ZeusDeeGoose's 1 Year + 50 Follower Celebration, hope you enjoy the review!
On April 27th, 2023, a young and scrappy little spirit named “zeusdeegoose” would enter the realm dubbed Backloggd. Hot off the trails of a game that infuriated him to no end, he started to write. The words echoed in his mind. “Ragequit on World 3 Boss. There was much frustration during my time with the game and as a whole, it leaves a lot to be desired.” This would become the start of something greater, and spiraled into nearly a hundred reviews spanning across several games. Life was simple for him, and he was happy. This was until a fateful day. On February 22nd, he was reminded of his not so distant past. It haunted him to no avail, but he knew what he had to do. So, he started to write. And write, and write, and write. With his demons finally sealed off, he now rests knowing well that the task has been completed. What was on this pact? You shall find out, soon enough.
If you didn't know, Super Meat Boy was the indie darling from Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes, and Danny Baranowsky, who did the music. It was supposed to be a one-and-done platformer, with McMillen and Refenes have stated that a sequel was unlikely, at least until 2015, where they said that it could happen eventually, after Forever released. At GDC 2011, Tommy began prototyping for what would become Super Meat Boy Forever. And thus, started the 9 year long agony. Damny left in around 2015, and Edmund eventually left in 2017, leaving only Tommy. Development was essentially reset, with a new goal in mind. This time, however, Forever was bulked up to be the sequel to Super Meat Boy that EVERYONE was waiting for. And after numerous delays, Forever was finally released on December 23rd, 2020… to no avail. Critics gave a lukewarm reception to the game. There were some 9/10s, a concerning amount of 8/10’s, but a majority of critics were in the yellow on this game. Meanwhile, the Meat Boy fans who’ve been waiting for 9 fucking years with no game were understandably pretty pissed off. But they weren't just upset. They were FLABBERGASTED at how bad the game actually was. I was genuinely curious. Could this game be that horrendous? I wanted to buy it, but due to the Epic Games deal, I held off on it until 2023, where I finished Super Meat Boy, and then I bought Forever almost immediately afterwards. My feelings were almost entirely negative, and after a while, I straight up refunded the game. With no regrets, I moved on to other, better games. And that brings us to today. Where it was free on Epic Games for a week (Fuck Fallout ig). And, as a celebration for gaining over 50 followers on this site, and as well as being the first game I ever logged here, I guess there’s no better time to FINALLY re-review Super Meat Boy Forever. SO, after a long period of waiting, Super Meat Boy Forever is finally getting the long ass review treatment it deserves. Let’s-a-go.
Right off the bat, I do have a few compliments before we get into the absolute slaughterhouse that is this game. First off, the presentation and music of the game is actually pretty decent. A minor issue I had with Super Meat Boy is that while the art was good, the game didn’t have a very punchy style. Super Meat Boy Forever fixes this. Each asset has a clearly defined outline, making it easier to distinguish different things from another. It doesn’t look as good as the prototype, which had Edmund’s art style as Newgrounds-y as ever, but what are you going to do, I guess. The main menu is fucking intense, too. Solid music, neat animations, it’s great. On that note, the music is mostly alright. Solid beat, okay instrumentation. I think my favorite one has to be World 3 Light, overall. Once again, it can’t top Danny B, but I can’t see how you could replicate that original style. On the gameplay side of things, I really love the idea of the fist punch. Had this game not’ve been an autorunner, I’m sure it would’ve been a solid addition to platforming.
