Flawless introductory level

While not particularly entralling, I think there is a lot of merit to this level that gets somewhat overlooked. As a first level in a game, you're clearly going to face some challenges in truly establishing your worth, because when a level has this kind of simplicity and easy gameplay, the community will be quick to jump into milking the level for content. Levels like Rage Quit that wildly "boost" the visuals, or extreme demons where the joke is just that the funny easy level is hard now. However, I think Stereo Madness has a vision that really flies under the radar.

Starting with the obvious, the level looks good... like, by 1.0 standards obviously, but even today it doesn't look bad. I think it especially stands out after you play through the map packs and other old levels and realize that a lot of them just look... bad. They have sloppy design, misuse of blocks, and dozens of other issues that cause them to feel terrible. It really makes you appreciate this level more because of that since it's made by a creator who CLEARLY knows what they're doing; if that weren't the case I would be concerned. I think the design is definitely stronger in the first half given the back half is largely made of slabs and chain designs, but for what it's worth that also compliments the song rep so it doesn't ruin it or anything. Still, I can't help but appreciate the suble genius in the beginning, with a lot of the gameplay taking place higher up to accommodate the more trap-based gameplay. Of course, it's difficult to give a particularly high gameplay review on its own since the gameplay does lose its lustre after a while, but it still nails what it needs to, and is certainly not a huge detriment to the overall experience. Overall Stereo Madness is simply an excellent introduction to the game, and I believe we're just too quick to discount it in favor of a hoarde of remakes.

A good introduction to GD I suppose. The two triple spike jumps are pretty mean for this early in the game, but I absolutely love the gradual jump in complexity from the pre-ship to the post-ship cube sections

The third coin is really creative and kind of set the bar high for user coins

One of the best ways to start the official levels - it teaches all the basic cube mechanics such as how to jump, how to know when to stop jumping, how high and long can you jump, etc. it also teaches about blocks, spikes, and even the ship. The structuring of this level for its time is really good as well. Rob really cooked for the first main level.