You die a lot. If you're the type of person who begins to hate themselves if they don't play a game well, then don't buy this game, you'll end up suffering massively. However, the game itself does almost nothing to punish you for dying (except for the retro levels, which I think are stupid). The game essentially sits you down, holds your hands, and tells you that everything is going to be ok. You respawn in about a second, there are no lives (again, except for in the retro levels), and the levels are extremely short when done right, only taking about 10 seconds to complete. Meat boy is a tiny bit slippery, but that's barely noticable. The story, of course, is worthless, as it only exists to give a reason for you dying so much.
Oh, yeah, and to give you an indication of how hard the game is, around 3% of players have beaten the Forest without dying. That's the first world, and the acheivement allows retries.

You die a lot. If you're the type of person who begins to hate themselves if they don't play a game well, then don't buy this game, you'll end up suffering massively. However, the game itself does almost nothing to punish you for dying (except for the retro levels, which I think are stupid). The game essentially sits you down, holds your hands, and tells you that everything is going to be ok. You respawn in about a second, there are no lives (again, except for in the retro levels), and the levels are extremely short when done right, only taking about 10 seconds to complete. Meat boy is a tiny bit slippery, but that's barely noticable. The story, of course, is worthless, as it only exists to give a reason for you dying so much. Oh, yeah, and to give you an indication of how hard the game is, around 3% of players have beaten the Forest without dying. That's the first world, and the acheivement allows retries.