Super Meat Boy Forever

Super Meat Boy Forever makes some big mechanical changes but maintains its predecessor's reputation as one of gaming's toughest, most satisfying platforming challenges.

A bold genre shift, but not a completely successful one.

Like the original, Super Meat Boy Forever tests your resolve, but it's easy to jump back into the action and the thrill of success is worth the endurance

Precision and playfulness made the original irresistibly difficult, but this vindictive sequel feels more like a punishment

Once players get over the shock of its mechanical departures, Super Meat Boy Forever offers a solid and relentless auto-running experience. But there's no denying that this long-awaited sequel doesn't deliver the impact nor addictive magnetism of its predecessor. Regardless, those willing to look past this initial disappointment will discover a satisfactory time-killer, strongly adhering to the great visuals, manic presentation, and twisted humor that is the franchise's trademark.

Super Meat Boy Forever makes some big changes to its predecessor's classic formula, ushering in an endless-running style of gameplay, simplified control scheme and procedurally-generated levels that are a blast to play through but ultimately rob the game of the fiendishly additive quality of the 2010 original. We miss perfecting Super Meat Boy's bespoke little death mazes here and although fans of brutally tough platformers will still find plenty to love, we can't help but feel this one's a little bit of a step back for Team Meat's squishy red mascot.

To compare Super Meat Boy Forever to its predecessor is folly. They're two different types of games, but Team Meat makes sure to inject its unique seasoning into both. As far as auto-runners go, Forever stands along the top as one of the best in the genre, despite a short story length. With so many possible stage layouts, a multitude of challenging mechanics, and Team Meat's fluid platforming design, it makes this game feel like a joy.

Despite its appeal to nostalgia and the phenomenal success of the first game, Super Meat Boy Forever fails to deliver its promises and ends up undermining the IP and design of the game it's based upon.

Super Meat Boy Forever is an incredibly polished and fully worthwhile sequel to the platforming classic.

While it has all of the ingredients for a great game, Super Meat Boy Forever gets spoiled by too many unnecessary changes to the formula.