Super Meat Boy is just one of those games. It wa?s par?t of the digital indie revolution, in part because of how replayable it is and how much it holds up years later.

A ton of people (myself included) are planning on picking it up yet again on the Switch too, which has finally been dated. Team Meat confirmed via Twitter that Switch port will be released on January 11, 2018, and it'll bring a goodie with it. Seemingly confirming an exclusive gametype, "Race Mode" is a thing, and will likely be a split-screen literal race in the style of old school Sonic.

The idea of breaking off a piece of the Switch (Joy-Con) to throw down on some Meat Boy sounds perfect.

Team Meat [Twitter]

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It's looking like a December release

If you're up for another round of Super Meat Boy?, you'll have your chance soon eno?ugh. Team Meat's Tommy Refenes says the Switch port of the famed platformer should make it out in December.

"The game itself has been done for quite some time, but w???e're making something pretty special for the Switch version! We'll have more details on that later...but I think it'll be a pretty enticing reason for Switch owners to get the game again if they already own it on other systems."

As if I don't already have a hard enough t?ime with indie g?ame double dipping on Switch.

Still, at this point, I'm more intrigued by Super Meat Boy Forever. I've kinda had my fill of SMB by now. But maybe I'll have a change of heart once we hear more about the Switch ve??rsion. On that note, "To all of you asking about physical versions, we totally hear you and we're working on it so don't worry!"

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Looks like we've got a squirter on our hands

Splasher is a love letter to the twitch platforming genre, and it wears its influences on its sleeves proudly. The shadow of Super Meat Boy can be felt in alm?ost every aspect of?? this game, but it introduces enough new mechanics to really make itself stand out from its inspirations.

The head honcho on the development team, Romain Claude, previously honed his chops as a level designer for both Rayman Origins and Legends. There are a ton of subtle nods to the franchise, among many others, as well. This may be Splashteam’s first game, but they’re?? hardly a bunch of amateurs. 

The level design is absolutely outstanding, and there’s always small introductions to mechanics before you’re actually expected to use them. Even in the game’s hub world, you’ll often have to learn some new trick in order to reach the nex??t chapter’s doorway. This new skill will be essential once you get there. There’s no overt tutorials, and the progression feels like a natural evolution of everything you’ve been taught by past experiences.

Splasher (PC, PS4, Switch [reviewed], Xbox One)
Developer: Splashteam
Publisher: Plug In Digital
Released: October 26, 2017
MSRP: $14.99

The main distinguishing feature here is the protagonist’s use of a gun that allows you to shoot water and two types of paint. The pink stuff allows you to stick to walls, ceilings, and floors. The yellow goo turns these same surfaces in??to slimy launching pads that catapult you into the air. The blue liquid, water, is capable of cleaning up the yellow and pink slop as well as dispatching most enemies. These are mapped to the X, Y, and A buttons. 

You will, eventually, have to use all of these skills in tandem while switching liquids at a moment’s notice. Don’t worry though. The game starts you off pretty slowly and gradually eases you into the process. In later levels, there is a good deal of trial and error, and you will die countless deaths, but the game springs you right back into action from the nearest checkpoint. You’re never set back more than 10-15 seconds after any given death. However, every movement ?and action matters in your pursuit of success. You’re dodging saw blades and acid pits when jumping between small platforms as well as making sure that you are shooting the right liquid before you land. ??One wrong move and your ass is grass.

It can be frustrating at times, but it’s always your fault when you die. Anyone familiar with Super Meat Boy’s dark worlds will feel right at home here. Honestly, I wish Splasher had taken things a bit further in its difficulty. The last two levels start to approach the intensity of Meat Boy’s final chapters but never quite reaches the same demanding precision required. As a result, howe??ver, this is a great en?try point for newcomers to the twitch platforming genre. It’s all very accessible, but there's still plenty here to entice folks looking for a decent challenge.

