Rating Curve

Kilionix is CUBICCC’s entry to the space gauntlet contest, and it’s a very pretty and highly detailed one. At any given moment, there’s a ton going on here, from crazy effects to multi layered backgrounds, there’s a ton of eye candy to enjoy. While not every part hits the same, certain parts like the first one and the one at 0:45 take advantage of a zoomed out camera and create a scenery that’s larger than life, and it does a great job at showing CUBICCC’s talent in art. The way parts flow together is also very fluent, resulting in a very cohesive level all things considered.

I don’t really like it, though. I think it looks brilliant and definitely deserves an Epic Rating, but there’s a few aspects that prevent me from loving this level. The gameplay is the main one, as it all feels like a big afterthought. So many moments are either unclear or completely blind, and I didn’t find it very fun to play when I couldn’t see own my icon at many points. Secondly, I just think that Kilionix is doing a bit too much. It feels overly flashy with exaggerated camera movements simply to keep people engaged constantly, and it feels overwhelming to me personally. I still like a lot of the effects, but I never felt like I got the chance to breathe while playing or watching Kilionix. At the end of the day, not every level is going to appeal to every person. CUBICCC did a wonderful job on this level, but I personally think things could have been toned down a bit with more of a focus on gameplay.

SKY HIGH is a short but ethereal level, only having 2 simple but effective parts. Right from the start, the level has some funky grass and ground colors that make you feel like you’re on another planet. After that part ends, you ascend into the sky, which feels like a vast and delicate landscape made of glass. I really like the vibes that this level has to bring here, as it looks nice and has a great atmosphere. There are a few things I think could be done a bit better though. For one, the level feels just a bit cluttered with the background elements at play. They’re all a bit bright, and seem to blend in a bit with the rest of the designs at times. On top of this, there’s some elements like the stars in the drop part that feel like they would kill you that don’t. Besides that, I don’t have many other issues with the designs. Some of the colors in the drop can feel a bit murky due to them all blending together, but it isn’t too bad.

The gameplay is where SKY HIGH seems to struggle the most in my eyes, as it feels a little clunky to play with the slowed down gameplay and unclear visuals at times. The slow motion gameplay works, but I personally would rather see half speed gameplay used, as it would feel much more natural. For the rest of the gameplay, the unclear visuals at times in the drop combined with low gravity and essentially offscreen gameplay make for a bit of an annoying experience to sight read. It isn’t the end of the world, but with an easy start, it can feel a bit frustrating to die to. Overall though, SKY HIGH is a neat level with a pretty atmosphere, and I think this level deserves a Featured Rating. I do think DangerChampion could easily expand upon their ideas though, so I hope to see them do so in the future.

It’s always fun looking back at well known creator’s old levels, with Fuzzy by Blitz being no exception. Fuzzy actually isn’t too bad for its time. I could have seen this getting a Star Rate or even a Feature back when it came out, but it doesn’t do much to stand out from a lot of levels from that era, so nowadays it’s a bit harder to see it happening when combined with the aging in designs and polish. Still though, I could see it potentially earning a Star Rating today. While the designs have aged quite a bit, I like the charming and classic 2.0 design style, and I think it was well executed for its time. The colors are nice to look at as well, albeit pretty monochromatic, and the level overall makes me feel good when playing it, partly due to the banger song by Waterflame. Overall, it’s clear that Blitz has always been a good creator, and I love that they’ve stuck around for so long.

The Submarine is a vast and highly ambitious Platformer Insane Demon that pushes the boundary between Geometry Dash and an original game. While not too visually impressive, mainly just utilizing the pixel blocks, the contents of The Submarine is where the magic lies in the level. It’s a big mix of primarily mining for materials, fishing for extra health, avoiding monsters in the sea, and defeating bosses to advance to further points in the map. The amount of time you have to breathe underwater is limited, but you can refuel by going back into your Submarine that you move around the level. Inside the submarine is where you find a ton of stuff, like crafting, cooking, objectives, information, moving the ship, and basically any other important thing needed.

Admittedly, The Submarine isn’t very much a level for me. I played it for 30 minutes and got to the second area, but I’ve seen most of what the level has to offer through my playing and looking through the rest on YouTube. While I like all that The Submarine has to offer, it can be very confusing and overwhelming to get into. This isn’t much of a problem after a while, but that isn’t to say I didn’t have other problems. One of my biggest issues is the 2 player mode required to play the level. I understand why it was needed, but being forced to use ship entirely with WASD is a nightmare, especially when it’s challenging gaps at times. Secondly, I just found everything to feel rather clunky. Entering and exiting the ship is so slow, and using weapons is super awkward and frankly unenjoyable. I also didn’t enjoy how sea creatures could attack you as you entered the ship, as it felt rather unfair. As a result, The Submarine is not a level I would want to spend a ton of hours completing.

Unfortunately, I feel validated for not wanting to complete this level after watching through the videos. While all of the bosses are cool in their own rights, they feel sort of slow and anticlimactic, and the clunky weapons don’t make them very fun to fight. Honestly though, the biggest letdown has to be the ending. The opening scene of the level is an intense cinematic moment that gets you excited to figure out the mystery behind everything, only for the ending to be this: “Oh hey, you found me! I didn’t think I’d ever get saved. Well, unfortunately this was a death mission, you can’t get out from here. Have fun dying with me!” Then the level ends. It’s a super lame ending for what it built up to be. Despite this, The Submarine is a really interesting level. It isn’t exactly one that I find myself wanting to play, but for some people, I can certainly see why they would find a lot of enjoyment from it.

Every once in a while, you come across a level that makes you think nothing except “what was this creator thinking?” and that time is now for me after playing Another Breath. Another Breath is a 2.0 level with a lot of creative ideas and a ton of questionable choices in every other aspect. There’s a ton to love here, but it’s often overshadowed by bad gameplay or colors.

I’ll start with the good in Another Breath. From the start, you can tell that JJjo had a lot more to offer than a normal design level. You start off on a block with angel wings that floats you up, and I love the animation on it so much. After a little bit, there’s a green ball part with super intricate and unique looking vines, which is super neat to look at, even though they feel a bit messy in their implementation. Finally, the coolest part has to be the piano part at 53%. The notes all go from the right to the left of the screen, static like normal objects. However, they perfectly slide into piano tiles on the left side of the screen. Whenever they hit, the notes light up, and they go to the actual notes in the song as well. This is a super awesome idea that I’m not sure if I’ve seen in another level, at least from this era.

Those were all pretty small moments in the grand scheme of things, considering the 3 minute long length of the level. Unfortunately, most things outside of those are executed very poorly. It’s about what you would expect from your average Unrated Demon from 2.0. In fact, I would say it’s worse than that. The colors never look good, with different color combinations used that consistently fail to work together. This alone makes it hard to love, but the gameplay is somehow worse, with constant blind and awkward gameplay that makes for an absolute nightmare to learn and put together. There’s also 65%, which is 25 straight seconds of hitting a row of green orbs with no change. While the level is undeniably raw, the execution is too poor for me to really get into despite a few cool ideas.