As we mentioned earlier today in our "final Xbox Game Pass additions for March 2026" roundup, Super Meat Boy 3D is launching day one for the service on Tuesday (March 31st), and the reviews have therefore gone live already.
It's generally good news as well! Plenty of the critics are enjoying their time with this 3D take on the series, with a lot of 7/10 and 8/10 scores being dished out in particular, along with a few more disappointing ones.
Here's what we've found:
Day One (8.5/10)
"Make no mistake, Super Meat Boy 3D is as pure a punishing speedrunning platformer as you’ll get, just like its predecessors. It’s fast, tight, infuriating, hilarious, bloody and just outright white-knuckle fun. But yeah, f**k this game right off as well."
DualShockers (8/10)
"Super Meat Boy 3D isn't exactly a massive leap for the franchise when compared to other side-scrollers that have made the jump to a new dimension, but that's okay. What's here is the high-level, fluid, and precise platforming you'd expect, and that fans of the series have come to adore. Yes, you will die thousands of times by the end, but that's also the point. There are small design hiccups here and there in terms of a few levels that don't feel fair, a couple less memorable bosses, and the added depth sometimes playing tricks on your brain. At the end of the day, however, Super Meat Boy 3D is a blast, and I'm looking forward to shaving off tenths of seconds from my record times on each and every level."
TheGamer (4/5)
"Even when Super Meat Boy 3D had me moments away from rage-quitting, occasionally thanks to a death that wasn’t my fault, I couldn’t help but smile as I bashed my head on whatever wall I was struggling to jump off. Meat Boy’s legacy is a very particular one that won’t appeal to everyone but, even with some wobbles, 3D proves itself to be a sequel that’s worthy of standing next to the original masterpiece."
Way Too Many Games (8/10)
"I screamed, I shouted, I cursed the developers’ mothers dozens of times. Super Meat Boy 3D did what it needed to do with honors. But I never wanted to quit in frustration. The game knew how to motivate me, to make me want to attempt one more try, even if some levels felt impossible, and the boss battles were the absolute bane of my existence. All in all, a mostly smooth transition from 2D side-scrolling, to a 3D, semi freeforming format."
ShackNews (7/10)
"Despite my issues, there are feelings Super Meat Boy 3D gets right. It’s that same level of hard that begs to be conquered, cultivated in the original. And when I finished a particularly hard level, I got to see a marathon of my little Meat Boys failing all over the level until I finally got one of them through, and that part is as triumphant as it has ever been. Other dedicated people will conquer this game. I suspect some speedrunner will weave wizardry in their mastery of Super Meat Boy 3D and its levels. That said, this feels like a game in which you have to have more patience that ever to put up with the shenanigans that a fast-paced 3D Meat Boy game presents."
GameReactor (6/10)
"So long story short, Super Meat Boy 3D comes across as a game that doesn't evolve the series but rather takes it down a different path it doesn't need to explore. The theme, the tone, the style, it all still comes across as authentically Super Meat Boy, but the gameplay has a slightly uncomfortable edge where it doesn't quite feel right for one reason or another. Super Meat Boy may be back but this isn't the character in top form."
Polygon (Mixed-Negative)
"For those who just want a classic Super Meat Boy game with a novel concept, Super Meat Boy 3D fills that craving decently enough. There are lots of dastardly new traps, hidden bandages to find in each level, A+ completion times to chase, and even secret levels to hunt down. It’s a robust rage machine for the kind of masochist who welcomes the pain. But as a continued conversation with the platformers that inspired the series, it misses a step in the jump to 3D. And we all know what happens when you miss a step in Super Meat Boy. Splat. Try again."
As things stand, Super Meat Boy 3D has a provisional Metacritic score of 79 for PC, but we assume it'll settle more around the 70-75 mark across all platforms when other reviews start being calculated.
You'll need access to either the Ultimate or PC tiers of Game Pass in order to try this one at launch, or you can just pick it up on the Xbox Store - pre-orders aren't available just yet, but it'll obviously become available to purchase as soon as it goes live on Tuesday. It's an Xbox Play Anywhere title too, so you get the PC version for free!