Once you complete the standard story mode, if you’re anything like me, you’ll probably find yourself wanting to go back and pick up any of the missed collectibles throughout each level. Although, if you’re looking for something a bit more challenging, the game offers two forms of speedrunning modes as well. One is the standard where you play through each course normally while attempting to gather collectibles and beat your best time. The other, titled Selfish Speedrun, is completely stripped of extras with the sole goal of finishing as quickly as possible. Both of these are fantastic additions. There are even online leaderboards for each level, where you can compete against your friends and strangers. I’ve never been much for this sort of thing, but Splasher makes a great argument for how much fun they can ??be. The whole game was built from the ground up with speedrunning in mind, and it really shows just how mechanically sound and memorable each level is when you’re tearing through them at top speed.

Then, of course, there’s the soundtrack. The damn thing is just wonderful. I can’t stress this enough. One of my biggest gripes with the newest release of Super Meat Boy is the altered soundtrack. It just doesn’t have the same amount of life as the original Xbox 360 release. Luckily, this game gets it fucking right. There were times that I just wanted to set my console down and indulge in impromptu, solo dance sessions, and I’m not ashamed to admit that eventually? happened. It’s enjoyable enough at first, but I grew attached to it by the time I completed my playthrough.

While I do wish that there was a bit more of it, what’s here is phenomenal. This is a game I’ll definitely be revisiting for the foreseeable future. It manages to take a grab bag of various mechanics, lifted from its influences, and turn them into something totally fresh and unique. Splashteam knocked it out of the goddamn park with this one, and it’s absolutely criminal that I never got around to playing it on other consoles before this. This is an essential release for genre fans and a great introduction for newcomers. The Switch may be jam-packed with quality eShop titles right now, but Splasher is genuinely something special. ?It would be a shame to see it lost in the crowd.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Splasher appeared first on Destructoid.

Is this a triple/quadruple dip situation for you?

Team Meat is still trucking along even if it doesn't have all of its same founding members, and that naturally includes more ports of Super Meat Boy.

By way of Twitter, the company announced that the platforming classic would hit Switch later this year by way of the eShop, but they'll also be dabbling in a physical release (just like Isaac) sometime next year. It's not set in stone as the phrase "likely" was involved, but at the ve?ry least it probably won't come this year.

I think the portability of the Switch is enticing me to pick up a lot of indie ports that don't otherwise arrive on the 3DS. While I wouldn't necessarily double-dip fo??r an identical PS4/Xbox One version, I like the power to take the Switch on the go and pop out the Joy-Con for multiplayer with my wife whenever I feel like it.

Team Meat [Twitter]

The post Super Meat Boy hits Swi?tch dig??itally this year, physically next year appeared first on Destructoid.

Only Meat Boy is forever

The story behind Super Meat Boy was a real underdog tale. Creators Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes h??ad immense pressure to make the game a success and weren't given much help from the likes of Microsoft on promoting the gam??e. Due to extremely positive word of mouth, the game ended up being a success and set the indie game craze into motion.

You'd think such an experience would bond friends together for life, but apparently that isn't the case. For some reason, McMillen and Refenes parted ways sometime after the cancellation of Mewgenics. This past weekend, Eurogamer interviewed Refenes on the upcoming Super Meat Boy Forever and finally got some answers as to why?? th??e duo separated.

As Tommy puts it:

It's one of those things. It was a giant part of my life but people gr?ow, people change, your views on things change. And unfortunately sometimes people just grow in different directions. It's a natural thing. It's something you could sit and be angry about but it doesn't get you anywhere...

The way I feel is similar in that I'm happy as hell to be working on Super Meat Boy Forever and as far as work happiness goes, I'm right back where I was during the non-stressful parts of Super Meat Boy development back in 2??009-2010. I'm not happy about the loss of a partner, I'm happy that everything feels fresh new and important again. I love seeing people react to things I've created and I haven't felt that in a long time.

I don't regret anything - even the things I think I would change, I don't regret, because I'm way?? happier. I can't speak for anyone?? else, but I know I am.

Honestly, it's just people grow in?? different directions. I think stu?ff's going pretty well for both of us - and ultimately that's good for everybody. More games are good.

While that is sad to hear, it is a very reasonable explanation. I doubt there was any kind of drama or anger behind the scenes. Edmund started to gain traction on his own through The Binding of Isaac and probably dedicated more time to that game than any Team Meat? productions. It makes sense and it's? pointless to hold a grudge when someone is just trying to make a living. All we can do is accept this and move on.

