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How Super Meat Boy 3D captures the series’ identity, out March 31
When Super Meat Boy first released, it quickly became a landmark for indie games. It wasn’t just a great platformer, but a figurehead for indie gaming, defined by lightning-fast gameplay and brutal difficulty.
So, when we began working on Super Meat Boy 3D, our biggest goal was simple: it had to feel like Meat Boy. We worked on the prototype for a few months to test out our main ingredients, and what was firstly more of a feeling we wished to translate, became much more concrete when we started working with Tommy of Team Meat.
Translating such a precise 2D platformer into a fully navigable 3D space meant rethinking many parts of the game while protecting the core identity of the series.
Finding the right camera
One of the main challenges was that Meat Boy moves so quickly that a dynamic camera just couldn’t keep up.
We tested three different camera systems during prototyping. While a traditional third-person camera that players could freely control technically worked, it never quite felt right. Eventually we landed on a controlled camera angle that stays consistent relative to the level. It’s not completely static but designed to prioritize clarity and readability.
That decision shaped the entire design process. Instead of placing a camera into finished levels, we built levels around the camera angle so players can always clearly see the character’s movement and the path ahead, to ensure the gameplay remains readable at a high speed.
Translating 2D precision into 3D
After we tried recreating the feel of the original purely from our experience of playing Super Meat Boy, our collaboration with Tommy Refenes from Team Meat gave us a deeper understanding of exactly how a lot of the original systems worked. In some cases, we even used similar values from the original game, like wall-jump distances or how jumping behaves when touching a wall versus standing on the ground. Having those reference points helped us capture the familiar feel of Meat Boy’s movement.
Of course, with the added difficulty of depth perception, the 2D game cannot just be moved into 3D one to one. Players need to feel completely in control of their movement even with an extra dimension.
To help maintain clarity, we introduced several structural decisions, such as eight-directional stick movement to keep movement predictable, 45-degree angles in level design to help players anticipate their trajectory, and visual helpers, like a ground circle indicator and a line connecting the character to the ground to help judge distance.
Even with these systems, movement tuning took a long time. We spent roughly a year refining the feel, and small tweaks continued almost until release, especially given the valuable input we received from players of our demo.
Designing new mechanics
Some mechanics translated easily. The vertical wall slide, for example, already existed in the original game, so we could closely replicate it. Wall running on the other hand had to be designed from scratch. Making it feel smooth requires a lot of value-tweaking and subtle assists so that it feels fast and satisfying rather than too frustrating.
Many of those adjustments are invisible to players, but they help ensure the mechanic feels fair even at high speed.
Balancing freedom and precision
The essential core loop of Super Meat Boy – fail, learn, retry – is only possible to get right by balancing player freedom with systems that help them maintain control, but in 3D, movement can naturally feel slightly floatier because of the added spatial depth.
Movement and level design evolved together throughout development. The layout of each level directly affects how the character feels to control, so we constantly iterated between the two.
In the end, we found that the core ideas of Meat Boy’s movement translate surprisingly well into 3D if the focus remains on the fundamentals: jumping, walls, and speed. The key was in the camera angles and the subsequent level design. We usually started by choosing the camera angle first, then building the level to support it. The most important rule was that the character must always remain visible and readable.
Preserving the series’ personality
The series is not only known for its tight platformer gameplay, but also its dark humor, exaggerated violence, and chaotic energy.
One classic feature is the blood trail that Meat Boy leaves behind. It doesn’t only add the trademark gore-factor, but it also helps players see where they’ve already been and which routes they’ve tried.
In 3D, that feature became even more important, but implementing it was technically challenging. Spawning huge numbers of decals wasn’t practical, so we developed a vertex painting system that lets blood dynamically stain the environment, letting players paint the entire level red if they try often enough.
The move to 3D also gave us more room for hidden jokes and visual gags. With extra space in the world, we could tuck funny details or secrets into the background, some of which players might never even notice.
Lessons from our previous games
As with Hell Pie and the Ben and Ed series, we’ve always loved creating games with tight mechanics, weird humor, and a strong indie spirit.
Our previous projects taught us many important lessons about development, but what stuck with us the most was that focus matters. Very early on in development, we nailed down what really mattered for Super Meat Boy 3D: the core movement, the camera direction, and keeping the scope controlled.
Honoring an indie icon
Working on Super Meat Boy 3D alongside Tommy Refenes has been both an honor and an exciting challenge.
Our mission from the start was: Take everything players love about Meat Boy and prove it can work in three instead of just two dimensions. We hope you’ll be able to feel this the moment you make your first jump!
Super Meat Boy 3D launches on PlayStation 5 on March 31.
