![]() ![]() If there's almost zero penalty for death, then there's almost zero tension, and therefore almost zero pressure or incentive to succeed other than the visual payoff of getting to see the next level (which in Super Meat Boy's case isn't much of a payoff at all, since its level art is terrible and there are almost no interesting setpieces in the game). In short, these two design choices combined basically kill all of the tension, excitement, and sense of accomplishment which should be a part of any good action game. "Indie" developers seem to frequently make this exact same mistake so let me explain why the infinite lives and extremely short levels found in many of their platformers are such a bad idea. I mean, who cares how much you screw up if you can die as many times as you want to and instantly be transported 10 seconds back in time, like a magical savestate? This might not have been such a huge problem if Super Meat Boy's levels were significantly longer, but as it stands each stage averages around 25 seconds in length, and once a level is complete there's basically no reason to revisit it (unless you actually care about finding all of the collectible bandage items which let you unlock secret characters like Tim from Braid, The Kid from I Wanna Be The Guy, or the adventurer from Spelunky I told you this game wasn't "old-school.") "Indie" developers seem to frequently make this exact same mistake with their games (see also VVVVVV and Limbo, which had checkpoints every 15 seconds), so let me explain why the infinite lives and extremely short levels found in many "indie" platformers are such a bad idea. ![]()
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