Super Meat Boy is a clever throwback to 2D platformers of the past, bringing with it a insane sense of humor and an even more insane level of difficulty. As the title character, you set out to rescue your girlfriend Bandage Girl from Dr. Fetus, a fetus in a glass jar and tuxedo. No, I am not making this up. You pursue him throughout over 300 levels, along with hidden warp zones and alternate ‘Dark World’ versions of levels. The levels are chock full of hazards. You can expect to die and die often. At the end of the level, you are treated to a replay of your progress including all the death’s you’ve suffered trying to complete the level. You can unlock characters from other indie video games such as Braid’s Tim and Bit Trip’s Commander Video. Each of these characters has their own unique powers, and some are needed to access the game’s collectables. The game has a unique art style that smacks of retro 8 and 16 bit games, although it clearly won’t be for everyone due to it’s heavy difficulty. If you appreciate hardcore challenges and miss gaming’s classic era, then Super Meat Boy is for you.

Times are tough, especially in the midst of this economic recession. That’s why we here at powet are proud to help bail gamers out of the hell of playing the same things over and over again. For the past 5 years, we have helped gamers like yourself find cheap ways to increase your gaming library. TO celebrate, we have formed this special stimulus package featuring 10 games that are available for $20 or less. Some of them are even available for free. So click after the jump, and check out some cheap gaming.
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Every once in a while, a game comes along that challenges gamers to think. Not just in a problem solving way, but a way to really think about the message that the game is trying to convey. Braid is one of those games. On the surface, the game resembles other platformers, specifically Super Mario Brothers. Even the plot seems like something you’ve seen before: the princess has been kidnapped by a monster, and you make your way through different worlds, only to be told again and again that the princess is in another castle. However, the game’s method of story telling, art style, and mechanics turn the whole thing over on its head.
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So this week’s $20 GOTW (or should I say free) isn’t so much a game as it is a tool. However, it comes with free games and you can always download more for it. The engine was created by Andrew Gardner, who in 1997 had set out to create a first person shooter game entitled Corridors of Power (which by the way is one of the games included in the download). After releasing some teaser levels, modders discovered that they could use the engine to create their own levels. Developer Paul Moxon joined Gardner and created a level editor using the software. After several difficulties throughout the years, the project was temporarily shut down in 2006 only to be restarted less than a year later as an open source project. Thus the fruits of their labor are available for download on their website at http://www.apgardner.karoo.net/. The download comes with three full games (Corridors of Power, Sinister, Dead Man Walking), several individual levels, several challenge levels, and a suite of editing tools. There is a map creator, a model editor, an episode editor, and more. They are designed to be user friendly, so anyone can jump right in regardless of programming skills. While the graphics in the included material look as if they were from the Dreamcast days, the engine makes use of many of the latest OpenGL features. The games themselves are throwbacks to the early days of the genre, so FPS fans will get a kick out of their simplicity. If you got a decent computer, you will definitely want to check this out. Weather you want to create games or simply play what other people make, the Retribution Engine is a great open-source package.

The best way to describe Epic/Chair Entertainment’s Xbox Live offering is an old school gaming experience with a new school style. Although Shadow Complex contains 3D graphics powered by Unreal 3, its gameplay is reminiscent of old school 2d games such as Metroid. The game’s plot, penned by comic book writer Peter David (The Incredible Hulk, X-Factor), is a side story to the Orson Scott Card novel Empire. You play as Jason Flemming, an everyday guy who was doing some rock climbing with his girlfriend Claire. When Claire is captured by members of a terrorist organization (which has already assassinated the vice president by the way), it’s up to you to rescue her.
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In 2007, Valve wrapped up three of its newest and top FPS games into one package. Along with Half-Life 2, its first two episodes, and the multplayer classic Team Fortress 2, FPS fans also got Portal, which was a puzzle game in FPS form. Playing as a woman named Chell, and taunted by a computer AI named GLaDOS, it’s your job to test out the Apeture Science Handheld Portal Device. You move through a series of rooms, and you’ll have to make use of the portal gun to make it through each room and avoid tha hazards. Many of the rooms will involve a cube which you’ll have to make use of. It’s hard not to get attached to the cube. Even though it’s a short game, the darkly humorous story and crazy physics make it fun to play. Portal: Still Alive, an Xbox Live Arcade exclusive version of the game contains the original game and several new challenge rooms. There isn’t much of an incentive for anyone who already played through the original version, but at 1200 MS points ($15) this is perfect for those who have yet to play it.

Note: The standalone version of Portal is also available on PC for $20, as is the Xbox 360 version of the Orange Box.

Old school gamers rejoice, for Mega Man has returned. Not Mega Man ZX, Mega Man Zero, Mega Man.exe, or even Mega Man X. No, it isn’t any of these poseurs. It’s the original blue bomber, in all his 8-bit glory. Keeping up with it’s retro revivals (see Street Fighter IV and Bionic Commando), Capcom had the ingenious idea of creating a new 8-bit Mega Man game and releasing it for all three consoles via their respective download services. The result is a classic throwback that caters strictly to longtime series fans while introducing the Mega Man series to a new generation.

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Bionic Commando Rearmed hit Xbox Live and PSN last week, so in honor of this special occasion, this week’s $20 GOTW and Lost Classics will take a special look at the new game, as well as a previous entry in the series. Enjoy!

In 1987, Capcom released an arcade game called Top Secret, which we over here would know it as Bionic Commando. It was a side-scrolling platformer in which the protagonist used a grappling arm to traverse the game’s 4 levels. It wasn’t a terrible game, but it was nothing special. When an NES sequel, which was known in Japan as Top Secret: Hitler’s Revival was released the following year however, that was when the series really took off. Players took control of Nathan ‘Radd’ Spencer, who was sent behind enemy lines to rescue Super Joe from the Imperialist Nazis who sought to resurrect Adolf Hitler. Players traveled through several stages to uncover the enemy’s plan and stop them. [Read the rest of this entry…]