PETA has turned its videogame parody talents to the indie hit Super Meat Boy, reimagining the titular slab of meat as a rotting chunk of evil who must be stopped once and for all by the heroic Super Tofu Boy.
Super Meat Boy is a 2D platformer for the PC and Xbox 360, with Wii and Mac versions on the way, in which players step into the boots of a small cube of meat who must save his girlfriend, Bandage Girl, from the evil Dr. Fetus. But now there’s a new version of the game for the most die-hard of the “meat is murder” crowd: Super Tofu Boy, which recasts the action to turn Meat Boy into a bad boy.
“Meat Boy is a vengeful, bloody cube of rotting animal flesh. And he smells,” the PETA website explains. “After a short-lived fling with Bandage Girl (sympathy dates, really), he became enraged when he was dumped for the tasty and satisfying Tofu Boy. Once Bandage Girl slept with Tofu Boy and saw all that he had to offer, it was bye-bye beef, hello bean curd.”
But Meat Boy doesn’t take this turn of events very well: he snaps and kidnaps Bandage Girl! Now it’s up to the sexy, strong, oh-so-healthy Tofu Boy to save his love and deliver a righteous, soy-based beatdown on his putrescent nemesis.
Gameplay echos that of Super Meat Boy fairly closely, although the PETA version is much shorter, with only ten levels on offer. It also serves up a heapin’ helpin’ of pro-vegan programming like “Vegetarians make better lovers” and “LOL @ Meat Boy’s bad breath.” Downloadable versions of the game are available for the PC and Mac, while those who just want to take it for a quick spin can play a Flash version online at features.peta.org.
Regular readers will likely know that this isn’t PETA’s first foray into the world of videogames; in 2008 it put out Mama Kills Animals, a parody of the famous Cooking Mama series, and last year used World of Warcraft to stage an event protesting the Canadian seal hunt.
Thanks to LavaLampBamboo for the tip.