Super meat boy: level one

I got through the main stages of level 1 – forest, quite easily. Once I got to the boss stage, I found frustration. I gave up for a while. Recently I had another hardcore attempt at beating it. I succeeded but it took me two hours. I found that while earlier I had thought that there is only one solution to each problem. That is, in fact, not the case. There is a swinging saw x 3 construct where you wait for the right time and then you run back and forth, then full on through them, without dying. But in fact you can combine the right time with jumping over the last saw and if you do it this way then you don’t have to be quite so precise about the timing.

I found that there are some tricky bits toward the end of the stage that are not so difficult, it’s just that you have only a second to decide how to approach them and because they are so far towards the end of the stage, you will have experienced these problems very little. Whereas the earlier problems will be by now like second nature. Except that fatigue sets in and you keep making stupid mistakes, which gets you killed repeatedly at the early, easy obstacles.

I find Ed McMillen’s design to be deliciously precise and particular, which may seem a bit formulaic at first, but I think it’s more that he pays attention to structure with this game. It’s not less artful. And I think structure and style, with substance, can make a game like this shine. There is quite obviously attention paid to style – and it’s unique. The substance comes through in the modern approach, the older target audience and the precision and difficulty level of the game’s many and interesting obstacles. Most stylish in this game are the character design, the quirky gore aspect, and the fun, slightly edgy graphics (not quite as edgy as some of McMillen’s earlier works, or even as what came later – The Binding of Isaac.)