So steeped in nostalgia one can pick out individual influences (like Dorabae's striking color work, Yume Nikki's RPG Maker-flavored surrealism, or Magritte's unorthodox object sensibility) with presumably reasonable accuracy, and uses said nostalgia to craft dozens of immersive, memorable sequences that manage to still feel ephemeral even despite their generous runtime. That's partially because of how easily these timeless yet abstract visuals evoke specific memories - of course, the 8-bit aesthetic is reminiscent of earlier levels and games that the average GD player might have their own experiences with. The snaking robot part, for example, reminds me of a day my now-lover and I spent playing browser games in high school economics class. It's this reliance on external experiences that makes 9Lives difficult to pin down and even more so to judge. The nostalgic atmosphere is obviously intentional and expertly executed, so I'm more than willing to hand out points for my own daydreaming here, but I'm sure I'd be almost as charitable even if I were to judge the physical level's immersion alone.