Super Meat Boy 3D takes full advantage of extra dimensions
Blog Andrew Joseph 19 Oct , 2025 0
Look down! Team Meat's sadistic meat mascot finally makes the leap into the third dimension with Super Meat Boy 3D, scheduled for release in early 2026 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC. It's a bold step forward for a series that originally began life as a Flash-based side-scroller on Newgrounds, translating the gory, precise platforming that defined the original 2010 cult classic into a fully three-dimensional space. Based on our hands-on time with the latest preview, we can confidently say that this isn't just the same old Super Meat Boy. Instead, it's shaping up to be a thoughtful reimagining that captures the series' beloved essence while embracing the new possibilities that only 3D can offer.
For those unfamiliar with the series, Super Meat Boy is a high-speed platformer that follows the adventures of a skinless protagonist trying to rescue his girlfriend, Bandage Girl, from the evil Dr. Fetus… a literal fetus in a jar, harboring an eternal grudge. Unlike the original game and its 2020 sequel, both of which were known for their brutal difficulty and death-defying speed, Super Meat Boy 3D feels less unfairly cruel and more. chill While retaining some of the tougher challenges for those who want to get back to the series' hardcore platformer roots in 3D.
The preview version on Steam opens with an eye-catching menu and an interface that's both functional and beautiful. A quick tap of the A button on your controller and you'll be in action within seconds – but if you stay in the main menu longer, you may find yourself in the robust settings menu, which displays a fairly comprehensive range of accessibility options and good flexibility in the graphics department. For example, it's cool to see the option to toggle the Ground Distance Assistant, which predicts where you'll land when you're in the air. There's also a replay character slider that determines how many ghostly versions of Meat Boy appear in post-level replays, and watch replays of your recorded runs and multiple failed attempts with up to 100 little guys.
These controls translate Super Meat Boy's nimble movements into 3D with stunning grace. Jumping, sprinting, wall running, and sprinting all feel snappy and precise on an Xbox controller. Meat Boy does have a slight floating quality in mid-air that requires a few untimely deaths to get the hang of, but the mid-air dash ability (mapped to X by default) allows you to correct trajectory errors on the fly – a crucial addition given the increased complexity of navigating 3D space. Wall running and wall jumping work similarly to the original's wall slide, allowing you to bounce between vertical surfaces to reach higher platforms. Interestingly, the preview version lacks the punching abilities mentioned in the control scheme, and doesn't feature any combat, which makes us wonder if enemy encounters will play a role in the final version, or if this will remain a pure obstacle platformer.
a damn good time
The level design makes effective use of verticality in a way that its 2D predecessors couldn't, with its multi-layered structure letting us leap upwards from walls, dash through gaps, and slam the ground on vertical axes to avoid falling spiked balls. Ground slamming (mapped to B) proved to be more useful than we initially expected, allowing us to quickly descend to avoid the danger of falling from above. Environmental obstacles include classic platformer staples like buzz saws, bear traps, crumbling platforms, and industrial crushers, as well as new physics-based challenges like the aforementioned spiked balls that drop into specially positioned chutes, requiring you to first navigate around other obstacles and then time your descent correctly to survive.
In keeping with series tradition, the deaths are frequent and gruesome. As one might expect, Super Meat Boy 3D's cube of exposed musculature is prone to numerous splashing ends, and he instantly respawns at the start of the level as the timer resets. There's something darkly comical about watching a pristine meadow turn into a crime scene as the flesh-eating boy leaves a trail of blood on every surface he touches, painting increasingly gruesome patterns in the muted surroundings with each attempt. The sound design enhances this with throaty, splattery audio that's reminiscent of Splatoon's inky aesthetic, while ambient sounds like the whirring of saw blades and the mechanical grinding of crushers create an appropriately cartoony yet menacing audioscape.
film studies
Performance is measured purely by completion time and fatalities, with letter grades awarded based on how quickly you reach the exit of each level. A+ grade requires completing the mission with zero deaths within the target time, a difficult task that requires memorization and flawless execution. There's no scoring system, no collectible currency, just you fighting against time and your own mortality. We did find collectible Band-Aids hidden in secret areas behind destructible wooden walls, although their purpose remains unclear in the preview build. Whether they'll unlock content, costumes, or bonus levels in the full game is anyone's guess.
