Super Meat Boy (lost early prototype builds of unfinished WiiWare port of platformer; 2009)

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Supermeatboyprototype.png

Screenshot of the prototype.

Status: Lost

Super Meat Boy is an indie platform game developed by Team Meat and is the successor to Edmund McMillen’s and Jonathan McEntee’s flash game, Meat Boy, originally released on the Newgrounds website in October 2008.

In 2010, the developers announced that the game would be released for every major console and computer at the time: Xbox 360 Live Arcade, PS3, PSN, WiiWare, PC and MAC.

Out of all these systems, the WiiWare version ended up being scrapped due to the file size exceeding the 40MB limit for WiiWare games, and a potential physical version was decided against after issues finding a publisher[1]. The PS3 version was also scrapped after Sony showed no sign of interest in the game.

Differences

Being one of the earliest prototypes of the game, there were a lot of major differences. These include a different character select screen, additional levels that were either reworked into existing levels or scrapped entirely, and a different The Forest boss, as seen in IGN's preview of the game. Also, there were no sound effects for the map selection screen, and the cutscene for the first chapter was animated differently. The backgrounds also seem to be much more detailed than in the final.

Prototypes

August 15th, 2009 prototype

On August 15th, 2009, the first ever footage of Super Meat Boy was released to the public. It showcased Edmund McMillen's mom playing an early prototype of the WiiWare port. This prototype was also used in the September 2009 trailers. It is shown to be very unfinished. As shown, there is no "Level complete" message at the end of the level, only the animation of Dr. Fetus taking Bandage girl. There are also no sound effects, and when you die you immediately jump back to the beginning of the level, rather than a 1-second long animation of Meat Boy exploding and regenerating playing out.

The IGN preview prototype

On October 5th, 2009, IGN released the full intro for the beginning of the game, which has some minor changes. There is no box around the text and there are some sound effects not present in the final game[2]. On December 4th, 2009, IGN released a preview of the game, and what was seen seems to imply the game was close to completion. This prototype was used for the teaser trailer, released in May 2010, as well as GameSpot's showcase of the game.

Availability

These prototypes have never been released or leaked in any way, and it is unlikely that they will ever be uncovered. IGN uploaded 2 videos in 2011 (One year after the games release) showcasing some short gameplay of the WiiWare version. It is unknown whether or not Team Meat still has the ROM in their archives.

Images



Videos

IGN's preview of the game

Edmund's mom playing the prototype of Meat Boy

One of the earliest known Meat Boy promos

A trailer dated back to September 2009

Other videos

GameSpot showcasing a later build of the WiiWare port

A shorter version of the September 2009 trailer, showcasing a different version of the first cutscene

One of the two videos of IGN showcasing the second chapter

Two of the two videos of IGN showcasing the second chapter

See Also

Reference