Rating Curve

(Originally written March 12, 2025)

Somehow, the gameplay being entirely right to left is the least interesting part of this level. Xiron is a creator I've been following far more distantly than I should. They've been by far the most notable design creator since they released SayItBack in 2023, and for very good reason. At first blush, SayItBack looks like that kind of lightning-in-a-bottle level that a creator never manages to match, but Xiron's follow-up has been great, with plus+, RIVE, and now this.

I'd be surprised if Xiron doesn't have any kind of motion design background, because the designs in Two Steps Back are flawless. I'd be impressed by similar art being made in After Effects, so the fact that this is being done in Geometry Dash is mind-blowing--and a phone, no less! Thin line art in particular is very impressive and looks great in GD, it's incredible seeing it so well-done here, particularly with the ship part at 66%. Initially, it feels like a weak point of the level, and then the radial lines pop in and transform the space; it's honestly reminiscent of elegant Swiss watches.

One part I especially love is the short title card at 14%. Those waving lines are so mesmerizing. The typography here also calls attention to the fact that fJud also worked on this level, and while it's not stated which creator made what, it's clear to me that fJud had a hand in this. Though, overall, the two creators' styles mesh fantastically, to the point where this level really feels like a solo.

It was surprising to me to see "[#2] TWO STEPS BACK preview" uploaded on Xiron's channel even before SayItBack's release. It takes dedication to keep a level alive for that long, so Xiron's commitment to these great ideas is super admirable. I'm sure there's plenty more hidden in Xiron's vault, so I hope we'll see more of that spirit in the future.

Two Steps Back is such a fantastic level, absolutely surpassing SayItBack in my eyes. As a motion graphics artist, it kills me to see motion design slept on so hard among the Geometry Dash community, but Xiron continues crushing it. I'm hoping to see motion design's use in GD levels expand, and I think this level is going to move the needle in that direction. Two Steps Back will absolutely be a source of inspriation for other creators.

(Originally written February 8, 2025)

BUSSIN is one of the worst Geometry Dash levels I have ever played. It's obnoxious, soulless, derivative, and just obsessed with the idea of chasing "quality". The song is awful and annoying, and the generic gameplay does nothing to help with the level's enjoyability. It's a soulless, bland product of a level.

Which is why I'm shocked that connot's follow-up to BUSSIN is so great. boogie is oozing with fun and whimsy. It's flashy, but its flashiness isn't where the substance of the level lies. The heart of this level is in simple, cute, colorful fun.

A lot of people have called boogie "BUSSIN for girls", and to be honest, that's kind of affirming to me in a way--but the comparison isn't inaccurate. It's definitely possible that I'm being pandered to, but that doesn't make the level not cute. It's over-the-top, but in a way that isn't obnoxious.

And boogie knows where to tone it down. Being a 2 star, there's a lot less pressure to decipher the gameplay--you can just relax and let the level play itself, pretty much. And the places where the level is slightly more involved and requires actually clicking to avoid obstacles (astonishing for a 2 star, honestly), the visuals are chill and so pleasant. Essentially, you can actually see what the fuck is going on, which is a plus.

My favorite part of the level is absolutely the colorful paper craft part. It's a style that's been done many, many times before, but connot takes it to a new level with 2.2 features. It's simply beautiful, and I couldn't hate it if I wanted to.

I'm so surprised to find that boogie is one of my favorite levels of 2.2 so far. Everything comes together to tickle my brain in the perfect way. Are there things I'd change about it? Yeah, absolutely, but I can't ignore everything that's so appealing about it. This level rocks.

Also it helps that the song isn't annoying as fuck like BUSSIN

(Originally written November 30, 2024)

CHEERLEADER uses a song that's not on Newgrounds, also called a NONG. This can make it harder for a level to get rated, as well as making it less accessible, which means creators tend to avoid using them. This level proves that those downsides are beyond worth it.

What manifests when creators choose whatever song they want to use, instead of limiting themselves to what's whitelisted on Newgrounds, is a level oozing with passion. Waaf seems to be a big Porter Robinson fan, and it really shows.

There's so much care put into every inch of this level; the designs, shapes, gameplay, colors--everything harmonizes perfectly. The creative gameplay in particular is exceptional, and the choice to make the camera stay still on the vertical axis makes for unique and fun gameplay while allowing the visuals to breathe and be seen in their full glory.

I can't help but get lost in CHEERLEADER's gorgeous electronic wonderland. It's a harmonious masterpiece, and there's nothing I can point to in it that isn't perfect.

(Originally written October 25, 2024)

For seven years after 2.1 released, 2.0 felt like it just ended. It didn't seem like that long ago that we didn't have the rotate trigger; the spider gamemode was still brand new. But the release of 2.2 shattered that misconception. The limitations of 2.0 were long behind us, and the editor had become so powerful that levels made in 2.0, a revolutionary update, started looking dated. Levels made in 2.0 started feeling nostalgic.