Speaking of post-game content, the post-level replay system deserves special mention as one of the most interesting features in the preview. After completing a stage, you'll see a replay of your successful run as multiple ghostly versions of Meat Boy attempt the same route, most meeting gruesome deaths before a mirror image completes the route following your exact path. It's both satisfying and hilarious, turning your hard-earned victory into the epitome of failure. Maximum replay character settings allow you to speed things up and fill the screen with doomed chunks of meat.
Who is the boss?
What's less clear is the scope of the full version. The preview version contains no boss fights (although a cutscene shows a giant robot), there are no multiplayer options, and Theater Mode remains inaccessible. The narrative setup—in which Dr. Fetus once again kidnaps a Meat-Eating Boy loved one, this time seemingly based on her pink-bandaged Girl—suggests that we're returning to familiar story beats, though the series has never prioritized plot, and from what I've seen so far, that trend isn't going to change with its first 3D appearance. The linear level structure and lack of significant exploration or secret hunts may disappoint players expecting more metroidvania-style progression, though that's always been Super Meat Boy's formula: pure, refined platforming challenge without excess baggage.
Once you accept the trial-and-error nature of Super Meat Boy 3D's colorful world, its challenging and enjoyable gameplay loop settles into a zen-like flow. This is very much a “podcast game” – you can successfully distract yourself while listening to something else, and by the fifth time we ran the preview build, we couldn't help but think about how well-suited it would be for Steam Deck users who like to sneak in games before bed. This isn’t necessarily a criticism; There's value in games that don't require you to be fully emotionally invested, and this game is undeniably one of them. Unfortunately, a Switch 2 version has not been announced yet. Only half a joke!
Nuts and Bolts
Despite the difficulty, it doesn't quite reach the heartbreaking heights the series is notorious for, at least in its early stages, but bringing in a wider player base isn't a bad thing – as long as the final version still offers plenty of challenge for fans of the series. Whether this will manifest itself in the future world, or whether Team Meat has mitigated the challenge for wider appeal remains to be seen, but I'm hoping it's the former.
Graphically, Super Meat Boy 3D strikes a pleasing balance between the series' cartoony aesthetic and modern rendering techniques, making the experience increasingly atmospheric as the levels progress. The preview version already offers powerful graphics options, including a nice range of anti-aliasing methods, post-processing effects, shadow quality, global illumination, reflections and foliage density. While DLSS remains grayed out in my build, the game ran smoothly at nearly 144 fps on the RTX 4070Ti, with excellent optimization even at maximum settings on an ultrawide 3440×1440 display. The environments are full of visual personality: a grassy starting area gives way to a burning forest with spinning saw blades embedded in charred trees, before transitioning into a grimy industrial area filled with crushers, spike-dropping machines and pools of toxic waste. Everything maintains the high-contrast, storybook-nightmare quality of the original, but adds geometric complexity and environmental detail not possible in 2D.
bring pain
Comparisons to other modern 3D platformers are inevitable, but perhaps a little unfair given the scope of Super Meat Boy 3D's reach. The games we've played so far lack the innovative power mechanics and character-driven charm of Astro Bot, the freedom of exploration of Mario Odyssey, or even the level design variety of Crash Bandicoot 4. Instead, Super Meat Boy 3D feels more akin to Ghost Parkour's fast-paced, back-from-the-death concept, combined with the geometric verticality and graphical style of Pac-Man World II, and then heavily refined from there into something smaller and more compact, like a morsel of tightly packed meat in a convenience store freezer. There are no rings or coins to collect here: just brutal platforming, and this redesign feels smooth enough to feel satisfying even after running through the same preview content several times in a row.
As your muscle memory develops, your skills will improve with each run, reaching more A+ grades. At least that addictive “try again” quality that defined the original is fully present here. The question is whether Team Meat can keep this momentum going throughout the game, and whether there's enough content, variety, and surprises in the final version to justify a 3D journey.
Super Meat Boy 3D promises to faithfully translate the series' dark cartoon comedy appeal into the third dimension, with responsive controls, powerful performance and level design that embraces verticality, while maintaining the original's unique rigorous challenge loop. But, at least at this stage of its development cycle, there are still some big questions: the scope of post-launch content, how combat will feel, what hidden collectibles will unlock, and whether this tight-knit formula will be able to stay fresh throughout the game.