Super Meat Boy
A fast, punishing platformer starring a boy made of meat.
Where Super Meat Boy comes up2 episodes and tests
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit, interviewing the co-creators of Celeste testWhy Does Celeste Feel So Good to Play?
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testHow Cuphead's Bosses (Try to) Kill YouSuper Meat Boy is cited mostly as a cautionary example. Its character accelerates about four times slower than Celeste's Madeline and feels lumbering, and its six-body-height jump feels floaty. Its boss Little Horn repeats identical attacks too fast to react to, so the fight rewards memory over skill. Lesson: tune acceleration and jump height deliberately, and avoid fights that are pure memorisation.
From Platformer game-feel comparison
What was said about Super Meat Boy
Super Meat Boy's long acceleration curve makes him feel lumbering to start. Madeline in Celeste accelerates about four times faster than Meat Boy, who feels lumbering to start. Curves that are too long feel heavy to start and slippery to stop.
Curves that are too short go the other way and feel stiff and robotic, as in Mega Man 11. Mario in Super Mario Bros 3 is cited for ice-like stops. Quote: "Keep them short and the character will feel stiff and robotic".
Meat Boy's six-body-height jump feels floaty rather than precise. He jumps about six body heights, which makes him feel floaty. Madeline in Celeste jumps about three times her height, with a fast rise and fall and enough hang time to line up a landing.
Mario jumps about four body heights, and Yarny in Unravel has a short jump that feels heavy. Meat Boy also slides up walls uncontrollably.
Little Horn is a boss built on pure memorisation. Little Horn does the same attacks in the same order every time. His attacks are too fast to react to on a first try, but need little skill once the pattern is known.
That tips the balance entirely toward memory, so the fight is just learning the order and entering the right commands. Quote: "This guy does the exact same thing every single time".
Why Does Celeste Feel So Good to Play?
Madeline accelerates about four times faster than Meat Boy, who feels lumbering to start. He jumps about six body heights and feels floaty, and he slides up walls uncontrollably.
Super Meat Boy's long acceleration curve makes him feel lumbering to start. Madeline in Celeste accelerates about four times faster than Meat Boy, who feels lumbering to start. Curves that are too long feel heavy to start and slippery to stop.
Curves that are too short go the other way and feel stiff and robotic, as in Mega Man 11. Mario in Super Mario Bros 3 is cited for ice-like stops. Quote: "Keep them short and the character will feel stiff and robotic".
Meat Boy's six-body-height jump feels floaty rather than precise. He jumps about six body heights, which makes him feel floaty. Madeline in Celeste jumps about three times her height, with a fast rise and fall and enough hang time to line up a landing.
Mario jumps about four body heights, and Yarny in Unravel has a short jump that feels heavy. Meat Boy also slides up walls uncontrollably.
How Cuphead's Bosses (Try to) Kill You
Its boss Little Horn does the same attacks every time, so the fight tips entirely toward memory. His attacks are too fast to react to on a first try, and little skill is needed once you know the pattern.
Little Horn is a boss built on pure memorisation. Little Horn does the same attacks in the same order every time. His attacks are too fast to react to on a first try, but need little skill once the pattern is known.
That tips the balance entirely toward memory, so the fight is just learning the order and entering the right commands. Quote: "This guy does the exact same thing every single time".
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