This level is a testament to the transient beauty of the 2.0 era. Its decoration is simple but perfectly executed, from the monochrome rainbow color scheme to the clean semitransparent block design. Put simply, this level makes me feel like a kid again. It's simple, beautiful, and wonderful.

Of course I have to mention the main gimmick of the level; entire parts of the level move around the player to give the illusion of free movement. This was a very popular gimmick in 2.0, and it's done exceptionally well here. The modern 2.2 elements are used sparingly in ways that amplify the aesthetic in a very cool way, particularly with the free dual mode making the reflection effect much more convincing.

rAiNbOw OrIgIn is one of my favorite levels of 2.2. It's a beautiful nostalgic journey while using modern objects and techniques very tastefully. Besides being a bit derivative and repetitive at times, I really don't have a whole lot of negative things to say. It accomplished exactly what it set out to do, making it a treat for long-time players.

(Originally written September 23, 2024)

This level is a perfect example to me of how watching a video of a level is totally different from actually playing it. I first saw DIOMA as a showcase on Viprin's channel, and I thought it was a pretty cool space-themed level, nothing to write home about; then I played the level.

Subwoofer is the first creator I've seen to perfectly nail camera control. There is not a single thing I would change about it in DIOMA; utility-wise, it's perfect--no component of the default camera has been sacrificed, making the level, dare I say, very sightreadable. At the same time, however, it is used in great effect to amplify intense moments--it pulses in sync with impactful notes and tilts forward/back to emphasize speed. In general, the music sync with is exceptional, except for the final cube section, which is by far my least favorite part of the level. It's just straight up off-sync. Like, I guess Subwoofer wanted all the jumps to be buffers, as many orbs in sequence like that can be inconsistent, but this results in the requirement to click much earlier than the beat. It just feels really bad to play, and watch, to be honest.

There is much to enjoy about DIOMA, however. I'm always a sucker for parallax, and the particles coming off of the blocks in the first part that travel towards the vanishing point just look really cool. Beyond that, the first few parts do a great job of selling the feeling of being inside a research computer. The story of the level as I see it is the best efforts of great scientists failing to save the planet from this cataclysmic black hole disaster. It seems as though they were the ones who started the problem in the first place--every part before the big city part present as the inside of a technologic laboratory. It seems as though the black holes the scientists are studying got released into the world in some horrible accident. Regardless of what Subwoofer had in mind, I find the story, setting, and theme very compelling. It is not a generic space-themed level.

The escape into the city is a huge turning point in the level, in design and gameplay. The interior of the laboratory feels somewhat restrictive and linear, and afterwards the level becomes much more open, utilizing gamemodes with more freedom of movement, allowing for a real feeling of openness.

My favorite specific element of the level is the light blue, sort of holographic blocks in the laboratory part. They do a great job of tying the laboratory to the previous cyberspace areas. From a zoomed out perspective, DIOMA is a very interesting level that packs a lot of pleasing and compelling details. It has fantastic design and beautiful effects, but the gameplay, despite my earlier praises, is still boring at times.

It seems as though I'll only start repeating myself more if I continue with this review, so I'm going to end it here. The reason I felt the need to make this review in the first place is because it taught me how important actually playing a level is before forming an opinion on it.

(Originally written July 21, 2024)

LIMEADE is a level I'm surprised I don't like more, because there's a lot of elements that I really love, but there are some parts of the level that, ironically, sour the experience for me. "Sweet and sour" is actually a very appropriate way to describe the level, funnily enough. I'll start by describing the sour half.

As I saw a little bit of AudieoVisual's WIP streams for this level, I was a little disappointed to see the use of the pixellate shader for the background of the first ball part. It's very reminiscent of how iTMG uses a pixellation effect for backgrounds in their videos, so much so that honestly could be a point of inspiration. But where it works for iTMG and where it doesn't for AudieoVisual is the context. iTMG makes videos about Minecraft, so the pixellation integrates the motion graphics in a really cool way. This isn't a review of an iTMG video though, so I'll say that it doesn't fit in LIMEADE at all, even as a contrast. LIMEADE is poppy, smooth, and fluid, and to me, the pixel shader breaks up that flow.

There are a handful of details I dislike, like how the Blast Processing blocks (for lack of a better term) used towards the middle of the level have an abrupt cutoff that looks intentional, but my biggest gripe is the gameplay and difficulty progression. The first part, the upward ship, is a really cool opening, but after playing it for the tenth time, it gets a little stale in terms of gameplay. It wouldn't be out of place in a 2-4 star level, and this is an 8 star level. This is something I've noticed in another of AudieoVisual's levels, CUT DEEP, where the first wave is impossible to die to, so while it looks cool, it gets very boring for a demon level.

