Rating Curve

Wow... someone that actually doesn't hate the level in this website. That's kinda rare. (Edit: Oh... never mind... I guess)

Anyway, yes, I consider Abducted to be a good level, and honestly one where I can understand it winning the Space Gauntlet Contest. I mean... to be fair, I was pretty shocked when the level was first teased, cause it looked crazy good, and I really like where it combines a bunch of things (comic book, alien invasion, intergalactic space party) and put them all into one. Aside from it's visuals though, I'm noticing that the gameplay is where people mainly take issue with it due to how much baby proofed this level is, and while I can understand that it doesn't really boat well as a gauntlet level, allow me to justify it.

This level being in a gauntlet makes Abducted earn the title for The Most Beginner Friendly level in the game. Ideally, if you're someone who is a lot more seasoned at the game, you're definitely not gonna like this level, but if a beginner were to be playing this level, this level would 100% be their favorite level. They'll notice that some of the levels that are in the gauntlet could potentially be out of their own reach, but then they look at this, and they'll love it because it's something that is easily accessible to them, and something they can have fun with without them having to worry about making a mistake. Obviously, as time goes on where they explore more of the game and they won't think this anymore, but as a starting point for a beginner, it'll stay as their favorite for quite the while, and I like to consider that the level's main benefit. Also... I like the idea of giving the player free will to either play the level or not. Either you can actually have fun playing the damn level, or you can choose to just sit back and enjoy all the crazy stuff that is going on. Granted, it's still rough around the edges, but it can be a fun idea if pulled off properly. Even then, the level itself is actually fun to actually play.

Overall though, I think Abducted has a lot of benefits being a level made for a gauntlet. It is beginner friendly, it gives you player freedom, and it's vibes and ideas are incredibly fun. You may not see it in the same light as I do, but if you can understand what I am (at the very least) trying to portray with this review, I think you'll definitely think this differently with this level. I like it personally, and it's one that I can understand as to why it won the Space Gauntlet Contest.

This level honestly hits a lot differently if you're using the Separate Dual Icons mod, and the player 2 Icon Set is one of your oldest sets that you remember. I did this with my secondary and my first icon set from 2.0 as I've been using the two colors since I first started, and with the mod in mind, it makes it feel like your oldest icon set is confronting with your current one.

I really like the idea the level had, and honestly, I do wish there were more of levels that pulled off this kind of gimmick.

Bright, colorful, and very vibey. I honestly think this is one of the best NC levels we've had. Can't rate this higher though because I do think the gameplay is pretty wack at a lot of parts. I do wish it was balanced just a bit better, cause this is something that I can see myself going in the future.

It's one of those levels in which I take one good look at a post on Twitter, and then I'm just fully convinced that I wanna try it out myself. SayItBack is quite the visual marble, and it definitely feels the most apparent. The effects in this level are unlike any other effect that you'd normally see in a GD level. It's genuinely so crazy good. Each transition from part to another is complimented by an effect, and it goes over the top quite a lot. This is just me saying this visually, cause gameplay wise... oh boy, this level is a learny level landmine. It's really just a matter of knowing when to click, especially in the robot part where the arrow indicators tell you how much you need to hold when jumping. Sometimes it's either one click, other times it's holding. The gameplay in this case scenario, yeah it's hard but at the same time, not really all that intimidating. I'd say SayItBack really is a very effect heavy level that compliments quite the learny gameplay. It's very cool on a visual aspect, and learning it can be fun.

While I know a lot of people really dislike cherryteam for mostly being a "soulless corp" and their levels not having some form of originality to them, there's honestly a pretty decent selection of cherryteam levels that I actually like. This is one of them, and honestly to some, their most original. I had sights on trying this because I thought it personally fit my skillset, and the gameplay looked pretty fun. After trying it, yeah I did indeed like the level. The duals especially are incredibly fun to learn and get it all down in one run. Granted, there were some timings I personally didn't like, but that's just a minor nitpick of mine.