Aaaaaand this is the reason why Super Meat Boy Forever is so hated within the community. The auto-running mechanic is where nearly all of the faults of this game lie within, and I wish I was joking. Super Meat Boy Forever is the first game that has made me simultaneously bored and frustrated. The auto-running, straight to the point, completely hinders what the original game tries to do, and this would not be a problem for a little spin-off game, but when you blow it up to a goddamn sequel it just doesn't work. Comparing the controls of Super Meat Boy compared to Forever is like comparing a huge mansion to an apartment. In Super Meat Boy, you had a large degree of control, and it felt almost perfect. Sure, you stopped oddly fast, and some say it might be too fast, but simply seeing how far you can stretch the game's controls to do what you wanted was a massive appeal of the first game. Quite literally, in fact, because of the “Quantum Mario” replays system, encouraging speedrunning. So comparing it to Super Meat Boy Forever really shows how flawed this game is from the start. In Super Meat Boy, you could always take levels at your own pace. If you died, it was no issue. You respawn, and try again until you won. In Forever, you're constantly moving and it just gets annoying. Overshot your jump ever so slightly and want to correct it? TOO BAD, FUCK YOU. This issue permeates throughout the entire game and it just feels frustrating each time it happens. It's simply impossible to correct yourself, and while this wouldn't be an issue if the level design was factored with this in mind, it often expects you to be able to do some pretty damn tight platforming, combined with the fact that it forces you to deliberately fight against the main point of the game, the auto-running. What do you have to assist you in these masterfully crafted levels? A punch and a dive kick. Admittedly the punch is somewhat satisfying to use, but it feels pretty imprecise when it comes to platforming. The hitbox could be just a little bigger, I guess? And then you have the dive kick, which isn't used much at all. Now, the second biggest issue with the game. The motherfucking level design. Not only did I mention why the controls suck ass to begin with, this is compounded with the very, very poor level design. Combined with the aforementioned issues with the controls, the level design doesn't feel built around them. Each death that I had never felt genuine. Compared to other contemporary platformers like Celeste and the like, 99% of the deaths I had felt like I had to memorize the level just to succeed, when it was unclear to begin with on what to do. Some levels I even found straight up impossible, as far as I know. It's even hard to pick out a specific level, because all of them felt like I was just going through the motions. No rhyme nor reason, they just were. In the original game, I could remember almost every level because they were all distincive and cohesively designed. Not to mention, they were actually fun and tested your skills. Super Meat Boy Forever on the other hand, shows you one gimmick and just keeps milking it, without any fun behind it. It feels like a generic Mario Maker level with how everything was laid out. Yeah, the original had gimmicks, but they were mostly well designed and all distinctive from one another, not to mention they added to the platforming challenge in a genuine way.. Forever just feels so limited in comparison. Like, change the direction of my punch, slow motion, it's all just so bland. Not to mention some of these are literally copy pasted. The weird, translucent spikes that put you on a timer? Yeah, how about gas that does the same thing? The levels are also ridiculously long, too. Super Meat Boy was a very fast paced game. Most levels were less than 30 seconds to exacerbate the speed of the game, and they were also very replayable, with the speedrun community thriving to this day. Forever’s levels can take over 5 minutes at times, and by the time I was done with a level, I felt really burnt out. Not to mention, like the original, they have a replay system that absolutely no one would use? It's supposed to be for speedruns and whatnot, but… it's a randomly generated autorunner. How do you even compare times at that point? It would be up to Lady Luck. And also, speedrunning sucks btw. It's just “spam punch, dive” over and over again, and it just hurts your wrist at some point. Oh yeah, did I neglect to mention the quite literally randomly generated level design? Yeah, I'm not kidding. When you create a new save, you get to choose the seed which bases your levels on. It's a concept I'm somewhat mixed on, because the levels I did get between seperate saves felt completely different, but at the same time, randomized levels weren't necessary and contributed to a poor difficulty curve. It's a relatively small point, but one you can decide if it's bad or not. What isn't randomly generated is the bosses, and just like Super Meat Boy, it is still my low point of the game. Unlike Super Meat Boy, however, Forever's bosses are just straight up awful. It once again runs into the issues that come with the auto-running genre. A lot of these bosses will make you want to snap your controller in two. They require so many do-or-die scenarios that they feel like luck half of the time. Once a, Super Meat Boy exemplified the core elements of the game, by requiring good platforming skills, which is all but absent in Forever. In Forever, the average boss goes like this. Take down it's shield. Do damage to boss, but not too much, lest you die to the boss’s shield. Rinse and repeat and it’s just not fun. This was my ultimate breaking point with the game. I got to the final boss, I had zero idea what to do, so I straight up uninstalled the game. I was DONE. I didn’t feel like playing anymore because it was an utter waste of my time. I have so many games I have to play on Epic, but this? Nah.
This game feels like it wants to be the genre defining game that Super Meat Boy once was, but in the end, forms a soulless husk of what Meat Boy once was. This is what happens when you blow a simple phone game up to the size of a full blown sequel. And I know I’ve been comparing it a lot to Super Meat Boy, and it’s unfair I guess, considering how good it was, but even detached from Super Meat Boy, Forever remains as a largely unenjoyable experience. Unfortunately, we’ll never know if a true sequel will ever be made, because Tommy has stated that a return to the platforming goodness of the original was unlikely. And until then, that’s how it’s gonna stay for the end of time.
I want to thank everybody for the constant support over the last year. I’ve had a lot of fun writing these overtly long reviews, and I hope you’ve had just as much fun reading them. Here’s to another year of long ass game reviews, have yourself a good one, and take care!