Super Meat Boy Forever and the return of Team Meat [Eurogamer]

The post Team Meat’s Tommy Refenes explains the duo’s split appeared first on Destructoid.

They had a baby!

Super Meat Boy Forever lives!

Originally announced years ago as an auto-run platformer for? PC and tablets, it has resurfaced and is now planned for Steam, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android in 2018.

"To describe [the game] as an auto-runner would be a disservice," says Team Meat. "It's like saying that Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a game about a swordsman. Meat Boy / Bandage Girl do always run, but there is so much more to the game than running. They can attack enemies, they can dash through the air, there are tons of levels, there are bosses, there are secrets, and there is a surprising amount of difficulty that doesn’t feel unfair. It's everything you would expect a Super Meat Boy sequel to be."

Nugget is all that's good in this world. I'm already emoti?onally invested.

Another note: "Levels are dynamically constructed based on difficulty. Each time you beat a level, it reconstructs into a harder version of itself (up to a point...we aren't gods)." Super Meat Boy Forever has a "system that allows us to give a criteria of difficulty and pacing that makes the levels ??randomly, but still within the confines of what we want the levels to be presented as," according to Team Meat.

I'm looking forward to attempting to overco?me the ridiculous challenges that await.

The post Super Meat Boy Forever is a ‘true sequel’ due out in 2018 appeared first on Destructoid.

I've lost all my muscle memory for this game

As if that image didn't make it clear enough, Super Meat Boy is coming to Nintendo Switch. There aren't any?? pricing or release details circulating yet, but there it i?s. It's confirmed!

Oh by the way... pic.twitter.com/Wfg1diDSTa

— Team Meat (@SuperMeatBoy) August 9, 2017

In a follow-up tweet, Team Meat made it clear this is in fact Super Meat Boy, not Super Meat Boy Forever (we've heard rumblings about the latter game finally releasing, possibly for Nintendo Switch). The Twitter account is also running a poll regarding a p??otential physical version by way of Nicalis.

With or without the original soundtrack, I'm liable to buy this game again. It??'s been to??o dang long.

The post Are you down to play Super Meat B??oy again on Nintendo Switch? appeared first on Destructoid.

Team Meat has hinted at it multiple times

Super Meat Boy Forever was unveiled in 2014, but we're getting closer to a release. A release that may involve the Switch actually, as developer Team Meat has hinted multiple times that they're all in on the system, and that when they announce platforms "soon," that Switch fans "won't be disappointed." Edmund McMillen's latest project, The End is Nigh, is also Switch-bound, and Forever just got a new logo and will be at PAX to boot -- so they've been busy.

As you might have guessed (if you weren't aware already), the Forever in the name indicates that it's an endless runner, but Team Meat's crew has vowed multiple times that it's not as shallow as a lot of other mobile titles. There's lots of examples of that already (Jetpack Joyride for one), but I'm still in wait and see mode for this on??e.

End is Nigh though? I'll be there instantly.

Team Meat [Twitter]

The post Super Meat Boy Forever ??is likely coming to the Switch appeared first on Destructoid.

Save 49% on this Food & Wine Magazine favorite

What does meat have to do with videogames, you say? Oh, c'mon. Surely you've whipped a cinder block or two in your childhood that somehow prod??uced an ener?gy-filling pork chop. If heroes of old haven't protein-reinforced your walls and you're still going to the store to find good meat at full price, well then you’re not living the dream. Sit on the couch and magically teleport the meat party directly to you through the wonders of the Internet. That’s exactly what ButcherBox does: They deliver chunks of high-quality meat right to your door. Want in? I’ve gotten Butcher Box to stock the Destructoid Store full of meat, and they’ve knocked down the price by?? up to 49%.

