Kips mastered color theory a decade ago and we're all just trying to play catch-up.

Aquafina is very clearly a remake of Fiji, though I don't think it shines under that lens very well. Kips does make efforts to bring more color and detail into the level, which I'd normally appreciate, but I think the darker colors and economic presentation of Fiji are too important to excuse Aquafina for neglecting them. Still, I think Aquafina is a fun time for the most part, with some very pretty backgrounds and Kips's consistently upbeat design style. It definitely hasn't held up the best, with a few bugs and performative Japanese word art assets, but I'm personally all for a level being an obvious product of its time if it's cute about it. I do think the glitch effects in the second half are very out of place, even if they attempt to reflect the vocal chopping in the song, but other than that Aquafina is a perfectly fine level even today, if you don't spend too much thought comparing it to Fiji that is.

the way this was such a severe gag that the palm trees were inescapable for like 3 years straight

girl how do u remake a groundbreaking level and make it even more remarkable and memorable im gagged. some parts have aged slightly but wowwwwwwww. phenomenal