On April 27th, 2023, a young and scrappy little spirit named “zeusdeegoose” would enter the realm dubbed Backloggd. Hot off the trails of a game that infuriated him to no end, he started to write. The words echoed in his mind. “Ragequit on World 3 Boss. There was much frustration during my time with the game and as a whole, it leaves a lot to be desired.” This would become the start of something greater, and spiraled into nearly a hundred reviews spanning across several games. Life was simple for him, and he was happy. This was until a fateful day. On February 22nd, he was reminded of his not so distant past. It haunted him to no avail, but he knew what he had to do. So, he started to write. And write, and write, and write. With his demons finally sealed off, he now rests knowing well that the task has been completed. What was on this pact? You shall find out, soon enough.
If you didn't know, Super Meat Boy was the indie darling from Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes, and Danny Baranowsky, who did the music. It was supposed to be a one-and-done platformer, with McMillen and Refenes have stated that a sequel was unlikely, at least until 2015, where they said that it could happen eventually, after Forever released. At GDC 2011, Tommy began prototyping for what would become Super Meat Boy Forever. And thus, started the 9 year long agony. Damny left in around 2015, and Edmund eventually left in 2017, leaving only Tommy. Development was essentially reset, with a new goal in mind. This time, however, Forever was bulked up to be the sequel to Super Meat Boy that EVERYONE was waiting for. And after numerous delays, Forever was finally released on December 23rd, 2020… to no avail. Critics gave a lukewarm reception to the game. There were some 9/10s, a concerning amount of 8/10’s, but a majority of critics were in the yellow on this game. Meanwhile, the Meat Boy fans who’ve been waiting for 9 fucking years with no game were understandably pretty pissed off. But they weren't just upset. They were FLABBERGASTED at how bad the game actually was. I was genuinely curious. Could this game be that horrendous? I wanted to buy it, but due to the Epic Games deal, I held off on it until 2023, where I finished Super Meat Boy, and then I bought Forever almost immediately afterwards. My feelings were almost entirely negative, and after a while, I straight up refunded the game. With no regrets, I moved on to other, better games. And that brings us to today. Where it was free on Epic Games for a week (Fuck Fallout ig). And, as a celebration for gaining over 50 followers on this site, and as well as being the first game I ever logged here, I guess there’s no better time to FINALLY re-review Super Meat Boy Forever. SO, after a long period of waiting, Super Meat Boy Forever is finally getting the long ass review treatment it deserves. Let’s-a-go.
Right off the bat, I do have a few compliments before we get into the absolute slaughterhouse that is this game. First off, the presentation and music of the game is actually pretty decent. A minor issue I had with Super Meat Boy is that while the art was good, the game didn’t have a very punchy style. Super Meat Boy Forever fixes this. Each asset has a clearly defined outline, making it easier to distinguish different things from another. It doesn’t look as good as the prototype, which had Edmund’s art style as Newgrounds-y as ever, but what are you going to do, I guess. The main menu is fucking intense, too. Solid music, neat animations, it’s great. On that note, the music is mostly alright. Solid beat, okay instrumentation. I think my favorite one has to be World 3 Light, overall. Once again, it can’t top Danny B, but I can’t see how you could replicate that original style. On the gameplay side of things, I really love the idea of the fist punch. Had this game not’ve been an autorunner, I’m sure it would’ve been a solid addition to platforming.
