Not sure how much of a hot take this is, but I actually think Spacelocked II is a better level than its predecessor. Nearly every aspect here is more polished than the latter.

The gameplay is not as awkward, and while its even more learny in exchange, this level still gets highly consistent, and I found it fairly enjoyable to learn as well, even despite the decoration being a bit overwhelming in parts like the dual. Speaking of that dual, while I died a lot there while practicing it, I managed to actually fluke past it from 53%, not dying to it a single time from 0! I think that just goes to show how consistent this level can get when you put in the time, its really satisfying to pull it all off. It does occasionally have an annoying timing (such as that cube jump at 15%), but my general consistency with the level more than made up for those.

The decoration is also of high quality! This is probably once of the last true Lazer/Manix styled levels of this era to be released, and man do I miss it a lot. Spacelocked II seems to nail this style better than most other levels. Its detailed, vibrant, colorful, full of energy, and the boss has a cooler, more expressive design. The boss even seems to have a better variety of attacks, addressing my nitpick from the first level. And despite being released back in 2017, I really don’t find it dated at all!

This is a great level to playthrough if you want to play something learny (and not flow based) that rewards with high consistency and has high quality decoration of an old, nostalgic style. Asides from the level ending with a lacking robot part once again to pad out the length, Spacelocked II is quite the spectacle.

I think this level was the tipping point for Manix/Lazerblitz style where public perception and interest would start to decline for this style. I think it makes sense because this was like the most concentrated Manix/Lazerblitz stuff I've ever seen, and it is impossible to follow. There's just too much going on, and I think it was this sentiment that caused the decline in interest for the Manix/Lazerblitz style.

Think about it- Manix, BIANOX, and Parallax folded into design style, LazerBlitz, Edicts, and Elanox are gone, Platnuu, Xyriak, and Helpegasus are doing more tech/representational work, WHErwin is doing his own thing, etc. This is like the last hurrah for this style, after this people would start to jump ship to greener pastures. It's quite the phenomenon, as the only other comparable event like this was the massive core exodus from creators like durianhead and pocke. Still, quite a phenomenon how creators will move between styles and subcommunities over time.