Jake – @Jakep84
Pretty much all of my most anticipated games for 2021 haven’t yet been given release dates, some haven’t even been confirmed for Xbox (Spelunky 2, Hollow Knight: Silksong).
There was a time when Xbox 360 was the hotspot of the console indie gaming scene, usually having some form of exclusivity for many games. Recently it seems like the Switch has become the destination of choice for all the indie developers. I don’t really get it. Maybe it’s the nostalgia of playing the Game Boy in the back of the family minivan, maybe all the pixel graphics make them think of the early Nintendo systems. Or maybe it’s that you can “game on the go”. I guess I understand that, but I find that I’m rarely “on the go” considering the current situation in the world. For me I think the best place to play games will always be the couch/TV combo.
Back to Xbox’s indie heyday, a decade ago I noticed a preview of a certain fast paced, retro-stylized platformer that looked right up my alley. As the Fall release neared, I remember the anticipation building, and when the release day finally came I plopped down 1200 Microsoft points for Super Meat Boy. I fell in love with the art style, the music, and the pixel perfect platforming gameplay that was extremely challenging, yet the difficulty didn’t feel cheap at all. The game had so many levels and tons of secrets. When I finally completed it I was elated, but part of me wanted more.
Team Meat’s frustration with Microsoft during the development of Super Meat Boy is well documented, there’s a movie that partly delves into it – “Indie Game – The Movie”. Because of this I was worried I’d never see my squishy red friend again. But my most anticipated game of 2021, Super Meat Boy Forever is almost here. It was originally planned as a mobile game, but at some point they switched it to console/PC. It was already released on Switch and the Epic Game Store at the end of 2020, and the developers said it’ll be released on Xbox, PS, and Steam a month later in January.
Obviously, it could be delayed like it has been so many times before, but I feel confident it will be released in 2021. Super Meat Boy Forever isn’t quite a sequel. It’s an auto runner that features hundreds of levels and variations within those levels. Apparently each time you play the game you’ll get a different combination of levels, which sounds interesting and should add to the game’s longevity. It also has a different art style which doesn’t appeal to me quite as much as the pixel art in the first one, but I look forward to seeing how it stacks up to the original, and fortunately this time around I can buy it with regular money instead of MS points.