Aaaaaand this is the reason why Super Meat Boy Forever is so hated within the community. The auto-running mechanic is where nearly all of the faults of this game lie within, and I wish I was joking. Super Meat Boy Forever is the first game that has made me simultaneously bored and frustrated. The auto-running, straight to the point, completely hinders what the original game tries to do, and this would not be a problem for a little spin-off game, but when you blow it up to a goddamn sequel it just doesn't work. Comparing the controls of Super Meat Boy compared to Forever is like comparing a huge mansion to an apartment. In Super Meat Boy, you had a large degree of control, and it felt almost perfect. Sure, you stopped oddly fast, and some say it might be too fast, but simply seeing how far you can stretch the game's controls to do what you wanted was a massive appeal of the first game. Quite literally, in fact, because of the “Quantum Mario” replays system, encouraging speedrunning. So comparing it to Super Meat Boy Forever really shows how flawed this game is from the start. In Super Meat Boy, you could always take levels at your own pace. If you died, it was no issue. You respawn, and try again until you won. In Forever, you're constantly moving and it just gets annoying. Overshot your jump ever so slightly and want to correct it? TOO BAD, FUCK YOU. This issue permeates throughout the entire game and it just feels frustrating each time it happens. It's simply impossible to correct yourself, and while this wouldn't be an issue if the level design was factored with this in mind, it often expects you to be able to do some pretty damn tight platforming, combined with the fact that it forces you to deliberately fight against the main point of the game, the auto-running. What do you have to assist you in these masterfully crafted levels? A punch and a dive kick. Admittedly the punch is somewhat satisfying to use, but it feels pretty imprecise when it comes to platforming. The hitbox could be just a little bigger, I guess? And then you have the dive kick, which isn't used much at all. Now, the second biggest issue with the game. The motherfucking level design. Not only did I mention why the controls suck ass to begin with, this is compounded with the very, very poor level design. Combined with the aforementioned issues with the controls, the level design doesn't feel built around them. Each death that I had never felt genuine. Compared to other contemporary platformers like Celeste and the like, 99% of the deaths I had felt like I had to memorize the level just to succeed, when it was unclear to begin with on what to do. Some levels I even found straight up impossible, as far as I know. It's even hard to pick out a specific level, because all of them felt like I was just going through the motions. No rhyme nor reason, they just were. In the original game, I could remember almost every level because they were all distincive and cohesively designed. Not to mention, they were actually fun and tested your skills. Super Meat Boy Forever on the other hand, shows you one gimmick and just keeps milking it, without any fun behind it. It feels like a generic Mario Maker level with how everything was laid out. Yeah, the original had gimmicks, but they were mostly well designed and all distinctive from one another, not to mention they added to the platforming challenge in a genuine way.. Forever just feels so limited in comparison. Like, change the direction of my punch, slow motion, it's all just so bland. Not to mention some of these are literally copy pasted. The weird, translucent spikes that put you on a timer? Yeah, how about gas that does the same thing? The levels are also ridiculously long, too. Super Meat Boy was a very fast paced game. Most levels were less than 30 seconds to exacerbate the speed of the game, and they were also very replayable, with the speedrun community thriving to this day. Forever’s levels can take over 5 minutes at times, and by the time I was done with a level, I felt really burnt out. Not to mention, like the original, they have a replay system that absolutely no one would use? It's supposed to be for speedruns and whatnot, but… it's a randomly generated autorunner. How do you even compare times at that point? It would be up to Lady Luck. And also, speedrunning sucks btw. It's just “spam punch, dive” over and over again, and it just hurts your wrist at some point. Oh yeah, did I neglect to mention the quite literally randomly generated level design? Yeah, I'm not kidding. When you create a new save, you get to choose the seed which bases your levels on. It's a concept I'm somewhat mixed on, because the levels I did get between seperate saves felt completely different, but at the same time, randomized levels weren't necessary and contributed to a poor difficulty curve. It's a relatively small point, but one you can decide if it's bad or not. What isn't randomly generated is the bosses, and just like Super Meat Boy, it is still my low point of the game. Unlike Super Meat Boy, however, Forever's bosses are just straight up awful. It once again runs into the issues that come with the auto-running genre. A lot of these bosses will make you want to snap your controller in two. They require so many do-or-die scenarios that they feel like luck half of the time. Once a, Super Meat Boy exemplified the core elements of the game, by requiring good platforming skills, which is all but absent in Forever. In Forever, the average boss goes like this. Take down it's shield. Do damage to boss, but not too much, lest you die to the boss’s shield. Rinse and repeat and it’s just not fun. This was my ultimate breaking point with the game. I got to the final boss, I had zero idea what to do, so I straight up uninstalled the game. I was DONE. I didn’t feel like playing anymore because it was an utter waste of my time. I have so many games I have to play on Epic, but this? Nah.
This game feels like it wants to be the genre defining game that Super Meat Boy once was, but in the end, forms a soulless husk of what Meat Boy once was. This is what happens when you blow a simple phone game up to the size of a full blown sequel. And I know I’ve been comparing it a lot to Super Meat Boy, and it’s unfair I guess, considering how good it was, but even detached from Super Meat Boy, Forever remains as a largely unenjoyable experience. Unfortunately, we’ll never know if a true sequel will ever be made, because Tommy has stated that a return to the platforming goodness of the original was unlikely. And until then, that’s how it’s gonna stay for the end of time.
I want to thank everybody for the constant support over the last year. I’ve had a lot of fun writing these overtly long reviews, and I hope you’ve had just as much fun reading them. Here’s to another year of long ass game reviews, have yourself a good one, and take care!
3 Comments
Tysm, your reviews inspire greatness as well!
This is a good ass review, next time you have a yap session I will be there no matter what 🫡
Yuzrnaime
3 months ago