One of the standout levels from the end of 2.1. Boxing Boxes stands out in my mind primarily for its use of game design principles in its level design. It is still one of the only levels I know that excels at making gameplay that would normally be confusing and frustrating and turns it into something that is predictable and visually clear.

This level introduces gimmicks, something I'm not usually a fan of, in such an intuitive way and it builds on them throughout the level. The first gimmick you come across is the giant square that alternates between slamming the ground and the ceiling. You are introduced to these blocks by observing how they work in the first ship part, and then transitioning into a ball challenge where you have to puzzle your way around using your knowledge of how these blocks work. Unlike moving obstacles in most levels, these blocks move in such a predictable pattern that you can always rely on for the entire runtime of the level. On top of that, they are instantly recognizable with their visually distinct white design and arrow that indicates where the block will move next. This communicates to the player exactly what this object will do, something that almost every video game should be able to do when introducing a new mechanic.

After that, the player is introduced to these spring pads which launch you in the air. Once again, they are represented with a visually distinct design, this time being light blue. You are first shoved into one to demonstrate how the trajectory works, and then you are given a couple more to play with. After a couple of these, you are confronted with a pad that has a spike ceiling directly overhead. This interaction feels quite similar to the part from Back on Track with the jump pads and the spike ceiling. Since the player has almost certainly played Back on Track before, they are intuitively able to avoid this obstacle, or at least recognize it as an introduction to the fact that you can jump over these pads. This is genius level design where the creator is pulling from the player's knowledge of how the game works to make their otherwise confusing level more intuitive and fair which just tickles my brain the right way.

After this, the two mechanics are combined to make just the right amount of chaos. There are a couple more things this level does to spice things up such as the green floating platforms and the ability to fly in the middle of a moving white box, but this review is already getting too long. To wrap things up though, even after all the chaos, this level stands being incredibly fun to pull off. The gameplay is so intuitive despite the amount of moving stuff on the screen and I love it.