Rating Curve

THIS IS SO COOL!!!!!! I've always been a sucker for both platformer levels and searching games like this (I used to be obsessed with Find The games on Roblox) and this does it SO well.

The level consists of 10 stages all with completely different decoration where you must find where your icon is placed within the stage. You move a giant red square around the screen and if your icon is within the square, you can select it and move onto the next stage! The decoration between each level is SUPER varied and never looks the same as a previous stage, which I absolutely love. The levels themselves aren't too hard and it's relatively easy to find your icon, but I think that can be excused due to it's intent to be a 2 moon LOL

I also really love the idea of having your other dual icon ALSO be hidden on the stage, usually in a slightly more difficult spot in order to get the coins! It's a really fun way to implement coins with also keeping the same idea of the level. I also really like the sparkly blocks which allow you to unlock the cube after you hit 5 of them, it utilizes the other jump key so it's not just unused across the whole level and also makes you search harder than you would for a normal icon, as sometimes the sparkles are hard to see with the bright and energetic visuals!

find the cube is a super fun and interesting take on a platformer level and I'm honestly SHOCKED this isn't rated yet, this is absolutely something I could see being rated now. It was very fun to find all the cubes as well as the coins and I really hope this can be their first rate! :D

The first level of the very renowned Element series hosted by GW, and a pretty damn good way to start it if I would say so myself! Element 1 H was released during the first week of 1.6, and for being so early, I feel it uses its features quite nicely. The level is heavily memory focused, filled with tons of fakes and blind orbs, which was pretty standard for levels of this difficulty back then. However, it stands out nicely from other demons from this time period due to it's very interesting gameplay, theming, and decoration.

Element 1 H uses super interesting structuring and gameplay choices to keep the level interesting the entire way through, with some notable parts being the first ship where you fly up and down through a tunnel utilizing ship portals to move the camera up and down, as well as the mini cube which repeats the same staircase over and over again, yet each time you get to it you have to do something different. Gameplay was very limited back then due to the much lesser amount of objects to use, but I feel that Element 1 H is able to use them in a super intriguing way that keeps the level both difficult and fun!

Now the decoration is what I want to talk about mostly in this level. It's SUPER cool for being this early into 1.6, with one of the main style choices being these really interesting block designs with 4 rotated bush objects on each other. It creates a very cool square spiral pattern and is something I've only seen used in this level. Element 1 H has so many creative decoration choices that just makes it stand out to any other level at this time, such as the pulsing exclamation parts in the first ship part. Arco used two exclamation marks and rotated them horizontally over each other to create a super interesting pulsing object that looks SUPER cool for being such an old level, this level is genuinely the only time I've ever seen this used. The other decoration choice I really like is the pathway that you follow in the ship parts later in the level. There's a line of blocks that you have to follow which when combined with the fading and entering on the sides, makes this super cool effect that I absolutely love. I'm also a very big fan of the cloud part where the gameplay consists of only orbs. It feels very open and is very fun gameplay wise!

Element 1 H is overall just an extremely cool level for being made so early into 1.6, and absolutely would stand out even if it wasn't the first level in the Element series. Very cool!! :D

I learned about Edictz as a creator very recently due to their very....... interesting 2.2 levels to say the least. I was surprised to find out that they had some rated levels, with KURSK being one of them. KURSK was a level released in 2018 and was relatively uninteresting as a random minute and a half long 3 star. However, over the past couple of years, it has recieved MANY updates and now stands at a staggering 6 MINUTES LONG. It has about 200,000 objects and feels just as surreal as their recent levels.

KURSK is extremely strange visual wise, with every part seemingly changing to a completely different style, going from completely empty, to having TONS of objects on the screen at once. What I will say however, is that it fits the song extremely well. When the song is slow, the level is much more slow paced and empty, but when the song speeds up, the screen is flashed blinding white and really shows it's intensity. The level is overall just a complete mess of cohesion, with many parts utilizing 1.0 blocks for block design for one part and then being completely early 2.1 for the next.

There isn't much to say that I haven't already said about the level. KURSK is an anomaly of a level and has some of the strangest level design choices I've ever seen. It is extremely unoptimized and feels like a magic tab level, but in a way, I kinda love it LOL. It feels like True Values of Life if it was a solo level, every part is an enigma and completely different to the last and keeps the level as an interesting experience despite it being a six minute long 3 star. I think it's very cool and I enjoy it a lot :)

If I had to describe Softworld in one word, it would probably be "joy". Softworld feels like a modern day DORABAE level in a way, there's so much character within every part and it just makes me so incredibly happy to both watch and play. This level feels like childhood wonder, every part just venturing into a new bright landscape full of different colors and ideas. I've known ppllaayyeerr for quite a while and I was one of the main playtesters for this level as it was being built, and I am SO happy to see it finally released to the public.

