Rating Curve

ElatedBlossomLTD is a level created by ElectricNJ. This level is such a unique work for me because it genuinely feels like something made in the 90s. A video-game, an anime, it just has the vibes.

Gameplay wise I'm conflicted. This level could have been a lot better if the gameplay was more straight forward. There are some really ankward inputs. The best example I can think off is the UFO part, where some clicks don't even work, straight up. Ive seen some people complain about the ship part, and I disagree. In fact, its one of the most fun parts when you learn how to get it right, which was very easy in my experience. Decoration wise, as I said before, this level is unique, it looks asian-texture (If this sounded racist my bad 🙏). Very traditional anime aesthetic, very ankward ideas that work well together. Well executions. This level is such a unique visual delight. This is very likely ElectricNJ's best so far in my opinion, looking forward for what he cooks next!

At first I was weirded out why was this level amongst the most reviewed in this site and even more it was rated high. Then I decided to try it out.

ROTD, initials for Rainbow Of The Day, is a level created by Millepatte, an old very unknown creator which I dont know anything about. Apparently, this level appeared in one of many Viprin's lists, hence why is it so popular now. And for good reason too.

Gameplay wise, this level is alright. It has some very minor chokepoints and it might be a bit too ankward for a harder difficulty level, but overall its very fun and very enjoyable to play. Decoration wise, I cant believe this is a 1.9 level. No gdps, no anything, just a genuine 9 year old level coming from what people say the golden age of Geometry Dash. This level is such a joy, colourful rainbow pallettes, very clean designs, this level is what 1.9 should have felt like.

So this level is almost perfect if it wasnt for the gameplay, summing it up. Before ending this review, I want to share a reflection. I really dislike what the community thinks of ""mainstream"" 1.9: DeCode, Bloodbath, Nine Circles, etc..... All these levels are good, dont get me wrong, but they are also very monotone and straight to the point. 1.9 should have been known for the colorful design update it was. Levels like these should have gotten more recognition for the far future, because these are the ones that no matter how times passes by, they will not age in the minimal slightest. Thanks for reading.

Repeat after me: INTENT IS NOT VALID CRITICISM!!!, right! now repeat again: INTENT IS NOT VALID CRITICISM!!!
And even y'all are stupidly wrong about this level anyways. I've been friends with some of the collab members and I even talked to the host some months ago, and I kid you not NOBODY from the collab members wasn't expecting this to get a star rate. They just wanted to get this out for the sole purpose of a friend group having fun while trying to get a level done asap. Your whole souless argument crumbles down just because of the little fact that everything youre talking shit about this is completely made up by you in the first place. Speaking from experience since I've worked on similar proyects like this.

Magic Life is a level created by Astraa and more extremely underground creators and it's supposed to be a High Life remake apparently? If I recall correctly astraa said at some point that it wasnt necessarily a remake but we dont talk about it for the sake of likes and views shall we. Me defending this level doesn't make it any good either way, since it obviously has some flaws.

Gameplay wise its not good. The bad thing about the 2022 era of hispanic gameplay creators is that they weren't focusing on gameplay in the first place, but visuals and effects (AKA fx layouts), which a lot of them obviously aged like milk from the roman empire. This level can be classified as an "fx layout" aswell now that I think of it. Cool glow-style visuals, but the gameplay is overshadowed and unnattended, which leads to the level playing horrifyingly bad and having unforgivable bugs. Decoration wise, again. This was set to be a genre of layout that was barely a layout, and it really affects the level negatively, because it is almost good, just holding it back because they decided it to leave it empty. Im sorry, this does NOT feel like a layout in the slightest.

To sum up this review: y'all need to chill out with how you critique a level, souless is a slur and If I ever were a judge id sentence eternal torment upon those who use it unironically, this level is quite bad anyways and I'm so glad that the niche gender of "fx layouts" is dead. We barely got any genuinely good levels from that era.

one bad apple is a level by AtomicRest, a relatively unknown creator that started off with this level, which is crazy considering the quality of it. Went scrolling this page and I got a bit shocked by a lot of negativity surrounding this level. I guess bad reputation doesn't go for realism art but I guess art levels in general, and its sad to see.

Gamplay wise it's standard, fun even. You can make an argument some parts can get a bit learny, but its sightreadable in general. Decoration wise this level is actually awesome. The theming is on point, theres a lot of attention to detail, I vibe with the cartoony style a lot too. The bossfight design of the apple is super cool aswell, with interesting attacks that go well with the theming too and represent the drop of the song perfectly. This level is such an intense experience and I really like it a lot because of that.

Very impressive level and a great introduction to AtomicRest. Looking very forward for future works by them.

Oh boy, where do I start.....

Test Tube is an.... interesting level made by Blanket Addict. This level was very controversial and mixed for the time it came out because of its ""experimental"" nature, which- fair enough. You can say its experimental, and I really would agree with you. But there's a tiiiiny certain aspect that everyone forgets and it really annoys me because it creates this sense of fake shielding for bad reputation and negative viewpoints or whatever, even though it doesn't really deserve too much praise to begin with. And it's that experiments can FAIL. And this is a good example of one.

