Rating Curve

CONCUSSION CORRIDOR is a yet another collab from the iconic duo of Split72 and Voxicat. This time, being a remake of Split’s 4 year old demon, Blinding Blitz. Although this level is a remake, it has its own unique identity thanks to the fantastic decoration.

The decoration in CONCUSSION CORRIDOR is made in Split’s newer style. Even though it’s a drastic change from the design oriented nature of the original level, I think the newer style works better. This level features her classic solid color designs and complex details, which look a lot cleaner than the rough and irregularly colored designs found in the original. Although the designs are simple in this level, they are complemented perfectly with lots of movements and pulses. These features make the level feel very fluid and dynamic, which is always exciting to see with Split’s style. I personally think the biggest improvement to this level compared to the original is the intensity. In the drop, there are endless vibrant pulses, erratic movements, and fast moving particles in the drop, which all work together to match the chaotic nature of the song.

It’s hard for me to find any issues with this level without sounding nitpicky, but there is one I want to mention. The second part has unnecessary hue shader usage. The shaders edit the color of the player and other objects with preset colors, creating some unnatural and jarring color combinations. I believe the hue shaders could have been omitted entirely, in favor of actual color triggers, which would not edit the color of the player and other objects.

Overall, CONCUSSION CORRIDOR is a fantastic level and an excellent remake of Blinding Blitz. This level makes fresh updates to all of the original level’s ideas, while also having lots of its own individuality, which is always exciting to see with remakes. I am amazed that this level is still unrated, as I would absolutely recommend this level for an Epic rate.

It’s always exciting to see Split72 make something outside the box, like her year old level Elaboration. Being a seven minute long Easy Demon using only 30% of The Watcher by Cacola, this level takes you on a trip that matches the uncanny nature of the song.

Like a lot of Split’s other levels, Elaboration features a lot of solid-color block designs with few intricate details added. This level also features a lot of double layered backgrounds which always look nice. Although Split did not stray away from her style, this level builds an eerie character through the colors and shaders. This level uses an entirely black background and white blocks, making the player feel like they are in some mysterious place. Additionally, this level uses a lot of inverse shaders. Normally, I frown upon inverse shader usage, but they work well in this level, giving an unnatural sensation.

Unfortunately, this level is not perfect. I understand this was built as a simple vent project, but there are still some issues that hurt the quality of the level. For being a progression-based level, Elaboration lacks the key quality of slowly introducing aspects or assets that build the progression. This is very evident as the parts switch up decoration instantly. I think it would have been very nice to see the parts blend together, as this would have helped the progression a lot. Another issue I would like to mention is the lack of variety in the parts. Even though there are a handful of very different parts, the parts themselves last very long without doing much for variety. I believe Split could have easily introduced some occasional assets or trigger work found exclusively in certain parts to freshen up the level.

For being a simple and mysterious project, Elaboration does what it wants to do very well. The eerie nature of the level makes it an experience to play, but there are still some issues present. Regardless, I would love to see this get a Star Rate.

ThePurgatory115 is a newer creating team you may have heard of. In 2.2, they released Bete Noire and Clock tower, both having great reception thanks to their excellent decoration. Unfortunately, their newest megacollab, Clown Control, is a noticeable downgrade from the team’s previous works.

Clown Control is a level that reflects the name perfectly. It is a clown themed spinoff of the control series by Movietheaters (also known as Deadlox). The main selling point of the levels in that series are the fancy designs and splendid colors. The decorators understood this style, as it is reflected in the designs. Many of the designs are flavorful composite designs, typically featuring blocks from older updates. Additionally, the team included some nice clown-themed assets, like colorful balloons, to further build the theme.

Unfortunately, those are the only strengths this level has. To fit with the clown theme, this level features rainbow colors with loads of various hues on specific blocks in designs. Normally this is good for colors, but it does not work well in this instance. The hues are too strong, creating extremely polarizing color combinations which harm the decoration a lot. Additionally, a handful of the parts feature desaturated colors, which is never good for rainbow levels. I believe these parts should have their saturation turned up, as well as the hue ranges limited to create less jarring combinations. This level also has an issue with shaders. There are a handful of glitch effects and shock lines throughout the level that feel unnecessary, as they do not have a significant reason to be present, and they take away from the quality of the decoration.

Overall, Clown Control is not a bad attempt at a control series spinoff, but it is not a fantastic attempt either. Although the designs and clown-assets are nice, the aforementioned issues knock the quality of the level down a considerable amount.

OUCH is a super Extreme Demon megacollab hosted by my good friend awesomeme360. I had not seen anything from this level until the full showcase, so it was a pleasant surprise to see how well this level turned out.

Fitting with the painful name, this level features a hardcore fire theme. As much as I would consider fire to be an overdone theme in Extreme Demons, OUCH makes the theme feel refreshing through its unconventionality. To fit the theme, this level has a typical red, orange, and yellow color scheme, as well as a bunch of fire and lava objects. However, there are a lot of oddly shaped structures, unusual designs, and interesting effects which make this level fascinating. Another thing I really like about this level is the intensity, as there is a ridiculous amount of pulses and movements. These features make the level downright intimidating, which I love and think is a rare quality found in levels nowadays.

