Games have just gotten too easy. It’s a fact. Back in the NES days, players were given limited health alongside limited lives in an effort to have players spend more time playing levels over and over again due to the limited amount of space available on the game cartridges.

Now, gamers seem to be all about instant gratification. They want to race through levels in record time so they can move on to the next game. Super Meat Boy bucks that trend by providing one of the most challenging and entertaining games to come to the XBox Live Arcade since N+ or Braid.

Gameplay:

When talking about Super Meat Boy, it is impossible to mention it without discussing the game’s unusually high level of difficulty. In many games, it could be said that difficult stages or areas are unfairly created to hinder a player’s progress, such as the trials during Dante’s Inferno that required unrealistic combo scores and other such tasks. Super Meat Boy on the other hand is a rewardingly challenging experience.

Literally only being able to run and jump, players must traverse levels as Super Meat Boy (or various other unlockable indy characters) to reach their girlfriend Band-Aid Girl. When playing Super Meat Boy, you will die. A lot. There is no health and one wrong move on your part spells splattered meat being rained across the level. It is just how the game is designed. Luckily, most levels can be beaten with a perfect run through in roughly thirty seconds. So while it may take ten minutes to make it through a level, the levels themselves are not long at all.

The controls are basic but very right. Holding jump longer makes Meat Boy jump further while adding in a run first extends the distance even more. Meat Boy can slide down walls and wall jump due to his sticky composition. But our squishy friend has no natural defenses to the buzzsaws, lava, jelly-like creatures or walls of salt and hypodermic needles that cover the maps. One touch and he’s gone. But the way the game controls, it never feels like it isn’t your fault when you die.

A player knows they are to blame for their own demise and as a result, completion of these levels feels increasingly rewarding instead of cripplingly painful. Even more rewarding is watching a replay of all your little Meat Boys traversing the level after completing one letting you see just what mistakes you made during your play through and seeing just what your perfect run looked like.

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While gaming conventions are all about the big titles, PAX has always shown some serious love for the independent gaming industry. So while many PAX East attendees stood in long lines to try out Skate 3 or Red Dead Redemption, I decided to check out the smaller titles on display last weekend that make PAX such a unique experience.

Here’s what I found:

Shank

While the game’s title might be small, Shank packs a huge punch. This side scrolling 2-D action game wowed crowds with its gorgeous artwork and addicting gameplay. Players take on the role of Shank as he slashes and chainsaws his way through a world of assassins and giants on a quest for bloody revenge.

The game will be out sometime this summer for XBLA, PSN, and PC.

Frobots

I tried out this game based soley on the name, and it was definitely worth it. Frobot is about a robot with an afro who, after his five “super-fine” girlfriends are kidnapped, rescues them with an arsenal of energy blasts, missiles, and deathly disco balls.

Frobots is a combination of action, puzzle, and party and with dozens of maps to choose from and a ridiculously fun multiplayer mode this game will keep you and your friends busy for hours, but also might make you really mad at each other.

Frobots will be released for WiiWare, PC, and Mac sometime this year.

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It started 19 years ago. A little blue rodent ran his way on to the Sega Genesis system and into our hearts with Sonic the Hedgehog. Since, he has gone through some ups, like Sonic 2 and 3, and some downs, like Sonic Unleashed.

But still, everyone has hope for the little guy who went toe to toe with Mario during the early console wars and just missed. Recently, Sega has been referring to a project under the codename Needlemouse which was revealed yesterday as Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode 1.

With a recently launched site, Sonic 4 will make its ways to all the major systems as a downloadable game in episodic format from the XBox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and WiiWare… and according to the ellipsis on the website, possibly another format as well.

Sonic 4′s website features a variety of countdown clocks, some specific to character reveals and various content like concept art, that will reveal more about the upcoming downloadable title in the following days. But, for now, take a peak at the teaser trailer that brings Sonic back to his 2D sidescrolling glory, the way he was meant to be seen.

Stay tuned to The Flickcast for more information on our favorite Sega mascot and his new game as it becomes available.

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