Rating Curve

Captures a burst of 2.1 optimism and frenzy with an abundance of charismatically electric visual effects. A real joy to play - it's a shame such engaging, impactful gameplay feels reserved for demons these days.

A beautiful, wondrous trip that's plenty worthy of being mentioned alongside its 1.9 classmate Colorful Overnight in the joy department, even if a few effects wear themselves out just a teeny bit.

Making a spirited, vicious horror out of "If Clubstep was L10000" might be one of the most impressive accomplishments of a creator with so many to choose from. The best of a comically small amount of good remakes.

A revolution for the modern genre by virtue of being the first level to actually feel modern. More than sufficiently slick, loungey, such a captivating aesthetic - a level that owns being super polished and airbrushed. I don't know what we should call those knots-jayuff rounded-edge halfway tech levels, but "modern" has always been such a misleading descriptor.

Forest Temple carries itself with a real optimistic elegance that makes it easy to get immersed in, and tight, sharp gameplay (the best of Michigun's solo career) combined with just a pinch of decorative flair makes for a delightful classic even if a few of the temple tropes are overstaying their welcome a little bit.

So many people mention this level's ~24k object count as if it's some limitation tacked on just to sound impressive, but the elegant simplicity of Congregation's visuals is the largest reason why its slow-burning buildup is so effective - aggressive posturing of the red X boxes and nonchalant moving columns feel so significant when the level intentionally deprives itself of distinction outside of some (awesomely) awkward and misleading click sync. It's a valiant effort to push the limits of stress in GD, even if the actual climax leaves a bit to be desired in its grandiosity. Purgatorii is just such a sprawling, cosmic song that I don't think anyone has fully realized the potential of.