The only issue I can possibly think of is the varying quality of parts, which is typical for this genre of megacollabs. This level does fluctuate a bit in quality, as I believe Akunakunn and PikachuFan’s parts are noticeably weaker than parts from MannyHeffley, Iconic, and InfernuZ. I feel like Akunakunn’s part could have used lots of movements and stronger pulses, as it lacks the intensity needed to be a proper drop part. Unfortunately, PikachuFan’s part has a bigger issue, as it lacks memorability. I believe this part could have benefitted from implementing some crazy effect, as it would make the part stand out more, rather than just being a typical design part. Although these parts mentioned are weaker parts, I still believe they are solid parts which give this level charm.

As someone who has hosted a handful of megacollabs in the past, I say with great heart that OUCH is one of the best megacollabs I have seen recently. With its very unconventional decoration and ridiculous intensity, I honestly believe this could have gotten an Epic rate.

Camellia is a brand new level from Cassidyy, which takes the player on a wintry adventure through the mountains and clouds. I would consider Cassidyy to be a fantastic creator that everyone should watch out for, as proven by the wonderful decoration in this level.

In this level, Cassidyy has proven to already be excellent at her own art style, as most of the designs consist of solid-color blocks used in intriguing ways. Although solid-color block designs can get boring easily, the designs and assets are kept unique through the addition of texturing. The texturing gives the assets in the level some unique shapes and patterns, making them truly special. Yet, the true selling point of this level is the backgrounds. Camellia is filled with flavorful parallax backgrounds, which build the theme immensely and really throws the player into a winter wonderland.

My only issue with this level is the lack of intensity during the drop. Granted, it is not too big of an issue, as the moving backgrounds and pulses add some intensity. However, when the first two drop parts are compared to the last one, there is a noticeable lack of intensity. I feel like the easiest way to fix this could have been the inclusion of some fast moving speed-line particles, similar to the ones seen in the transition between the first two parts of the level. Not only would they have added needed intensity, but they would have undoubtedly convinced the player that they are soaring through the air and the clouds, further building the theme.

Overall, Camellia is yet another excellent level from Cassidyy. Because of the amazing art-style decoration, as well as the fantastic theming and rich backgrounds, I would love to see this become her first Epic rated level.

System Split is often regarded as Picha’s magnum opus, and I cannot agree more. Being their most popular level, it has some impressive decoration and gameplay.

To start with, the decoration is phenomenal for 1.9. This level takes on an interesting tech-themed style, which is very evident in the block designs and air decoration. Picha gets this style across by incorporating lots of metal blocks, as well as unique 3D block usage that resembles caution tape. Further expanding on the designs, they are masterfully made, consisting of various different blocks which are used in super neat ways. Namely the 3D usage again, as Picha thought outside the box and incorporated these blocks into the designs. The inclusion of these 3D blocks makes for some interesting designs that have never been seen before.

The only issue I have with System Split are the few parts which reuse decoration. Although Picha made slight changes, the dual at 28%, the cube at 62%, and the cube at 83% all reuse decoration from previous sections. Unfortunately, this makes the designs slightly less special, and I would have liked to see some new decoration made for these parts. However, this is not too big of an issue, as the designs reused are still extremely unique for the update.

Additionally, the gameplay is just as good as the decoration. System Split features a healthy mixture of every gamemode that existed in 1.9, which I always like to see in levels. The base gameplay is extremely fun to play, consisting of unique movements and curved gaps in the free-fly gamemodes, as well as a ton of fakes in the non-free-fly gamemodes. These features spice up the gameplay and add some extra difficulty to the level.

Because of the decoration and the gameplay, System Split is truly a fantastic level for 1.9. This level has been one of my favorite levels ever since I started playing the game, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who has not completed it.

Serpents Shrine is an iconic snake-themed Hard Demon by LmAnubis. Being the oldest level on his account, it has not aged too terribly, as the decoration is still very unique.

For being one of the earliest snake-themed levels, this level does a good job at building the theme. Most of the structures in the level are giant snakes, which look very nice for the few objects allowed in 1.9. Additionally, Anubis keeps these structures interesting by creating different variations. There are front-faced snake structures, as well as side-profile snakes with open mouths, and the two full-body snakes towards the middle of the level. Furthermore, the theme is built through the colors. The level uses predominantly gray, with gold accent colors to represent valuables. These two aspects combined together create some special decoration for this level.

Although the decoration in this level is very nice, it is disappointing that this level is repetitive. The level sticks with the default block designs with chains or glow, and does little to switch it up. This is upsetting because I could have seen Anubis easily introducing more designs for this level. He could have experimented with other base blocks, like the brick blocks from update 1.5, as well as some of the many new blocks added in 1.9. This would have kept the level fresh and interesting, as well as preserving the uniqueness of the default block designs in the level.

