Junior Member
I knew I had to review this level as soon as I saw it, as the song uses a remix of Young Girl A with a Hatsune Miku cover, and as many know, I absolutely love Hatsune Miku. Young Girl A is what you’d typically call a layout level, being made up of basic blocks with simple designs, but making up for it in effects. The level does a good job at matching these effects to the song, with the energy and colors also representing the song well. The gameplay is pretty satisfying and fun to play, which is a really important aspect when making a layout level. As for the visuals, I liked the level for what it was. The effects are pretty nice and well synced, and the sad and monochromatic feeling that the colors bring do a good job at amplifying the song, even if this color scheme isn’t normally my favorite. I found the shader usage to be a bit more than needed at times, as all of the shaders when combined can make the level feel a bit messy. It isn’t too bad, but the glitching on the blocks was a bit too noticeable for me. While I do think everything could be a bit polished up overall, it’s pretty nice for a layout level, and I think I could see it getting a Star Rating. Neat job by GabLexon on this level!
A simple and short modern level wasn’t something I really expected from Arclia after all her super high quality collabs, but that’s exactly what Ponci is. It isn’t the most memorable level of all time, and I don’t really think it tries to be. Normally, I’d be pretty put off by this type of level, however, I think Ponci actually has a good amount to offer in its simplistic nature. The song Ponci uses is one that’s very minimalist but vibey, having a laid back but chill vibe to it. Ponci represents this pretty well, not just in its designs, but in its gameplay. While I’m not the biggest fan of how it plays, having some strange readability issues, it syncs pretty well to the song, with the waves in MaxiKD’s part being especially satisfying to me.
Design wise, Ponci is pretty standard, like I stated earlier. It doesn’t look bad by any means, but the lack of unique blocks make it hard to stand out. There’s a few distinct moments, like the transition between wik and Xender Game, but not too many. While this would normally be my main gripe, I think that the colors in Ponci are probably my least favorite aspect. ZtratoZ’s part has some beautiful blue and red, but every other part has pretty faded colors, with the beige in the first part looking especially dull and unappealing in my eyes. I understand that the dull colors are supposed to go with the simple song, but ZtratoZ’s part proves that it can work well with more saturated and unique color schemes. In the end, Ponci is an alright level. It isn’t trying to stand out, but it certainly isn’t bad.
GetFixedBoi is a super challenging Jump King styled level inspired by Terraria. While I’m not all too familiar with Terraria myself, only having basic knowledge, I can see the influence, and I think it resulted in a pretty cool level. There’s a ton of variation as you climb higher and higher, and while that’s to be expected from a Jump King level, it’s always greatly appreciated. Every part is recognizable because of all the variation, giving the player a clear idea of how far in they are. Gameplay wise, it’s about what you would expect from a difficult Jump King level. It does have a few things that stand out though, like an ice slope gimmick that adds significant challenge to the level, as well as things like sidequests. While I enjoy this level quite a bit, I do think that all the glow on the visuals combined with the colors can make things feel murky at times. Because of this, the level can look a bit blurry which makes it feel off as a result. Despite this hiccup, I like what GetFixedBoi has to offer. It isn’t a very revolutionary level, but I admire what it does, and I think a Featured Rating would be well deserved.
For My Girlfriends is one of the biggest anomalies of a Rated Level in all of Geometry Dash. The original version of this level was about what you would expect from a Star Rated level in 2.0, being a pretty nonsensical collage of a bunch of different ideas to varying levels of success. Some parts, like the ship at 0:11, seemed to be essentially unfinished and amateur, like someone that was creating for the first time. The level ended with some very funny cursive text saying “I love you girls” after a rainbow segment saying stop the hate. Most people don’t know about this version, as it’s basically lost media now. The only footage I can find of this was a video from Golden from 5 years ago, with every other video being the current version that most people know.
The current version of For My Girlfriends is a bit of a mess. Tygresek tried to save the level with updated decoration, but it resulted in a super odd mix of styles between the updates, with the first few parts looking especially empty and outdated. The ending of the level is now the infamous wall of text explaining the “meme” behind the level. It says that in 2017, Tygresek entered a relationship from GD that became polyamorous, leading to Tygresek having 2 girlfriends. It then says “Mistakes happen.” before throwing you into a ridiculously out of place wave challenge. This wave challenge makes the ending extremely difficult, and is the main reason a lot of people even know the level.
A lot confuses me about this level. Why did parts at the start in the original version appear to be a complete joke, but not any other part? Why does the level end in a ridiculous wave challenge, bringing more attention to the level rather than allowing Tygresek to leave it in the past? Finally, my biggest question of all… why does the story make no sense? The very start of it claims it was a meme started by a relationship they were in from 2017, but the level was made over 9 years ago… Between 2015 and 2016. The story also cuts short. Why did Tygresek call it a mistake? Why do they call the level a meme when it appeared to be a serious level initially? Honestly, I don’t even think I want to know. For My Girlfriends is an odd level with a very questionable backstory, and I think it’s hilarious that a level this peculiar is Star Rated to this day.
