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My Steam Next Fest demo of choice has been Super Meat Boy 3D, which is a concept I never expected would work out.
Before making two of the best roguelikes of all time in The Binding of Isaac and Mewgenics, Edmund McMillen was known for creating Super Meat Boy alongside Tommy Refenes, a platformer that helped popularize the "masocore" subgenre, even if it has roots in Mario hacks and the likes of I Wanna Be the Guy and the game's flash predecessor Meat Boy. McMillen has since left Team Meat, but Super Meat Boy persists as the studio has continued the franchise.
And 18 years after he made his Newgrounds debut, Meat Boy is going where all platforming mascots go eventually: into 3D.
The Steam Next Fest demo features what I assume are the opening 10 levels of Super Meat Boy 3D. And given how precise the original game could be at times, I was concerned about how that aspect would transfer. Will it have to be dumbed-down to work better in 3D or would it just be an unplayable test of frustration? But so far I'm pleasantly surprised to report that it seems to be neither. Super Meat Boy 3D is still filled with close calls and precise jumps in the way you'd expect from Team Meat's classic.
In fact, my only real gripe with the demo is that the animation – specifically the ones at the end of each level – are a bit awkward. But that's hardly a dealbreaker when this feels like a natural extension of Super Meat Boy's gameplay and a proper follow up to the game in a way the disappointing auto-runner Super Meat Boy Forever failed to capture.
