Rating Curve

one of my favorites of all time

In paint planet, we are taken to a world of little creatures and color fountains. While a lot of people will find the decoration overall a bit amateurish, I think that's for the better and clearly isn't the main focus of the level. I especially like the pulsing flowers in the bushes. Still, it helps set the scenary very well: the spikey mountains in the background along with the ground color are not reminscent of any place on Earth, which helps set the level in a very distant planet as the name indicates.

The name of the level also connects to the theme very clearly in the first act: as the player crosses the fountains, made of primary colors, it starts to paint the ground and the obstacles of that same color. Moreover, when it crosses another fountain it starts to paint the mixture of those two colors (secondary colors) for a little bit, as the trail slowly fades to the color of the second one. This color mixture concept will become a big part of the story in the second half.

Soon, we are introduced to small colored creatures that come out of the ground. They're extremely well animated, and from a technical standpoint that's the best part of the level. As the player progresses the level, a big wall appears, and the only way to get through it is to press a button as indicated by the sign. This, however, unlocks a "forbidden area" of the planet, releasing a wave of black fog that starts to cover up the level. This fits the song very well too, as it also starts turning darker.

When the fog goes away, you can find that the friendly creatures are covered on black. Black is not exactly a color, but rather the abscense of it, which indicates that the creatures lost their colors and they need to get them back. This whole act is told using speech bubbles: they don't contain any words, but rather drawings that can be universally understood, which I find to be a wise decision. While the red, blue and yellow creatures can get their colors back by bathing in the fountains, the other three cannot as there are no fountains that produce their color. The expressions and faces of the creatures are very well animated as mentioned earlier.

The next part is retrospective: the player is transported in a flashback to the idea of mixing colors between the fountains. Using this concept, the creatures can get their colors back by bathing in two fountains and mixing their colors together. The last act shows exactly that: the level mirrors itself and now the player starts to travel back where it started. Keep in mind this is a 2.1 level, so this had to be made using mirror portals.

The last part also becomes more vivid: the blocks become brighter and start to move around, while the creatures jump around happily. The level ends in full circle, exiting the planet back from where you came from.

This is definitely one of my favorite levels of all time and it really, I mean REALLY deserves more attention.

I do hold some personal connection to this level (it was the first demon I ever beat), but that aside: this is one of the best levels of all time

revolutionary open-world level. the first, best, and last of its kind

one of the most iconic and influential levels of all time

Since the first time I saw this level being started I knew that, when it got finished, it would be considered one of the all time greatest. I'm glad I wasn't wrong. This feels like the culmination of what the neodesign movement could achieve ever since it started.

While not my favorite deffy level (although I still hold it very close to my heart) it's impossible to deny the perfection of it in almost every aspect. It's the kind of level any side of the community can easily enjoy.

there will never be a level like this ever again