Great but overrated

one of the best level ever made

GAMEPLAY (8/10)
Death Moon's gameplay, when taken at face value, is generally fine and tolerable. Initially, I rated it 9/10, primarily due to its excellent song representation and sync. Notable examples include the section from 29-35% and the segment at 93% onward, both of which effectively complement the music. However, I deducted a point due to the buggy sections at 27-29% and 54-67%. The 27-29% section uses inverted slope hitboxes, while the 54-67% section has slightly awkward timings that can easily lead to deaths if the player isn't paying close attention.

DECORATION (9/10)
It goes without saying that this is one of the few levels from the 1.9 era that has aged well and can still rival modern levels. Levels of this quality were rare at the time due to the limited capabilities of the 1.9 editor. To this day, it is astounding how Caustic/Funnygame managed to create something that would be remembered for years to come. The effects and use of symbols enhance the overarching theme of the level. If I were to critique its decoration, however, it would be the block designs in certain sections, which feel somewhat lackluster. That said, this does not significantly impact the overall quality of the level.

There really isn't much to be said that hasn't already been said about Death Moon. With this in mind, I'll give a little figure here; while I believe that quantitative statistics in no way actually determine the quality of a level, I am going to leave this here as a testament to the sheer impact this level has had on the game as a whole.

Being a member of the GDToday team, a year ago we did an "article" ranking the top 100 greatest levels of all time, having surveyed around 400 players from throughout the game's history for the occasion. Each person was asked to pick 25 levels in no particular order, and then rank their top 10 of those in order as an optional bonus.

Out of every level voted, Death Moon was #1, with 102 total votes.

The #2 ranked level, LIMBO, had 72.

To say it won by a landslide would be an understatement.

You can put a couple random abstract symbols in your level and we all know exactly where you got the idea, and a more careful viewer would be able to tell at a glance if they're merely inspired or directly copied. That's how good this level is.