Super Meat Boy 3D [REVIEW] – A (Bloody) Brilliant Jump into the Third Dimension 

It has been a while since we first started throwing a squishy red cube of meat into spinning blades and watching the gruesome chaos that ensues, with Meat Boy becoming quite the endearing platforming icon. And now, in his newest release… well… things are looking a little different. Super Meat Boy 3D takes the controller-breaking formula of the original game and chucks it into a fully three-dimensional space, and whilst I thought that translating a famously precise 2D game into 3D sounded like something that wouldn’t work, the developers have managed to pull off a brilliantly smooth transition that feels bloody fantastic to play. 

Check out some screenshots down below: 

The setup of Super Meat Boy 3D is exactly what you would expect: the evil Dr Fetus has kidnapped Bandage Girl again, and it is up to our meaty hero to navigate a series of deadly obstacle courses to get her back. You wouldn’t expect anything different, so why fix what isn’t broken, right? 

Of course, the core gameplay loop of Super Meat Boy 3D revolves around movement, and controlling the meaty little weirdo in this new perspective is incredibly satisfying. Your toolkit is simple and snappy: you have a basic jump, a sprint, a handy air-dash, and a ground-slam that lets you drop out of the air in a flash. You can still scramble up vertical surfaces and slide down walls while dodging the relentless hazards that coat almost every surface, whilst the game generously offers two ways to play: locking your movement to eight strict directions or going for free-flowing analogue control. To help counter the inherent trickiness of 3D depth perception, a highly visible red circle sits directly underneath your character at all times too, which helps take the guesswork out of where you are going to land. It’s all wonderfully implemented, and whilst it can take a little bit of time to get used to the 3D plane, the controls are undeniably sharp and intuitive to ensure the platforming is both precise and satisfying. 

Much like its predecessor, stages consist of incredibly short, punchy obstacle courses designed to be blitzed through in under a minute, and they’re all an absolute joy to play through. The level design easily lives up to that found in the game’s 2D form, with plenty of treacherous obstacles to evade, seemingly impossible platforming challenges to pull off, and, of course, different ways to approach each stage. It has that ‘one more go’ vibe that made the original game so damn enjoyable, and with every success you achieve, you’ll just find yourself wanting to play more.  

“Taking a precision-heavy 2D classic and transforming it into a 3D experience was a bit of a gamble, but damn, Super Meat Boy 3D pulls it off.”

Of course, it is a big shift being played in 3D, but the camera is locked to a fixed perspective, dynamically panning along to keep the action centred to ensure it never becomes cumbersome. This setup is absolutely perfect for the classic loop of dying, instantly respawning, and trying again until you nail the run, and visually, everything looks fantastic in motion. The character models have a lovely, squishy charm to them, and the environments feel alive with little background details that were often missing in 2D. And between these brutal gauntlets? You get to wander around a polished hub world in a Mario World-style… it’s really charming. 

If you are the type of player who wants a lot of bang for your buck, you will NOT be disappointed. Across five distinct worlds, you’re easily looking at over 140 levels, with the return of the infamous Dark World helping flesh things out. By earning an A+ time on a standard stage, you unlock its nightmarish counterpart, which features tighter jumps, far less solid ground, and an absurd number of spinning blades… yeah, it’s tough, but as before, beating each Dark World level feels like the way to prove that you’re a Super Meat Boy 3D pro. 

On top of simply surviving, each stage also has a hidden bandage to track down, and grabbing these collectables is well worth the extra risk since they unlock a roster of guest characters that completely change how the game plays. Keep your eyes peeled for hidden exits too… there are some fun surprises to uncover that really show how much love and care has gone into making sure that Super Meat Boy 3D feels just as special as the original game. 

Check out some screenshots down below: 

That’s not to say that it doesn’t have some flaws, though. While they look spectacular, the boss fights can feel a little uninspired from a gameplay perspective, whilst there are times early on where you will definitely suffer a few unfair deaths simply because it was hard to judge the depth of a specific jump. The transition to 3D has mostly been fantastic, but with the game replicating the flow and formula of its 2D counterpart, there are some things that do take getting used to when you add an extra dimension to the mix.  

Developer: Sluggerfly, Team Meat 
Publisher: Headup Games 
Platform(s): PC (Reviewed), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2 
Website: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3288210/Super_Meat_Boy_3D/