Super Meat Boy was released quite a while back, developed solely by a two-man indie team by the name of Team Meat. Granted that the development time for the pair was less than two years, I cannot applaud enough what they had accomplished in this time. The game itself is a brutally punishing platformer that will have you feeling like a god in the end. One level giving you trouble for half an hour will become your greatest sense of joy in the 20 seconds it took you to complete it; and this feeling will happen all the time.
The game starts out with the simplest of stories. A fetus has a beef with a square of beef and he steals Meat Boy's love interest, Bandage Girl, only to dangle it in front of Meat Boy in every single level, in where our hero gets to Bandage Girl and then Dr. Fetus steals Bandage Girl again, accompanied usually with a classic gaming move, like the Doctor doing his best falcon punch impersonation, or sticking a spear in Bandage Girl and pulling her into whatever weird zone Dr. Fetus goes into when he teleports away. The cutscenes are pretty good, and they've always got a bit of humor, along with the intros showing a nice homage of games past.
Of course, the story is already pretty much a throwaway and then we see the game's shining area; the gameplay. You start off easy, where it's nearly impossible to die. In the course of a few short levels, you get up to speed with mechanics and then you're subjected to fiery pits and sawblades in which you'll surely die multiple times. The game quickly becomes familiar, though, and eventually your skills are sharpened to where the levels no longer pose a threat. On later chapters, often it will become a test of sharp reflexes and muscle memory. On Rapture levels, it's easy to spend ten minutes on a single level. After the initial five minutes, though, the beginning portion of the level can be cleared within seconds, and it's suddenly the easiest thing to do, no matter how many times you died to it. In the end, nearly every level you thought was hard at some point becomes easy.
And then there's the boss fights. At the end of each chapter, after you beat 17/20 levels (if you didn't do all 20 you're a wimp), you get to fight the chapter baddie. Usually, it's just another platforming level with some elements of danger added in. Get chased by a giant chainsaw mech, and get to the end without being ground chuck. The levels are still fun, however, and are usually accompanied with good music to boot. An exception to the rule is the chapter 4 boss, which is primarily a memory level. Once you're done with that and the excellent music, however, you're sent on another level in which to exercise your anger. (Rapture!)
Warp zones and bandages also give another layer of fun to the game. Warp zones can unlock new characters with abilities to play the game, and getting enough bandages scattered around levels (Usually in difficult or hidden areas) can unlock other characters not found in warp zones. The characters are familiar indie icons, with people such as Captain Viridian or The Kid showing up in the roster. Each one has their own power, with people such as Ogmo affording double jumps, or Runman being able to run really, REALLY fast. Not all characters are right for the job (Most of them are slower than Meat Boy) but some will make your life much easier. They aren't usable in boss areas or the final chapter, but they'll definitely help you on the way.
With the massive amount of levels even doubled with the dark world, levels awarded by striking an excellent time on the light world parallel, there's a ton of content waiting for you in this game. Along with the levels in-game, the PC version includes a special player-made world called Super Meat World, in which user levels and additional creator levels are uploaded. Given the amount of difficulty in the later levels, you'll be trying to save Bandage Girl (And fail at it) for months to come. This game is worth every penny, normal priced ($15) or on sale.
[The game is also on the Xbox 360. Bandage-unlocked characters are different, and there's less content on Super Meat World (Known on the 360 as "Teh Internets"), but all in all it's still the same old good game.]
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Super Meat Boy: A Love-Hate Relationship
that was never a thing that happened