Every part in Softworld has a completely new idea from the rest, it feels like a journey through a bunch of old memories if I had to put it in a certain way. Colorful blocks, these bouncy balls going across ramps and loop-de-loops, a grassy landscape with teleportals, CATS, GOING UNDERWATER, like it's the epitome of joy. The level fits the song extremely well and makes the level feel game-esque in a way. It's very hard to describe why I love this level so much without just repeating the same things over and over again LOL

Softworld is overall an extremely fun and happy level which shows how being creative is one of the best things you can do while making a level. I highly recommend playing this as well, super fun :)

I wish I could've said more about this but just please watch it !! You'll see what I mean I swear...

(Excuse me if this is not written well, it has been a while since I have reviewed something. I plan to review more soon !! :D)

SGameT is a creator I've mentioned many times before. An incredibly talented and underrated creator who I think should be much more popular due to their insanely good song representation and shader use. I first found them from their level Neural Pathways, a featured 6 star which was somehow their first rated level and notified many others of their existence. Neural Pathways is extremely well made and one of my favorite levels in the game, however I wouldn't say it's my favorite from SGameT themself. While Neural Pathways is a very well made level with mesmerizing visuals and simple yet intriguing gameplay, Acceptance is an absolute mess of a level. There's not a single second of this level that doesn't try to break through your screen with it's extremely bright and strange colors in combination with the shaders that warp themselves all over the screen. However, while the visuals are a very major part of the level and fit the song extremely well, what is very apparent when watching is the seemingly normal pieces of text throughout it. Even despite the level becoming a cluttered mess of warped objects, as the background flips on itself and the shaders attack your eyes, you can see messages to the player.

Acceptance is far from a normal level, it's a showcase of what happens to a creator that feels like they can't express themself. This is the breaking point of someone who has been told to conform to standards in order to get notice from others. Even though they've tried their hardest to express what they want in a level, something that they're proud of and want to show to the world, there will always be people that want to fit it to their standards. They never think about a creator's vision for their level. Stating "flaws" of the level that were intentional design, having a level called "not rateworthy" because it doesn't fit every single check in this imaginary checkbox people decide to follow. This might not be exactly what SGameT experienced to make this level, but it was my interpretation when watching.

Acceptance is as the name suggests, accepting that you don't have to follow any kind of standards when making levels. You don't have to follow every piece of advice someone gives you, you don't have to meet these "rateworthy" standards to make a level that people will enjoy. Creating should be about your visions and your visions alone. Nobody should conform to someone else's standards at the detriment of their own connection with the level. Acceptance shows this extremely well with the text throughout the level. "What does creating mean to you?" "Should it meet expectations of others?" in which the answer is provided shortly after.

"It's your vision, with your own standards."

"I can't even define it myself."

"But it's what I believe in."

"This is what creating should mean."

Creating is an outlet, it's a free world where anybody is allowed to make whatever the hell they want. Just because people have different standards to you, doesn't mean you should follow them as if it's a rulebook. Make what you want, make what your mind wants, make a journey only you could make, and even if others have issues with it, why the fuck should it matter? In a game as big as this, there's many other levels for them to enjoy. People will eventually find your levels and fall in love with them, and even if they never will understand what effort was put into it, the thought process behind certain details, why a certain block looks like that, why the gameplay was built like that, you will always know why.

Acceptance is both a masterpiece in atmosphere and intent in my eyes, an extremely broken level that feels like the clutter within someone's mind trying to break out. Nothing in the level feels standard, everything is out of place and is made to attack you.

And that's what makes this level's message hit so hard. For being a level made a month into 2.2, the shader usage in this level is absolutely phenomenal and makes an absolutely unforgettable experience. This level is one of my main inspirations for creating and showed me that sometimes you can just build for yourself.

Coming back from my indefinite Hyperbolus hiatus which I took for some reason to review one of my favorite levels to have come out in recent times.

World Render by AngelEffect is an 8 minute long impossible 2.0 styled fake megacollab made for the End for End CC in the ILL server. The contest had essentially only one rule, use a song and use it from front to back. No offsets allowed. Angel decided to take this to the extreme, and use an 8 MINUTE SONG, that being Red 13 by ParagonX9. This level is absolutely perfect in my eyes, I love it so incredibly much I don't think I can describe it. Angel made it over the span of 3 weeks, constantly streaming progress, and I think everyone is extremely happy with how it turned out.

I already said the gimmick but the main idea behind the level is that it's a fake extreme demon megacollab, essentially meaning that none of the people in the level are real. They are all parts made by AngelEffect under various names he made up. However, in true megacollab fashion, every part has a WILDLY different style that keeps you on the edge of your seat wondering what bullshit is going to show up next LOL. It could be a rhythm game part, it could be the ugliest part you've ever seen, it could be fucking TOXIN LAB BY XARO, it could be absolutely anything and it's why I love this level so much. This level is all over the place, and that's absolutely the point of this.

