Rating Curve

definitely way too inconsistent and chaotic to be properly coherent Level but still a ton of great parts in here, at least a third of them which is a pretty good hit rate for something entering ultracollab territory. inherently really interesting historically for its stated purpose of ‘creating an early 2.2 level’, in the same vein of the infamous early 2.0, and now that we’re a year and a bit into 2.2 (imo this we’re probably still in early 2.2) i can more accurately judge it on that goal. and i’m not really sure, i don’t think i could guess that was a theme or a prompt to it, but it definitely stands out in some especially liberal uses of camera and shaders and new objects. what stands out the most is that everyone involved is having a total blast making it. even if it can blend together into sludge at times (as twister collabs sometimes can, and not strictly for being generic but the sheer variety and incoherency), it still stands out as a positively euphoric experience. which like, should prompt a higher rating but it’s like, a Lot. i definitely wouldn’t mind seeing more levels in this format though

one not really appreciated even by people interested in the era (not me for a while either, had to have it pointed out to me), another super influential early 1.9 design level. one step removed from darnoc’s chaoz impact, the 45 degree slope structures are a motif that appear again and again, most overtly in pyromaniac, breakthrough, and potentially even nine circles’ iconic ship, all of which of course are super influential levels of their own

unfortunately a level i like. rly as simple as i think it's a great execution of the song representation and the theme it's going for. this came out decently early into the.. whatever this trend is called, and i'm not and will not be on tiktok/yt shorts so that influences my view of it as well, this was prolly my first time seeing it combined with drift phonk. but i find it sells the 'sinister aspect hidden in cultural memory' that makes the cursed troll face trend interesting at all, instead of the intentionally nonsensical brainrot way it's presented now. its a 6 for me because i don't really like this style of glowy almost layouts but for what it is it's one of my favorites of the style, and i feel like it's the perfect choice for the theme, with the rhythmic and repetitive song and the ironic detachment/carelessness/casual menace. and there's some specific song representation choices i think work really well, the little times the song drops out, the spider with the really 'choked out' manipulated sample in the background like how spider gameplay 'chokes out' the things between the ground and ceiling, the swirly eyes in that part half way through, the genuinely unsettling end screen. def a level i think about a lot even if it's something i'd never make in a million years