Ludography
61/100
Players5 ratings
73/100
Critics2 reviews
More scores
Metacritic28 critic reviews
71/100
Metacritic usersuser score
69/100
Player reviews
87% positive844 reviews
Steam Deck
Verified
Runs on
Windows
Price
US$16.24

Where to get it

Super Meat Boy 3D cover

2026 · Team Meat · Arcade · Indie

Super Meat Boy 3D

Super Meat Boy 3D is a tough as nails platformer where you play as an animated cube of meat who's trying to save his girlfriend (who happens to be made of bandages) from an evil fetus in a jar wearing a tux – IN 3D!

Released
31 March 2026
Platforms
Nintendo Switch 2PlayStation 5WindowsXbox Series X/S
Genres
ArcadeIndiePlatformer
Developers
Team MeatSluggerfly
Publishers
Headup Games
Series
Super Meat Boy
Modes
Single-player
Perspective
Third person
Themes
Action
Country
United StatesGermany
Age ratings
PEGI 16ACB MESRB T
Languages
Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean and 9 more
Time to beat
5hmain story18hcompletionist

About

Super Meat Boy 3D is a 2026 platform video game developed by Team Meat and Sluggerfly and published by Headup Games. The third main installment in the Super Meat Boy series, it was released for the Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Windows and Xbox Series X/S on March 31, 2026.

Players say

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Super Meat Boy 3D is a 3D platformer in which players control a small, dark red, cube-shaped character named Meat Boy, who must save his cube-shaped, heavily bandaged girlfriend Bandage Girl from the evil scientist Dr. Fetus. The game adapts the gameplay of Super Meat Boy, bringing its precision platforming into a 3D environment. Players attempt to reach the end of each level while avoiding enemies, circular saw blades, industrial shredders and various other obstacles.

Meat Boy does not have any health; any contact with dangerous obstacles kills him instantly. Upon death, the player instantly respawns at the beginning of the level. The player can jump and run on platforms, and can jump off, slide down or run on walls. Additionally, a mid-air dash can be performed, allowing the player to extend jumps and break certain platforms.

Development

In an interview with Creative Bloq, Sluggerfly co-founder and art director Dominik Plassmann stated that the publisher was approached by the Super Meat Boy co-creator Tommy Refenes to make a 3D prototype in six months to "test all these different approaches and see if it even works". The prototype was originally an open world with a collectathon-style progression before being changed into a linear level structure with a fixed camera inspired by Super Mario 3D World. Sluggerfly chose the Unreal Engine 5 as the engine for the game, with Plassmann stating that "The first game had a super iconic stylized look, but [they] also want to modernise it a bit, so [there is] a lot of visual detail in some areas of the game". Plassmann also stated in the gameplay trailer that Sluggerfly have "worked closely with Team Meat" to ensure that Meat Boy controls "just right in 3D" which resulted in the addition of horizontal wall running and a mid-air dash.

Super Meat Boy 3D was first announced on June 8, 2025, during the Xbox Summer Showcase at Summer Game Fest 2025. Upon the release of the trailer, various news outlets welcomed Meat Boy's transition to 3D, calling the game's artstyle faithful and noting the lack of auto-running introduced in Super Meat Boy Forever to a mixed reception. On June 11, IGN released additional gameplay footage. In June, publisher Headup Games announced that a playable demo of the game would be playable at Gamescom 2025 in Cologne. A gameplay trailer was published on July 24.

Reception

Super Meat Boy 3D received "mixed or average" reviews for the Nintendo Switch 2 and PlayStation 5 versions while the Windows and Xbox Series X versions received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator website Metacritic. Fellow review aggregator OpenCritic assessed that the game received strong approval, being recommended by 71% of critics.

Polygon called the transition to 3D "sloppy", opining that the game "chooses to play it safe," while Digital Spy rated the game 4/10, stating that the imprecise depth perception may cause unfair deaths, calling the level design "forgettable" and concluding that Super Meat Boy 3D "doesn't understand what made the original enjoyable." In contrast, IGN rated the game 8/10, arguing that the series' precision platforming has transitioned well into 3D, though noting that the fixed perspective can at times be detrimental to the player. Hardcore Gamer gave the game a 4 out of 5, lauding the level variety and controls, though boss levels were criticized due to their emphasis on memorization.

Awards

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
Nintendo Switch 231 March 2026Worldwide
Windows31 March 2026Worldwide
PlayStation 531 March 2026Worldwide
Xbox Series X/S31 March 2026Worldwide

In the same series

Games like this

Collections2 collections

Platform libraries

Years

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.