Forget what mom said about playing with your food.

I’ve been contemplating for a while now about writing this review, mainly because of the amount of bad publicity on Kongregate surrounding Meat Boy’s somewhat controversial ending. However, I have come to the decision that such a good game should not be forgotten because of something that should be the decision of the reader and the reader alone, and that my own feelings about the situation should not affect this in any way. So, rather than discuss the moral implications behind the ending, which seems to have dominated discussion about the game on Kongregate, I will review the game itself, and let you make your own mind up about the ending.

It really upsets me that the ending of Meat Boy has become the main topic of discussion, because the game itself truly is a masterpiece of gaming. Meat Boy tells the tale of a seemingly young, meaty looking guy, whose girlfriend Band Aid Girl has been stolen from him by the nefarious Dr. Fetus. It is your job to direct MB through the various levels and help him save his girl. In addition to having some of the most inventive names ever, MB also has some of the most challenging levels you’ll ever play, levels that will leave you in tears of joy when you win, or pounding the wall in anger when you lose. And trust me, there’ll be a lot more of the second than the first.

Don’t look down.

To help progress Meat Boy’s plot, the levels are split into four groups, each group corresponding to another chapter in the story. To be honest, the plot makes little sense and should not be the main focus of your attention, its only real contribution being to change the background image every now and then. The first few levels are pretty easy and will simply allow you to get a feel of the controls, although there are a couple of jokers thrown in there just to turn up the heat a bit. Once you get to Hell (that’s the name of one of the groups), the heat really does turn up (see what I did there), and you’ll need your full concentration to get through. And if you do manage to beat the game, the developer have decided to be kind, and give you ten more expert levels, just to turn up those anger levels even more.

From what I’ve stated so far, you probably got the idea that MB is already an amazing game; but it doesn’t stop there. Like many other games in its genre, MB has added that extra little quirk, just to make it that little bit more challenging. Hidden in every two or so levels is a small pink band, which we can assume has been dropped by Band Aid girl, although given how crazy the plotline is, any explanation for where these bands have come from would seem plausible. Not only do you have to collect these bands, but you have to find which levels they are hidden in, which only adds to the challenge. However, just so you don’t burn out from the stress, if you manage to collect a certain number of bands the developers will reward you with a new character, and given how hard they are to get, the new characters truly are a reward in themselves.

If Meat Boy gets salted it’s all over.

Despite the bad publicity surrounding the controversial ending, Meat Boy truly is a brilliant game. For hardcore flash gamers like myself, it is challenging and addictive. For newcomers looking for a good game to play, it is enjoyable and entertaining. As for the ending – well, I’ll let you make up your own mind about that.

Update: Meat Boy’s original ending proved a little too controversial for the Kongregate community so the developers decided to remove it. They had this to say about the matter:

“Sadly the hot coffee final ending had been censored because a few people were big babies and complained repeatedly to the staff, we are just as upset as you, it was a nice pay off for getting all those band aids.

Anyone wearing their big boy/girl pants can easily do a search on youtube for the ending and see it how it was originally designed.

Sorry guys and gals.

-Team Mic”

Play Meat Boy Here