Thus, like who does not want the thing, about a month ago the development of Dr. Fetus’ Mean Meat Machine, a totally new video game related to the Super Meat Boy universe, but the real surprise is that it is not a platform title like the previous ones we have seen. Instead we have before us a proposal that will bet on puzzles.
For this fact alone, it caught my attention instantly, so I was grateful that those responsible for it had published a demo in its PC version on Steam, in order to get a better idea of what its gameplay will be like. Mainly because he was afraid that it was a very risky bet. However, this first contact has turned out to be more satisfactory than I imagined.
The villain of the saga becomes the protagonist
Forget about Meat Boy, because this time it won’t be him that we will control. Instead all the prominence falls on Dr. Fetus, who is precisely the main villain of the series who is planning to create the perfect clone of our fast piece of meat. However, the problem he has encountered is that the DNA sample he has collected is somewhat flawed, so he has transformed these copies into somewhat strange beings.
That is why it has been proposed manufacture a series of machines of destruction of the most Machiavellian to completely eradicate all clones. In any case, the plot of this new chapter, which takes place just after Super Meat Boy Forever, is somewhat irrelevant, because what really matters is the gameplay itself, since that is its true strength and to which you will have to pay more attention to it.
The demo allowed me to play a whole world in which some of its stages act as a tutorial to understand how it works. The mechanics couldn’t be simplerbecause pairs of clones of different colors will appear all over the screen that we must place in the lowest part of the stage, with the aim of joining a minimum of four of the same type.
In fact, those who have played Dr. Mario All of this will sound very familiar to you. And it is that in many moments I remembered the Nintendo title because it seemed that it was doing exactly the same thing, only that instead of viruses they are copies of Meat Boy. That does not mean that there is no other difference, since Dr. Fetus shows that he is a great villain, so he will not hesitate for a moment to bring out his deadliest and craziest machines.
Saws, explosions and all kinds of evil traps
As you move the tiles around the screen, traps capable of eliminating us with a single blow will begin to activate. The only way to progress is we ourselves gather the clones so that they disappear instantlywithout having to bloody all the surroundings with liters of blood that the copies give off if they are annihilated by one of Dr. Fetus’ machines.
The good news is that the pace is as frantic as the saga has accustomed us to, because as soon as we die, it will take a second or two at most to start moving the tiles from one side to the other again. Each phase is a new learning and a challenge to overcome, because the traps do not stop evolving, behaving in different ways and new ones will be constantly added to all of them.
Despite having been the first world and a test world, there have been some levels that have cost me their fair share of tries getting to overcome them, but they are entertaining enough to catch you and that you do not want to let go of the controller for a single moment. What’s more, some of the machines and traps will be very familiar to you if you have played the other titles in the series.
It can also happen that we already have the clones themselves placed and prepared to explode and suddenly a saw appears out of nowhere and takes them ahead, so you have to be very fast and precise when putting together the combinations of colors. That is why one of the functions that the gameplay incorporates is being able to rotate the tiles, make them move even slower or move them at full speed, because the lethal machines will never grant a second of relaxation.
In the best of cases, the same phase can last you a minute or two or at most five or so in the event that one of them costs you too much. But that’s not all, because at the end of each world awaits the fight against a final bosswhich has left me wanting to see the rest, but the fight against the first in this test world seemed like a good challenge to take into account, because it also had several phases that forced us to have a good reaction when thinking how to place the clones without failing in the attempt.
For the final version, it has been promised that more than a hundred puzzles will be available, highlighting its splendid artistic section and the great soundtrack by Ridiculon. These details have left me with even more desire to catch myself Dr. Fetus’ Mean Meat Machinewhich I hope will not be the first and the last one that gathers enough courage to bet on such a different genre, as long as it is so promising and addictive.
Platforms: PC (played version), PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series and Nintendo Switch
multiplayer: No
developer: HeadUp Development
Company: Thunderful Publishing
Launch: 2023
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