I usually don't review auto levels or levels this short, but I want to write write about why this is my favorite auto level in the game.

CUBETAPPER is a recreation of the music video for Frums - WAVETAPPER, which features 15 minecraft-like cubes of different colors which light up and display symbols in correlation with an instrument of the song (we don't talk about the gray cube). They all come in at different times and take breaks as they need to to work with the song. It's already a really creative music video, but Epsilon finds ways to improve it in his recreation and also add his own creative value.

One problem that the WAVETAPPER music video suffers from is that it feels a bit too still and lifeless. Visually, it is as simple as it can get to a point where it holds the music video back. CUBETAPPER fixes this problem with some subtle camera shaking and lens circle usage throughout, as well as making the off-white background darker at the bridge. WAVETAPPER also has zero movement going on, all of the color changes and visuals are confined to their respective, stationary cubes. CUBETAPPER's approach of using GD cubes is implemented really well. Most of the cubes physically move then they play their respective noises. The default cube hits its own sides with its core for the percussion, the icons that resemble faces move like they are singing their vocal samples, it all feels natural. Some cubes which are not playing at the moment will go off screen and recruit more cubes, filling up the screen as the level progresses and making the song's progression easier to visualize. Other cubes that are not playing are still animated and moving as though they are actually alive. Some look around, blink, and the 1000 star cube even stretches in place. They're also all just some of the best cube recreations I've seen in a GD level, they're almost 1:1. All these factors combined make CUBETAPPER interesting to watch the whole time and never boring.

One of my favorite details, which I did not notice until watching WAVETAPPER and CUBETAPPER back-to-back, is that the glitch-like effects that appear around the cubes in CUBETAPPER at the final chorus are all recreations of the symbols that appear on their respective cubes in WAVETAPPER at the same point in the song. Not only is it is a really neat reference, it's also just a sick effect as well. I also love how the replication of the phone dialing in WAVETAPPER is recreated perfectly as well, down to what numbers are pressed at what time and what the numbers translate to in text (which displays onscreen at the final part). It's clear a lot of effort went into this and that Epsilon has a lot of respect for the original music video.

All in all, I'm glad this level got as far as it did, even to the 2024 GD Awards nomination. It just does so many things right and is a truly well-crafted recreation of something outside of GD.

I don't really play a lot of Auto levels, but CUBETAPPER stuck out for being my favorite one to come out from last year. I know that it's pretty much just a recreation of the Frums music video, but the super cool interpretation of it, as well as the really nicely animated cubes that you see throughout the level, make it super interesting, and quite unique. A little sad that this didn't perform that well in the GD Awards, but I'm a firm believer that it deserved its nomination, and that regardless, this level was super creative & neat!