Meaty Meat Boy extras in January
Fan levels! Super Meat World! Editor!
In the midst of January, Super Meat Boy gets even meatier - yes, trumpets, a beefy update is on the way.
IGN only mentions a free PC update; it's not clear what's going on with the Xbox 360 release. There's nothing on developer Team Meat's blog yet.
On the update-rotisserie are four additions: a level editor, an online level portal, something called Super Meat World and an opportunity to Enter the Unknown.
The editor allows anything seen within the game to be recreated, with the exception of bosses. You can also specify which of the characters can play the level. There's a clever validation process, however, that requires you finish your meatstrosity before you can upload it.
The online level portal sorts fan-made contributions by date, difficulty and overall fun - a one-to-five star rating. Difficulty is calculated by the number of times everyone dies before they complete your level.
The real purpose of the new chapter, Super Meat World, is to serve as a hub, which developer Team Meat will use to offer yet more fantastic new chapters. Some of those will be made by the designers of other top indie games such as Gaijin Games (Bit.tip) and Matt Thorson (jumper / give up robot).
The first Super Meat World chapter unlocks with 30 bandages and pops up on the map before the first proper chapter begins.
Finally, the Enter the Unknown mode (exclusive to PC) picks a random user-made level and filters them by whichever difficulty you picked. Did you pick easy? Are you some kind of pansy? Are you vegetarian?!
Only levels with a three-star rating or better will be selected, and every time you Enter the Unknown you'll get a fresh level-platter you have never before teasted.
That's Super Meat Boy, then, an indie game earning plaudits by the protein load. It's bloody difficult, though - only 1.04 per cent of SMB owners finish the last level, according to MTV Multiplayer.
Super Meat Boy was released in October. What did Eurogamer think? "To rein in the hyperbole for a second, it is not quite that inventive or inspirational, but beneath the veil of difficulty it is every bit as inviting and thrillingly engineered. Super Meat Boy starts out as just another indie game that revels in driving you crazy, but you end up crazy in love."