Rating Curve

Maelstrom is a bit of a mixed bag to me. The gameplay feels like it functions on hope and prayers for most of the level due to a lot of the transitions being pretty inconsistent, and some parts are noticeably worse than others (namely the ship at 0:15, and the cube at 0:22 as well as the following transition part). The aforementioned parts are just sort of bland and quite typical for what one would expect from mid-late 1.9 design levels. There's also a notable lack of any form of cohesion between any of the parts, and thus Maelstrom ends up feeling like GMD Condor just building the first thing that came to mind for the length of a 55 second level; not necessarily a bad thing, but I'd have liked to see a stronger overarching theme here.

However, what Maelstrom does have is some genuinely stunning effect and design work for the time it was made. The first ship makes really creative use of slanted lines to form the fake reflections that make the blocks look like glass, in addition to using yellow pads for the fiery effect, which are both just such cool uses of blocks outside of their intended purpose to create something really interesting visually. The blocks in the cube part at 0:34 use chained pulses that almost look like they were done in 2.0 due to their smoothness, which does a lot to elevate the relatively simple designs, structures and air deco of the part. The wave following this may very well be the most intricate and well-executed piece of "tech" deco from this time, GMD Condor's mastery over using 3-D objects and blending greyscale tones to create something this convincingly metallic is definitely the highlight of this level for me.

I can't really ignore this level's issues, but it has a lot going for it that makes it one of the most interesting and memorable levels from 1.9 to me. I'd recommend this for Feature.

Everything about this song screams intimidation to me, so it's nice to see that translated into a style reminiscent of creators like Majacko and Loogiah from back in the day. I always found those levels claustrophobic and intimidating due to the frequent use of huge, highly detailed structures and very intense songs with slower gameplay, and CP MACHINE mostly delivers on those same ideas. I like the subtle orange glow used to highlight some parts of the song, as it not only helps with intensity but also gives the impression that the level itself is incredibly hot to the point of everything glowing orange, adding to the feeling of being in hell or similar. I think this is at its best in the final part, with all the destroyed structures crumbling and at odd angles with pillars of fire sticking out of them. It does feel like the level is sinking slowly into the depths of hell, and I really like the strong progression and song representation it helps create throughout the level.

My main issue is the sudden switch in ideals at around the midway point. There's one part that's completely blue for some reason while keeping similar designs, which could in theory be a neat way to signify a short break in the level, but I think the colouring is too dark and the other structures are too similar to the previous parts which ends up with it just feeling really out of place. Also, the following part has a completely different, more modern aesthetic with lots more flat colours, art-design elements and moving objects that also feel completely out of place for an older-styled level like this, and it unfortunately completely kills most of the progression along with it due to it being right in the middle.

I really like what CP MACHINE is aiming for with its designs, effect/colour work and song usage, but the issues I have with the midsection mean I'd likely only recommend it for Feature.

The experiment ii has quite a lot of visual cohesion and a pretty strong theme, which was fairly uncommon back in early 2.0 when it was made. It's meant to resemble a broken down, somewhat post-apocalyptic science facility, and I think NachoLag executed this pretty well with the blend of mechanical design elements and movements present throughout. The main structuring is done using a long corridor filled with metallic, red/white spikes surrounded by black ground spikes, which is a pretty cool aesthetic since the usage of the decorative spike blocks inside the structure generally resemble shards of broken metal. The staccato, bouncing movements seen at specific points in the level accentuate this as they feel like robotic elements that are not working correctly, which is a really nice touch to add to the calmer break parts of the song. Due to the time period The experiment ii was made, there's a noticeable lack of general polish brought on by the community's unfamiliarity with the editor, and I personally don't mind this as I think it ends up functioning more as an aesthetic element common in levels of this time, but I'd have loved to see more creative usage of objects such as fire, animated creatures and structures inside the corridors to further elaborate on the overall theming. Additionally, the pulse work is pretty sloppy and the level only uses red, white and black, so some hue variation and better synced effects would have been nice additions for better song representation.

I'll definitely be checking out some of NachoLag's other levels, because The experiment ii is an intriguing level in most fronts despite its lack of polish or execution. I would recommend this for Star Rate.

For what would be Supernooby's first rate, Enlightenment is remarkably solid in most areas. The strong yellow and grey colour scheme is good, and there's good use of blending throughout all parts to make many of the designs feel like rays of light. I like the usage of clouds and wind throughout the level to give the impression that the level is high off the ground, particularly the structures at 0:26 since the clouds also serve to provide some variation in the block designs, and the spinning ring of clouds in the following part since it feels like a raging vortex, which matches nicely with the song's climax. The block designs at the beginning do feel quite out of place, and are much more in line with a traditional design-based level than the approach taken in the rest of Enlightenment, so I'd like to see a bit more cohesion here in having all the designs share a more consistent thematic element to tie everything together.

My two main issues both revolve around the gameplay. There are many sections with forced skip prevention, such as the wave at 0:18, ship at 0:25 and cube at 0:41 all having invisible objects stopping the player from skipping orbs or pads, which is highly unintuitive and is not how I would like to see skip prevention done. I'd have liked Supernooby to either rework the gameplay to get rid of the skips, or integrate them into the existing gameplay such that no forced skip prevention is necessary. Additionally, the section beginning at 0:33 has very strong inspiration from Congregation in the layered box block designs, usage of slopes and timing/orb-based fast gameplay, so I'd like to see some acknowledgement of this either within the level's credits or in the description/comments of the level considering the inspiration is very apparent and affects most of the part. However, this is still a solid level regardless and an excellent showing for a creator with no rates; I would recommend this for Feature.