This wouldn't be as much of a problem if the dual towards the end of the level wasn't such a big difficulty spike. I understand the choice to use a mirror portal for this part, because I think the level definitely could have benefited from a direction change--making the first ship part go up was a great decision that made the level stand out, but the mirror portal ain't it, man. I think it, or a camera rotation to make the part go up or down, would have been more effective if the part wasn't quite so hard. Despite the click indicators, the readability is a little tough, and I encountered a few bugs where I shouldn't have died, which was somewhat frustrating. This dual is definitely what brings the level up to an 8 star, and I think nerfing it to bring the level down to something like a 6 star would've improved the experience.

Onto the sweet part of the review! AudieoVisual's foray into art levels has been great to watch, I love the various art components and how they've been integrated into the level. The citrus fruits, obviously, are used heavily and are used as obstacles for a few parts, which I thought was really cute, and I really like the martini glass that you drop into and float out of; it really enhances the flavor of the level, in more ways than one.

Another detail I like, though less flavorful in one aspect, is the very tasteful yet impactful use of particles. I love the rotating stars that splash onto the screen in the first part, and the floating background particles in the background of the first ball are such a perfect emulation of a bubbling drink--it almost makes my mouth water.

Since this is AudieoVisual we're talking about, there's a lot of kinetic text, and I think this is always a really nice detail to include, but it's executed very well here--in particular the squash and stretch on "zesty", it is absolutely delectable. Besides that, not much else to say here; great as usual.

I could go on describing every individual component of the level, but I don't want to write that much, so I'll zoom out to a bigger picture perspective. If I were to describe LIMEADE in one word, it would be "juicy". While I'm not the biggest fan of the song, the level synergizes with it extremely well; it's so poppy, colorful, and saturated. I feel like I'm a kid in the early 90's on a hot and humid summer day cooling off with an intensely sweet can of lemonade--the vibes are excellently communicated.

The single piece of media this level reminded me of the most was a poem from the character Selmers in Night in the Woods, and I'll conclude with that:

Sometimes I like fruit snacks

Out by

The train tracks

A juice box

And headphones

I enter

The juice zone.

(Originally written July 15, 2024)
fJud has been a creator I've been following for a little bit, he started creating relatively recently in the grand scheme of GD; I think only a year or two ago, and he's improved quickly in the short time he's been creating. This level, jud travel, is a huge landmark of his improvement. His style evolved from modern style; however, fJud's levels take the that style in an entirely new direction. His block design is always custom, often recreating real life scenes in a very appealing sort of cartoony way. The linelessness is I think one of the few indicators of his style's origins, and despite its vestigiality, it works very well in this context.

One thing that fJud has popularized is kinetic lyric text, and as per usual, he uses it here. This is always something I enjoy in GD levels, as it emphasizes the importance of music to the story and atmosphere of the level. Of course, I can't mention lyrics without mentioning the songs he chooses to use in his levels. Jud loves Good Kid. It's a little surprising seeing how his levels have inspired arguable "copycats". He has a lot of influence with this levels--largely because like, they're just really good. The use of Good Kid songs in GD levels has absolutely exploded upon fJud's rise in popularity, and I'm here for it.

A unique aspect of this level in regards to music is that it uses multiple songs, something that is only possible due to new tools in 2.2. Whenever a new update drops, creators have a hard time restraining themselves, and because of that, I haven't seen any level use multiple songs effectively except for this one--part of its effectiveness is that every song is by the same artist, but what's interesting about the choice to use multiple songs is how it relates to the level's name: jud travel. The title is playing on a trend that is much older than I thought it was now that I think about it. Travel levels were popular around late 2.0 and have occasionally made headway throughout 2.1. If you're not aware, they are just really long levels that bring the player on a journey. Lonely Travel was the inciting incident for this trend, created by legendary creator FunnyGame. The length of Lonely Travel, being over 5 minutes if I remember correctly, is what made it special, which is something many people wanted to replicate.

What's interesting is that through the use of multiple songs, jud travel feels like a travel level. It's only two minutes, not an incredibly long level, but it feels like a long journey because of all the unique songs--you are taken through many different places in a surprisingly short amount of time. However, this wouldn't be as effective as it is if each part of the level was not so cohesive yet distinct. Each part feels like it's a part of the same story, and each piece is wonderfully constructed. My favorite part is 36 to 51. It masterfully captures the exact vibes I have tried to capture in some of my own levels. I feel like I've just moved to a new city and I've ended up at a fun rooftop party on a beautiful summer night. There's a murmur of the guests talking, and I can feel the comforting cool breeze relieving me from the warm air. Every part of the level focuses on a different specific feeling, and yet they still manage to take you on a cohesive journey. It is a fantastic level and it's one of fJud's best.