Even after checking out multiple variations of the first world, I can't say how the levels are remixed from save to save, but puzzles and pathways flow from one area to another without seams. The precise pathing and tight puzzles feel all the more impressive when you take into account that the levels are procedurally generated on a playthrough-by-playthrough basis. Every enemy and many of the traps feature some kind of "close a door, open a window" set of mechanics that encourage adaptation and make every hop feel like a calculated decision. Since punching an enemy launches you forward and landing a punch resets the attack, the ghosts allow you to leap across long gaps or bypass traps. The ghosts are a problem-you can't jump past one if you don't hit it-but they also create opportunity. For example, in the hospital you'll find ghosts, which you'll need to punch mid-jump three times, often consecutively. Many levels have sections where you'll need to jump back off a wall and double back within a room to find your way through the nightmare maze in front of you.įorever’s worlds feature familiar themes, like a clear-cut forest and a broken-down hospital, each world has its own unique quirks-enemies and obstacles that add new complications to your path. (Luckily, Forever only needs a second to reload after each death.) Make no mistake: Though levels generally operate from left to right, the path is not always straight through. More complex combinations of obstacles feel like puzzles and, unlike in Super Meat Boy, you now have to solve them on the fly. Forcing you to move and react at the game's pace rather than your own makes hopping simple gaps and traps requires precise timing. You don't need to push an analog stick to the right, but somehow that seems to make every little bit of the game less forgiving. Exploring and internalizing your controls so that they're second nature is a telltale sign of mastery in most platformers, but it's a prerequisite in Forever. It is not enough to press the right button at the right time you have to be able to feel how far you're going to jump based on how long you press. Punching in mid-air extends your jump, and landing a punch in the air lets you do it again. You have to slide to hit enemies without jumping. Holding down the button will get you different sized jumps. Even though you control all three moves with just one button and the left analog stick, there is incredible nuance to each one. Though automated movement theoretically seems like it would make the platforming less satisfying, since you aren't in complete control, Forever's challenge is just as captivating.įorever's finely tuned controls give you precise control and a wide range of motion even with only a couple of inputs. Despite those changes, Forever still retains the essence of Super Meat Boy. By necessity, the levels take on longer, more horizontally oriented shapes to accommodate the new system. Meat Boy or Bandage Girl constantly runs forward, and you simply control when they jump, slide, or punch. At the same time, it's a very different game. Following in the original Super Meat Boy's footsteps, Forever lays out levels sprinkled with bottomless pits and buzzsaws that require quick thinking and quicker reflexes to escape. The cutscenes are thus an entertaining reward for hard-earned progress. (You can play as either one from the very beginning.) The story has no material effect on your gameplay, but the short cartoon cutscenes find ways to grab your attention all the same with a webtoony out-of-left-field story chock-full of references to video game canon, adorable woodland creatures, cuddly animals, and the adorable little Nugget, who often proves too adorable for even her captor to ignore. In Forever, Nugget is kidnapped, so Meat Boy and Bandage Girl go after her. Meat Boy and Bandage Girl, whom he saved in the original, have settled down and had a baby, Nugget. Like in the real world, time has passed in the Meat Boy universe. The runner format is different, but it opens the door for new and interesting types of complex puzzles that spawn new, captivating varieties of spectacular yell-and-throw-your-controller platforming. Though the jumps may be challenging, Forever's incredibly precise controls give you all the tools you need to stick the landing. Super Meat Boy Forever will kick you in the teeth and expect you to stand back up, flash a bloody grin, and go after it again. And despite putting you on a treadmill, its levels demand incredible nuance and precision, which you'll hone through failure after failure after failure. It's a runner, so you have to time your jumps and don't have the liberty of setting yourself up perfectly before taking on a puzzle. Every aspect of Super Meat Boy Forever is frustrating in some way or another.
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