Wait...did I say "interesting?" My mistake. What I meant to say was, "quite possibly the most sadistic a game can be without being I Wanna Be The Guy." Not sure how I managed to mix up those two things.
The story is quite simple. You control Meat Boy, a speedy little block of meat with arms, legs and a face. Meat Boy's girlfriend Bandage Girl (made of bandages. Don't ask, I have no bloody clue where that came from.) has been kidnapped by the evil Dr. Fetus (a fetus in a jar attached to a robot body. Also has an awesome monocle. Again, don't ask.) The goal is to navigate the hazards of each level and reach Bandage Girl, after which she is promptly kidnapped again.
As I said, a simple storyline. This is forgivable in the case of SMB, as the main focus of the game is in the challenge, and it does not disappoint in that regard. At all.
The thing that keeps Super Meat Boy from becoming I Wanna Be The Guy is that it's actually fair. It gives you a chance to get through each level on the first try, and there will be some that you do. It has no tricks up its sleeve, and none of your deaths will come out of nowhere. The level itself is not going to suddenly decide you need to die inches from the goal. The path is almost always as straightforward as it gets, and all the obstacles are so obvious they may as well be neon-lit. (Tip: If something other than a platform is moving, don't touch it.)
Yet, you will die.
Many. Many. Many. MANY times.
You will jump over that 1-block wide safe platform and into the saws surrounding it 50 times.
Once you master landing on that platform, you will fall short of the next one 100 times, and mess up the first one another 20 times.
Despite all of this, you will feel a surprising lack of urge to throw anything out the nearest window. That's because every single time you die, it will be YOUR OWN FAULT and not the game being a jerk. This is what makes a difficult game actually be fun, rather than draw comparisons to something people are forced to play in a special level of Hell.
At the end of each world is a boss. The basic goal of any given boss level boils down to "STAY ALIVE AND THE BOSS WILL KILL ITSELF," but each one still manages to be unique and present a different sort of challenge. For example, the first boss chases you through a simple obstacle course, while the second boss is a vertical obstacle course with the boss swimming around beneath you and jumping up occasionally while you collect keys to outrun the rising "water." Similar in most respects if you devote a lot of thought to it, but still different enough to be interesting.
And while we're on that subject, even the levels themselves continue adding new challenges as you progress in the game. It never stops, so you constantly have to adapt your strategy, and, most importantly, IT KEEPS THE GAME INTERESTING. You actually have a reason to keep going on besides saying, "I beat Super Meat Boy." What new terrors does the next world hold? Flying saw blades? Meat-seeking missiles? You haven't seen it all until you've beaten. Every. Level.
Oh, and if you get an A+ on a level by beating a certain time, you unlock the Dark World version of that level. It's the same level, but harder. A lot harder. The addition of one saw can turn the easiest level into a nightmare. These Dark World levels also count toward your completion percentage, so if you want 100% you better either get really good, or be extremely patient.
And sometimes, completing the level itself is the easy part. You see, there are also collectible bandages in some of them. You might finish a level in 5 seconds, but you will die hundreds of times trying to get that one bandage.
"Why bother?" You might ask. Well, there are also other playable characters you can unlock by collecting enough of these bandages. These characters have special abilities, and are from other "indie" games. (Although there is also the Headcrab from the Half Life series who has the extremely useful ability to stick to walls, but is considerably lacking in speed).
More characters can be unlocked by finding the hidden WAAAAARP ZOOOOOOOONES (yes, I do feel the need to type it like that. Thank you for asking.) hidden in some levels similar to the bandages. Entering one triggers a short scene introducing the character you will be attempting to unlock, before giving you 2 or 3 levels to complete by using them. Complete these levels, and you can use the character in the main game. (FYI, unlocking The Kid from IWBTG is a BITCH. Spikes. Spikes everywhere.)
Other WAAAAARP ZOOOOOONES simply contain extra levels rendered in various retro game styles. So far, I've encountered SNES style, original Gameboy style, and Atari style. Although unrelated to the story, these levels often contain more hidden bandages, and offer another layer of challenges for those with a compulsory need to get 100% completion.
It's extremely difficult without being unfair, the characters are bizarre, the cutscenes are amusing, and the game overall is just plain fun to play.
I can think of no reason not to give it a 10/10
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