Keeping an 8 minute level interesting the entire way through is an incredible task, and Angel was able to PERFECT it. Being a 2.0 level, you can't just have every part look the same, or similar, every part is vastly different from the last and full of the STUPIDEST gameplay and timings you've ever seen in your life. Angel would literally build a part, think it was physically impossible, turns out it's possible by ONE FRAME, and keep it. That sounds exactly like something an old player would do LOLLL

I wasn't there for a couple of the streams because I would rather do literally anything else then be in YOUTUBE CHAT, but you can tell he had so much fun making and visualizing these batshit insane ideas into his levels, it's so creative and fun that I can't help from watching it OVER AND OVER AGAIN. There isn't much else I can say that I haven't already made abundantly clear so I'm going to rank every part in the level based on how much I enjoy it.

(WHY ARE THEY NOT NUMBERED THEY WERE NUMBERED ORIGINALLY </3)

335denisson

Murei

Onzenchuari

tm5571

EnjuAngel

Girlknife

Ginoraku

QQawocke

KoreanFish + Vuketsuko

Shindust

Arikihsas

zWxqW

Crystal-Phantasia

Tekkikae

DESTINY

lol0202

jashimpo

Dekomori

R445T

ToxiCode

Dessimus

9shi

Jikken033021

DDimension

NeuRotiCs

LSMisao

LunaticDefolt

megumin05

Starlight8529

ElementK

77nemu

CuteReimu

Makkoemi

Xviper

7sailor

GulGanna

DemonicEineC

Zukabyon

Nami Kami

KasaneYuri

Love4ShipGirls

LazaruS

wageihn

TakanashiFlame

naRikii

cascademonster

AngelEffect (First)

lol0201

AngelEffect (Last)

NaichedenF

pzanFire

InsaneCCL

PriKatsi

ShoujoA

Tatsubaka

darkflare

PlayFake

WitherPlayz

GigaBitez

waterzan

11z11

eunSeng

Klassiker_09

IiIDeltaSectorIiI

iPenrose

SunhellSK

Boldglow

MikuRai

NotWindyS

dnn0928

GW Orion

I've been feeling really sick lately so I'm going to put off writing a long review for this level, but I just wanted to say that this level is the most joy I've ever had a level made me feel. It makes me so happy and I love that it exists :)

MAJOR EPILEPSY WARNING IF YOU PLAN TO PLAY THIS!!

stereo madness V4 is quite possibly the worst rated level in this entire game. Have you ever wanted a copy of Stereo Madness which was built slightly incorrectly, covered in red glow for some reason, looks like DOGSHIT, and is so flashy it genuinely hurts people to play? Well you've come to the right place!

This behemoth of a level was somehow built and rated back in 1.9 by green user Bowser (aka. Ferris02/OpticalFox) and really gives a light as to what Rob deemed as "rateworthy" back then. This level is an absolute eyestrain and could probably kill someone with epilepsy, which REALLY isn't good considering there's no warning and it somehow has 10,000 likes, which might convince somebody that the level is GOOD.

There really isn't much else to say other than the song, which for some reason is Stereo Madness TWO which causes it to not even sync. I have genuinely no clue how this was ever rated and I am extremely confident to say that this is the worst rated level in the game by FAR.

Cherry Coloured Funk is an extremely warm and inviting level that uses the first song off of Heaven or Las Vegas by Cocteau Twins. The level seems to be based after the album cover with its very warm color scheme and open background, and I really like that :)

Cherry Coloured Funk is just under a minute long and does a very good job during its short runtime. (Although I wish it would’ve been longer LOL) The level just seems to envelop you as you play, with pink and red shining everywhere you look. I especially love the background in this level, it never changes, it’s just a row of clouds at the bottom of the level with a bunch of open air above it. The background steadily changes colors and pulses throughout the level which gives it a sense of motion, despite nothing moving in the background. I think this works really well with the atmospheric vibe of the song, and it makes it feel like you’re floating above the clouds.

The blocks in the level tend to contrast this given color scheme, usually going for a black and white or rainbow feel. They’re somehow both super fitting and look really pretty against the background, especially the rainbow. If anything, I wish the rainbow was used more LOL

I’m also a very big fan of the lamp posts that are scattered across the level. Despite when blocks change, colors change, where you go changes, the lampposts will always be there, which gives a sense of stability within the level. It’s quite nice and adds to the vibes this level already gives off :D

The gameplay, while not the most special, has quite a few memorable parts in my eyes. Specifically in the first section with the repeating buffer UFO clicks. They’re pretty easy but they sync SUPER well with the song and help with the floaty atmosphere I mentioned before! The rest of the gameplay is good but nothing to write home about. I’d probably remember it more if the level was longer personally.

This is also the first part of the series that Zeo is seeming to make, where they make a level for every song off of this album. I’m very inclined to check out the others and I’m very excited to see it finished if it’s planned to be :)