Maybe I'm too stupid but it was really hard for me to understand how the gameplay works in some parts. There were at least two sections of the level where I found a click pattern that worked, but then it just worked like half of the time for some reason.

Even before the NCS Gauntlet was released and the contest winners announced, I've found this level to be one of the most intriguing and one of my favourite entries to be ever made for the gauntlet. At the time, I played on a low-end phone, so I wasn't able to experience the level myself, but all the showcases on YouTube were enough to get me hooked. I finally managed to beat it after transitioning to PC several weeks ago.

The visual style might be Next Cab Soon's strongest aspect, and part of the reason why I like it so much is that it's very distinct from all the other contest entries and, in general, levels that became popular in the community - while all those (including Arclia's other Mythic-rated level Astralith) strive for a realistic style, Next Cab Soon takes a completely different turn and instead features a very unique cartoon-esque style. Of course, being a megacollab, there's quite a lot of inconsistencies between all the different creators' parts, but it still feels very well put together, and it's very clear that all the creators involved worked very closely at the team, as hinted by the fact that there isn't a single visually unappealing transition in the level. I also like the fact that, despite looking fairly simple at first glance, this level has a ton of small details that give it further charm; if you were to list every single tiny detail and inside joke in the level, it would quite literally take an eternity.

The gameplay is OK, nothing special, but that doesn't take away much from the overall charm of the level due to how much weight the decoration bears. It just plays like the average Easy Demon you'd see in the Featured page or as a Weekly Demon, and while it does feel awkward at times, being an Easy Demon certainly makes it less of an issue. The only times the level would feel unreadable are during some of the transitions, but otherwise, the decoration style allows for the gameplay to be perfectly comprehensible regardless of the amount of detail the level has - which can't be said for some of the more realistic-styled levels out there.

And of course, the coin - you can't just talk about this level without giving the coin a shoutout - is an absolute masterpiece, at least from a technical standpoint. The alternate routes are sometimes hard to notice, since there's no visual indication for them whatsoever, which is also why I haven't got it. Another issue is that you can simply get the coin for free no matter what if you simply watch the cutscene at the end, which might have been due to a technical limitation, but I think I recall GD Colon mentioning that it was completely intentional after reaching out to the creators of this level. The fact that they've managed to pull off a meta-coin of such scale is still fascinating though, and it's certainly secured its position as one of the greatest user coins the game has ever seen.

Overall, Next Cab Soon deserves a solid 9/10 rate from me (it's not like my opinion is important or anything), it's a very charming level with a lot of love put into it, and the good aspects of it certainly outweigh all of its downsides.

big fan of cartoon styled levels like these, although i will say the second half is much better for me. obviously it looks amazing and the gp works i guess

Probably some of the best camera use I know of