Extremely over-hated in my eyes. I think this was a great "first hard level" to be introduced to the community. Back when this was released, it did feel awesome to beat this, especially with the old robot physics, and I would say this is one of the most memorable 2.2 levels.

The visuals are definitely not great, especially the color choices, but I don't think that was the main focus of the level, so I understand the rather boring decoration choices.

kind of an absolute must-play if you want to turn to the platformer side of beating hard levels

If you want to get good at platformer, Id say this level is a pretty good place to start as it gets you acquainted with more precise jumps and gameplay that are common in extreme platformers.