Super Meat Boy

The graphics in Super Meat Boy are fairly run-of-the-mill and won't wow anybody. Having said that, the game certainly isn't ugly and I find the graphics appropriate to the game content. When I first looked at getting this game, I never expected graphics like Battlefield 3, and sure enough it's nowhere near, but that's okay. The main sound you'll here is the squishy noise that you make when you land on a surface and the sound of your body being decimated by a saw - the quality of the sounds isn't the best, but certainly not something you'll think about. Sound & Visual

The controls of the game are very simple. Arrow keys for movement, with space to jump and shift to sprint. As a bloody and sticky piece of meat, you of course have the ability to stick to walls - this leads me nicely onto my next point, if you suck at wall jumping don't get Super Meat Boy. The ability to wall jump and get the right timings as you're sliding down a wall etc is imperative to the completion of the game. Right from the first chapter, you'll be wall jumping past spinning saws, so be prepared for that. Once you get used to the handling of Meat Boy it's not too bad - yes, the game is built to be difficult, but that's what makes completing a level so satisfying! - there is mid-air control for weaving around deadly obstacles to land back on the wall you just jumped from and the execution of this mechanic is almost perfect. As strange as the controls may feel on playing the game for the first time, I can assure you that they are perfectly tuned and appropriate to the game's levels further into the chapters.  Control and gameplay

Oh my freaking god this game is addictive. The frustration of dying halfway through a level, or right near the end makes the replay button so enticing. No matter how much you die, you just want to have another go, because you get closer and closer to beating it each time. The game is very possible if you stick at it - I've completed the game twice now, once on the normal DRM-free install and again when I bought it on Steam. Even if you don't play through the whole game on a re-play, just picking random chapters/levels to play is a great way to kill time. With literally hundreds of levels to play through, bonus side-levels, collectibles (bandages) and speed rankings, this game has a tonne of variety and will keep you coming back for more, well after completion. Hell, even if you can't complete the game, re-playing the first 90% of the game over and over again will be enough. Replay-ability/Variety

I'm not sure whether to call the game fun or not to be honest. I think it is, but I can most certainly say that the thing which keeps me coming back for more is the relief and sense of accomplishment you get after completing a level which has had you swearing and breaking things for the past 30 minutes. It's most certainly not a relaxed, slow-paced game with loads of interesting actions/mechanics, but the fast-paced never ending cycle of die-respawn-die-respawn-die-respawn and the will to complete a level in a faster time and find the collectible bandage you missed is so engrossing it's unreal! It's hard to explain just how crazy and addictive this game is, but I can assure you that once you come to terms with the fact that you're going to burst a blood vessel every time you play the game, you won't be able to leave alone it until you've beaten every damn level. Fun/Stress factor