Regardless of the repetitiveness, Serpents Shrine has a unique look and theme, and the giant snake structures made this level iconic. I am still a big fan of the decoration in this level, and so are many others.

Joshenjol is a creator that has gained some traction recently due to a handful of his 1.9 and 2.0 levels being rated after several years. As of recently, all of his rate-worthy levels have been rated, except for one. Midnight was Joshenjol’s first level of 2.0, being a very colorful space level. Although this level further proves that he always had unique ideas, this level has some significant issues.

Similar to Joshenjol’s previous levels, Midnight is very rich in unique ideas. I find the ideas come through the most in the backgrounds, as this level is full of stellar space backgrounds. These backgrounds are often composed of glow pieces and corner pieces, resembling stars. However, the ideas extend further into the designs and air decoration. Joshenjol was not afraid to use the new decoration objects in this level, often creating some beautiful designs to fit with the space backgrounds. Additionally, there are tons of different hues and pulses scattered throughout the level. All of these aspects make the level very colorful and interesting when combined together.

Unfortunately, Midnight is extremely rough around the edges, which was the same fate for many other early 2.0 levels. The most notable issue is the layering, as there are numerous instances of improperly layered objects. These objects clip around other objects and create a jarring look for the level. On top of the improperly layered objects, this level has questionable movements. During the first half, a lot of the movements happen too quickly, causing strange appearances when paired with the easings used. This could have easily been fixed by increasing the duration of the movements and changing some of the easings, creating smoother movements.

Overall, Midnight has some very unique ideas, but these issues are too strong of setbacks. Regardless of these issues, I am a huge fan of this level, and I would like to see it rated alongside his other old levels.

(This review was written before this level was rated)

Sank is a solo Extreme Demon by Waterbound. Taking heavy inspiration from Dump by GiggsRH and DsinK by stanstanmansan, this level is a fantastic first attempt at a proper creation.

The inspiration from DsinK is evident in the aquatic theme. To fit this theme, this level has a plethora of uniquely crafted assets, like seaweed and fish. The theming extends into the decoration also, as the level uses a cool blue color, and the designs are sea related.

Unlike the theming, the inspiration from Dump is more apparent in the decoration. The level features a lot of composite designs, often requiring many different blocks to make. Not only do they look elegant, but they also have the essence of Geometry Dash built into them, which I love. There is also excellent color work done on these designs, incorporating different hues like teal, royal blue, and purple. Additionally, the designs in the later half of the level use colors that the blocks realistically need, like green grass and brown wood. And on top of all this, Waterbound used glow to polish the designs, and made neat backgrounds and pulses to tie all the decoration together.

In addition to the decoration, the inspiration from Dump is seen in the gameplay. Dump has brutal timing gameplay built entirely in 1x speed, which this concept is mirrored in Sank. Additionally, Waterbound also included an interesting ship-like cube transition between parts to spice up the gameplay. Unfortunately, the gameplay includes my only complaint. This level uses an intense song, which does not fit well with the slower gameplay. I do not think this is a significant issue though, because the song is not overly intense or fast-paced.

With Sank, Waterbound went from a creator I had not heard of, to a creator I will be looking forward to seeing more from. From the perfectly themed decoration to the interesting gameplay, this level proves that they have a natural talent for creating, and I would love to see this level get a Feature.

CaveOfTheScarletSky is one of zYuko’s several platformer Extreme Demons, being the hardest of her released ones so far. Heavily inspired by the Celeste map “Cave of the Crimson Sky,” this level takes the player through a difficult challenge, featuring lots of needle gameplay. Unfortunately, there are numerous issues that dwindle the quality of this level.

As the level is based on the aforementioned Celeste map, CaveOfTheScarletSky uses primarily pixel blocks, matching the style of the game. However, alot of the designs were translated into Geometry Dash under the editor’s limitations, with no attempt at circumventing these limitations. This is where the level suffers the most, as I believe Yuko could have improved these designs or made unique assets to fit with the designs. Additionally, there is an unnatural contrast between the pixel block designs, and the high definition nature of the obstacles used. This contrast is also exacerbated by the bright colors on the obstacles during the dark cave sections. I would have liked to see this contrast prevented by creating custom pixelated obstacles, and blending them with the designs. However, not all is bad with the decoration. I think there was a good attempt at improving the atmosphere by making the level darker, as it fits excellently with the unsettling theme.

There are also issues with the gameplay. As mentioned previously, CaveOfTheScarletSky features primarily needle gameplay, which this style can get boring quickly. I feel like gameplay gimmicks, especially ones from Celeste, were an untapped potential for this level. These could easily freshen up the gameplay, and make the level feel more rewarding upon completion.

Overall, I think CaveOfTheScarletSky is one of the weaker Extreme Demon platformers. Although it is an interesting take on the Celeste map, the decoration and gameplay still suffer. In the future, I would love to see Yuko work on these issues, as I believe she can make an excellent level.