Rating Curve

So steeped in nostalgia one can pick out individual influences (like Dorabae's striking color work, Yume Nikki's RPG Maker-flavored surrealism, or Magritte's unorthodox object sensibility) with presumably reasonable accuracy, and uses said nostalgia to craft dozens of immersive, memorable sequences that manage to still feel ephemeral even despite their generous runtime. That's partially because of how easily these timeless yet abstract visuals evoke specific memories - of course, the 8-bit aesthetic is reminiscent of earlier levels and games that the average GD player might have their own experiences with. The snaking robot part, for example, reminds me of a day my now-lover and I spent playing browser games in high school economics class. It's this reliance on external experiences that makes 9Lives difficult to pin down and even more so to judge. The nostalgic atmosphere is obviously intentional and expertly executed, so I'm more than willing to hand out points for my own daydreaming here, but I'm sure I'd be almost as charitable even if I were to judge the physical level's immersion alone.

Perhaps ozpectro has a background in painting or collage, because effot feels like it was created by someone who understood the sensibilities of design (and the capabilities of the GD editor, of course) but also had no idea what the hell they were doing. While fexty perfected ozpectro's design balance in terms of instant visual appeal, it simply lacks the overwhelming mystique of this level, so structurally and tactilely forward-thinking or backwards-thought that it feels alien. It's strange, then, how disturbingly clinical effot is at tapping into the universal, primordial rage-game instincts of the GD player. It's that ephemeral fury that makes effot so alluring - especially when it disappears right in front of your eyes, and you remember that no one ever made another one. Fuck. Ten years on and no one's made anything like this, ever.

The simple but elegant introduction of speed changes as tools for adding dramatic flair made an already fun and stressful layout into an ageless wonder, and that level of class and style also shines through Rob's technically proficient visual design. It's such simple things that extract so much out of the song - in particular, the translucent blending objects representing the song's liquid synths just feels perfect.

With how ingrained Clubstep monsters are into GD culture it's easy to forget just how surreal and off-putting this level really is. It feels like the perfect accompaniment to a soundtrack that wouldn't feel out of place in a John Wick action sequence and a layout that stays stressful and engaging even once you've beaten much more difficult levels. Everything came together masterfully to create a viscerally neurotic experience; it's not hard to see why so many Top 1s over the years have been trying and failing to capture what the original nailed so effortlessly.

Rob's best and most fun gameplay. Frustrating as it was back in the day, the strictness of the gameplay accompanied by the most masterful use of reverse portals by any creator ever makes Time Machine incredibly fun and engaging - there's so much precision and quick thinking that goes into every jump and it still feels so smooth and effortless. It reminds me of the laser grid scene in Ocean's Twelve, if any of you remember that film.

Niflheim's long been showered in both affection and ridicule for how angsty and theatrical it is (most prominently manifesting in its iconic text), but I really can't help but love how enthusiastically it pursues a creative and compelling idea - the spirit's journey to the pristine, misty afterlife unceremoniously running through a chilling industrial maze is reflected perfectly in sharp changes in visual clarity and difficulty, and it certainly doesn't hurt that vismuth's timelessly fun gameplay is as its most impactful here.

The primitive but spirited art and story just puts a huge smile on my face every time I play prohibited prison, not to mention some of the most engaging gameplay ever for such an easy level. Just absolutely bubbling with personality and a total blast to play; vismuth cramming this within the confines of the 1.7 editor is so impressive.

Platnuu mixing the coldness of some neat tech designs with a herky-jerky, personified layout and some splashes of gore made for an awesomely intimidating, visceral experience, and those eye effects near the end are just amazing. One of the best 2.1+ list demons.

Remember those surreal early years of AI images? When they hadn't yet nailed the sometimes-convincing caricatures of real life they produce today and would have everything melting into each other, impossible structures jutting out from walls and floors? from her eyes flow feels a bit like that. This level breaks rules that I thought of as so intrinsic to level creation I hadn't even consciously established them to myself. Pulsing glow objects that "should" be layered next to gameplay structures instead become the structures themselves. Thorns float in the middle of structures as though they're block designs. Arrows follow player Y, making them useless for navigation, not that you'd ever trust them anyway given the absurd amount of fakes in this layout. Blinding visual sequences aren't centered and often happen half-onscreen. And obviously I can't forget the four minutes of noisy, cold, ambience that immediately follows the playable layout and provides some time to reflect on the surreal experience. It's all eerily inhuman, and combined with the crushing soundtrack it gives off an aura of creation on a cosmic scale - like watching the formation of some super-level beyond human comprehension. Unfortunately, the layout doesn't (can't?) live up to this feeling input-wise. A human player would have to consider this a memory extreme demon, which just feels unsatisfying compared to the brilliant, blinding setting and situation the rest of the level crafts - I don't really think this level was meant to be completed legitimately and is playable only as a formality. It's crazy, then, that I'm still giving it such a high score. The impression it makes really is that special.

The block designs are of course timelessly elegant, but the real star of the show is the free-floating structuring that just radiates pristineness and vast freedom in the night sky.