OMG ITS 2 POINT TWO is a fever dream of a level. To be honest with you, I have no idea what the meaning of almost anything in this level is. It’s loosely based off the music video for the song, T+ VS SHARK, which is similarly goofy. Essentially, the level comes down to Foxtailo’s character running around and finding itself in a bunch of different situations. While it’s pretty nonsensical, it’s also pretty awesome. Admittedly, the humor of it is a little lost on me, but it’s still really funny nonetheless seeing all the different ideas Foxtailo threw together for this level. My favorite part is probably at 1:40, when it pans across the city on fire, although this is just one great moment of many.
Since OMG ITS 2 POINT TWO is an auto animation level, there isn’t much to judge besides the creativity and visuals of it. It’s certainly got the creativity down, but the visuals struggle a bit at times. Design wise it isn’t very bad, just a little weird at times when pixel blocks are combined with normal ones, but a big nitpick I have is the shaders and colors. The shader usage is pretty abused in this level, often having a vignette or glitch effect covering the screen that makes it look messier or darker than it needs to be. This takes away from a lot of the detail, which can be kind of upsetting in parts like 1:17 that otherwise look super cool. Secondly, a lot of the colors look pretty strange. A lot of the level is pretty desaturated, which makes it feel less exciting, and it’s made worse at times where the colors blend in weird ways, like the pink and yellow backgrounds. Still though, this is a really creative and silly level that I think deserves a Featured Rating.
Number Five is a 1.9 collaboration between Mercury and DHK2725, with the former creator being one I've become pretty fond of. DHK is one of the most underappreciated creators from his time, never getting much recognition despite his talent in the editor, with an example being Golden Haze, a level rated a few months ago despite winning Viprin's Creator Contest 2 Unknown category. While I'm not sure who made what in Number Five, the level held up pretty well, like most of DHK's other projects. It doesn’t do too much to stand out, but it’s still a fun level with some really clean designs. While there’s one part at 65% I think looks a bit weird due to its structuring and designs, it’s immediately made up for by the last part, which is easily the best part in the level. It has a super sick waveform of blue glow that makes the gameplay visible to see, but only in flashes, as it goes dark before flashing again, making you really pay attention to the gameplay. The level ends right after, making for a pretty short experience, but one that I enjoyed enough to hope for it to receive a Star Rating in the future at long last.
FIRE IN THE HEART is a… concerning level. For some reason, jaizereal thought it would be a good idea to make a murder mystery dating simulator with the GD difficulty faces turned into real people. To be honest, as concerned as I am, they cooked. It’s easy to understand, looks great, and has awesome humor. The randomized captcha to open up the app on the computer is hilarious, but the best part is obviously the characters. Each character has their own custom art of a realistic body with the difficulty face as the head, and the art is shockingly well made. None of the characters or interactions are super in depth, but what is there is cute and well executed.
After you understand what you’re doing and talk to all the characters through the phone, you go on all your dates with them to figure out who the culprit is. The dates are super short and lack a lot of depth, and it’s a shame because you can basically figure out who it is just through how they look or where their room is. I wish you had to pay attention to more subtle details in their dialect, but I suppose that would make it inaccessible to other languages. Either way, the level isn’t actually too long, and even though it’s randomized, there isn’t much replay value since you’re forced to talk to all the characters anyways, and they don’t say anything different on separate playthroughs.
There’s a big flaw with completing the level I found, which is that it isn’t explained that you must talk to all characters. Once I figured out who it was, I tried for 5 minutes to beat the level, but I was never given an option. Despite that flaw, FIRE IN THE HEART is a cute level that certainly deserves a Featured Rating, but I still think it could have expanded on the idea more.
The best way to describe ASHES is raw. Everything is structured and composed in a uniquely detailed but unpolished way that makes the level stand out a ton. It starts by throwing you head first into an unapologetically dark and gritty atmosphere for half a minute before finally calming down. The calming part doesn’t last long, as you’re thrown right back into the action. As it starts to calm down again, you get suddenly sent to the sky. The level's entire tone shifts, as you calmly fly through a minute of a heavenly sky. I say calmly, but as hard as the level is, nothing is very calm to play here. All of this is very fitting with the song at hand, resulting in both complementing each other quite nicely.
Most designs in the level are super compact in detail, but it also has a ton of empty areas and designs as well. The part at 0:46 shows this well, as the overly detailed crystal blocks contrast sharply with the simple gray blocks. Paired with a lack of movements on a lot of structures, the level can look super odd at times. For this level though, I really like the strange and unpolished look it has. It does bring it down at times, but it also makes it stand out. This level just feels special, like xHeiDax put their all into making an emotional and compelling level, which is exactly the case. Even though the level looks off putting at times, I simply like how unique it feels. What I’m not a big fan of is the optimization, as the compact details are often made of hundreds of objects, bringing the level to 306,000 objects. This is also the exact reason why some things can feel so off, as so many compact details will always look strange paired next to emptiness. Still though, ASHES is a memorable Extreme Demon, and the Featured Rating it got is fair considering the polish and optimization.
Hyperbolus uses cookies and local browser storage to enable basic functionality of the site. If we make any changes to these options we will ask for your consent again.
sorry about this gang