Get your high-quality protein on with four mark??ed-dow??n options:

- Chicken and Pork Box: Includes bacon (10 oz), organi??c, free-range chicken breasts (1.25 lb), thighs (1.25 lb) & pork chops (?two 8 oz chops), and a $20 credit toward an additional subscription

- Steak, Chops, and Chicken Box: Includes bacon (10 oz), organic, free-range chicken breasts (1.25 lb), pork chops (two 8 oz chops), ribeye st??eak (two 10 oz steaks, NY strips (two 10 oz steaks) & top sirloin steaks (four 5 oz steaks),  and a $20 credit toward an additional subscription box

- Beef and Pork Box: Includes bacon (10 oz), ?ground beef (2 lb), sirloin tips (1 lb), top sirloin steaks (four 5 oz steaks), pork chops (two 8 oz chops), and a $20 credit towar??d an additional subscription box

- One-month Subscription: Your choice of the All Beef Box, the Beef, Pork & Chicken Box, the Beef & Pork Box, or the Beef & Chicken Box (8.5 l?b of meat i??n each box).

It's grass-feed beef, definitely worth trying. All of ButcherBox’s meat is humanely raised, antibiotic-free, hormone-free, toxin-free, and ridiculously delicious. (Plus free shipping, btw). Meat is fl??ash-frozen at the peak of freshness, packed with dry ice, and delivered within 2-5 days of your order, so it’s super fresh when it gets to you.  Santa stocking full of sirloin, anyone? Yesss ... b?ut maybe not near the fireplace.

Alright, stop drooling and go order your meat

The post Deals blog: Meat. Delivered to your door appeared first on Destructoid.

Key to eternal life

Edmund McMillen's (the man behind Super Meat Boy and The Binding of Issac) new game has finally been given a name. While many expected Time Fcuk 2, it turns out we were all wrong. Tyler Glaiel, one of the programmers of this new game,?? tweeted out a logo that confirms the name.

I'm a little sad we didn't get a Time Fcuk 2: Electric Boogaloo, I like any news related to Edmund McMillen. I've enjoyed basically everything he's made (except for Gish) and I have no doubt that Ouroboros will be awesome.

Tyler Glaiel [Twitter]

The post New Edmund McMillen game gets a name appeared first on Destructoid.

'Meat's meat, and a man's gotta eat'

_{[Art by Pacalin]}

While the original launch build of Super Meat Boy for WiiWare was killed before it was born, the titular character still managed to make a few appearances on Nintendo consoles in the years that f?ollowed.

He appears in a cut scene in Bit.Trip Runner, as a power up in Bit.Trip Fate, and as a playable character in Retro City Rampage. His arch nemesis Dr. Fetus even popped up in some DLC for Bit.Trip Presents Runner 2. Though these cameos may have helped Nintendo fans to learn about Meat Boy, many who don't spend much time with non-Nintendo platforms might not know first hand what makes him special. They'll have their chance to find out on May 12, when Super Meat Boy launches on the Wii U for a special two-week sale price of $14.

I've been playing the game for a future Nintendo Force review, and though I loved it the first time, I'm still shocked by how much I still love it. When our own Mike Cosimano announced that he thought we gave the game too much credit the first time around, i??t occurred to me that maybe I was wrong fo?r seeing it as a work of genius back in 2010.

Thankfully, that hasn't turned out to be the case. If anything, I think I love Super Meat Boy even more now than I did then. While I wish Team Meat was able to add some of the Nintendo-specific content it had originally planned, and I miss DannyB's original score (particularly this track), the new music works well in? its own right, utilizing live instruments to evoke a more organic feel than ?Danny's largely synth soundtrack.

I also don't think I fully appreciated how tightly fine-tuned Super Meat Boy's difficulty scaling is until now. Depending on how you decide to approach the game, you could either have an exciting but relatively breezy time, a white-knuckle, molar-cracking?, buckaroo daredevil ride of your life, or anything in between. I also love having the option to play on the Wii U GamePad. Being able to hold the screen right up to my face in order to inspect every pixel before trying to make a perfect jump is a real treat for a platformer over-thinker?? such as myself. 

According to a press release from Team Meat and port-smiths at Blitworks, the Wii U may not be the only Nintendo platform to play host to this fleshy little fella's adventures. Now that the game is on PC, Mac, Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo platforms, they??'ve teased that "...only the 3DS will be missing, but maybe not for too long. Gotta catch them all!" 

The post Super Meat Boy s??tays fresh on Wii U, teased?? for 3DS appeared first on Destructoid.