Gameplay wise.... I gotta say it. I just came from making a practice run of it out of curiosity and its just pure ASS. Some of these parts look cool but when you play them its a completely different scenario. SOOOOOOO many ridiculous chokepoints, very bad ideas, begginer level of bad executions most of the time, I can cover the whole ass Hyperbolus page just ranting about how unforgivingly fucking terrible the gameplay in this level is. Decoration wise... okay hear me out. Some of the parts genuinely look cool, like the art museum... even though its just img2gd imported images in a black and white background. I get the charm of this level but it's such an ankward thing to say this looks good. I say as a HUGE fan of Yume Nikki, where the song used for this level comes from, that this level doesn't make even a tiny bit of justice for how it represent its messiness. And it makes me sad because Yume Nikki is a great exploring indie game and super influential for experimental-oriented media and in gd it just boils down to this crap.

So yeah, something being experimental doesn't mean it's good. It CAN be good but this level doesn't try that much. I'm going to act like if I'm the Fantano of Hyperbolus just for this review okay rate my impression hold on...

And this is why I'm feeling a light 1 to a 0 on this thing. TRAAAAANN-

Stereo Extremeness is a level created by Vortrox and more in very late 2.1. This level is part of the iconic super buffing robtop levels series and I don't think anyone was expecting one of the episodes actually turning out into a decorated mid-hard range extreme demon. This level also marks the start of Vortrox as a stream if I recall correctly. A journey so admirable and noticeable it got him into winning streamer of the year in the 2024 GD Awards.

Gameplay wise I cannot tell. It gets a bit of a low score because at the end of the day, its night- I mean at the end of the day, its just super buffed Stereo Madness. There's literally no originality in there, just pure bland Stereo Madness on steroids. The decoration is decent for the time though. We've got some crazy talented creators in the roster, such as Voxicat and AudieoVisual, and the level turned out pretty solid. It might have aged a little bit, because I guess all design 2.1 levels unfortunately were bound to age, but it's still an alright level visually.

since i met you is a level made by Skywalker14, a creator who had a pretty decent run as an art creator back in 2022. This level managed to be nominated as best art level in the 2022 GD Awards, an amazing yet very hard achievement.

Gameplay wise, this is a fun easy demon, Skywalker is also considered to have some interesting choices while making his flowy-styled gameplay. These can get pretty janky at times but not in this level, which is a relief for how enjoyable this level is for the most part. Decoration wise it's kinda similar. Skywalker known to have a weird artstyle, often making art that could be seen as relics or religious, or kind off cult-like too. Levels such as The Terminator, The Limit and Zodiac Shift are great examples of my point. Since I met you is different though. Instead of going for a mystique theme, this level strives for a more romantic/wealthy point of view of what love really means. Little towns, a cute girl singing vividly in the sky, a happy rich couple dancing to the tune of The Avalanches' song. All of this in the casual intricate Skywalker14 drawing style. This level makes for a great and beautiful visual experience.

I don't really have much else to say other than you might like this level a lot, especially if you are a fan of The Avalanches and handdrawn-like art.

Im nothing like yall

Starting off this review I want to ask something: when does art-tracing start to be morally questionable for a videogame-looking art platform? I wasn't able to answer this question so I left this review due ever since, but not long ago I got a realisation over an unrelated situation: This piece doesn't try or want to be a level, but rather an edit made in GD.

Boogie is a level made by Connot as an event level for the NCS x GD album track rollouts. Connot, although already being an established creator for a long time now, gained a lot of notoriety and controversy for releasing BUSSIN, a megacollab made for the NCS gauntlet themed about brainrot memes, and certainly one of the levels with the most mixed opinions in the history of the entire game. According to Connot, Boogie was set to be the "girly" version of BUSSIN. You can see this because theres a lot of nerdy references of anime culture and flashier, pinkier colors. The moral discussion regarding this level (and by extension BUSSIN but lets put that level to a side) is it contained a LOT of traced art from other pieces, wether be official anime scenes, fan animations or memes. And you could really make an argument in that subject, but personally, I think this is one of the few exception where this kind of moral question can be abolished. Why? Am I being an asshole? I want to make my point straight and clear so hear me out.

This level doesnt have much gameplay other than the start, where we are in a calm beach with a slight synth tune that evokes the feeling of summer, and a random part in the middle. The rest is just an edit. Usually, when you are making an edit for tiktok or instagram reels, you may take a lot of stuff you like and put it together in some happy or energetic song, say, a nightcore song for example. This is exactly what Connot is doing in this level, with the limitations of the editor. This is barely a level, but a tiktok video. This might be questionable for some players as some of them just like playing the game to its core and really just reject anything that doesnt feel like a "true" geometry dash level, and thats perfectly fine. I personally love this piece, I get a lot of the references and it really stuck on me. Typical of a male to love a girl-oriented artwork. So to sum up, questionable as a level, awesome work as an edit.

Pluto is a legendary rated level made by djudjeito, a creator who's being let known by the community for their very special crafts he's made recently, most notably his space gauntlet entry "Out Of Place", which won the praise of every gd player for its, say, baroque artstyle.

Gameplay wise, Pluto is pretty weird, but everything works surprisingly. It has some interesting ideas and djud executes them great for the most part. Its the decoration that's the main highlight of the level, though. Djudjeito's artstyle is so different from what the community is acconstumed for. With very intricate choices for the in-depth and the textures you get a level that feels weird in a cathartic way, and this level does that very well.

It's very definitely a level worth its legendary rating and playing too.