Rating Curve

Not the best on a technical level and some decisions didn't age the best but this level has a very sincere identity. Everything that was done here was perfected in its sequel.

This is probably more fun to play than to look at, but visually I don't find any really memorable or special qualities to this unfortunately. The first parts were pretty clean but after that it turns into a monochrome mess with designs that feel like watered down versions of better levels. Even then I don't find the first part to be particularly original.

Has a bit of a strange progression but I like what I'm seeing. The colors in the first and last part are a particularly strong point in my opinion and help tie the level together thematically. On the other hand though it makes the parts in the middle feel slightly out of place to me - particularly the part starting at 40 seconds in feels the weakest in contrast to how vibrant and colorful the pulses are in the part prior.

This is still a good level. I like the very old school inspiration mixed with modern designs. It feels like this level could've come out any time in the last and would still be fresh.

The atmosphere does a great job at making the level feel intimidating - it really does feel like you're trying to climb to the highest and most dangerous peak. My main gripe is the very little progression for such suspense portrayed by the song. Although I do like what it does for it (like the aurora which looks really good in my opinion) in the end the level just feels very samey and repetitive the whole way through. I get that it gets faster as you go on but I don't think that's really enough.

I wish it felt more like an ascension rather than the gameplay staying at the same height the whole way - then it really would feel like a climb up and the progression would be more felt.

I'm a bit mixed on this, because as much as I wish the technical display was better I... don't really mind it? This is a very creative level full of charm that knows when to prioritize personality over technical quality.

Admittedly it's hard to get into. Some parts kind of threw me off like the very slow drop after such a good buildup, but somehow it still feels intense. The slowly crumbling assets may not seem like much at first but they do a great job at making the level destroy itself from the storm while not being as fast paced as the earlier parts.

This has some very nice ideas but compositionally it misses the mark for me. There's a very high contrast between backgrounds and foregrounds that leaves a pretty odd impression. I'm particularly referring to the foreground spikes, which really clash with how calculated and patterny the background is, and also combined with the very simple designs just doesn't really go well in my opinion.

There are a few other icks that I'm not really a fan of like the song cuts but I don't think that drags the level down as much as the composition and repetitiveness does. I see some potential here, particularly the particle usage in the backgrounds, but as a level this doesn't really strike me. It's not bad at all though.