Rating Curve

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.

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.

(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.

Written on November 14th, 2024. (After completion)

FIREPOWER is an Extreme Demon that many people know about, being made by the popular creator Sillow as his 4th extreme, as well as his first epic extreme. FIREPOWER was Sillow’s intention of creating a unique Nine Circles styled level in a world where Nine Circles did not exist. Sillow has been one of my favorite creators for a while now, having released many easier demons that I loved, as well as Forbidden Isle and Azurite, which are two of my favorite extremes. So, when I saw FIREPOWER’s full showcase, I was instantly hyped as I remembered seeing the preview and I loved what I saw.

FIREPOWER has some of the best decoration ever made in the Geometry Dash editor, and I am serious about this. When making this level, Sillow chose to keep the decorations very related to 1.9, and this does not impair the level at all, as many of the designs are clean and feel weighty to the level. Additionally, the level is themed around fire, which helped the level immensely. Sillow’s main expression of the theme is through the colors, as the only colors used in the level are the hot hues of red, orange and yellow. Yet, the colors are elevated greatly through the infinite amount of pulses throughout the level. FIREPOWER was intended to be a unique twist on Nine Circles levels, and the pulsing work done by Sillow truly expresses the intention of the level. Additionally, there are plentiful examples of theme expression in this level under the limitations of 1.9’s style, such as the endless amounts of lava and fire made out of glow and pulsing objects. Combined with the enormous amount of silly monsters found in the level, these assets truly build a bunch of character into the level, which I just love.

As for the gameplay, this is where the review takes a full 180 from what it was previously. I cannot express how little I enjoyed the gameplay. The gameplay actually does not have any major issues, as most of the base gameplay is extremely fun and skill-based, which I excel at. However, the balancing is the major issue. The last quarter of the level is tremendously concentrated in difficulty compared to the other three quarters. Combine this with this quarter being the end of the level, and you have a recipe for disaster, as you can see my numerous deaths past 76% towards the end of the video. Not to mention the gameplay becomes immensely easy to die to when you pass 92%, containing strange click patterns and skill-based segments. Overall, this level was excessively agonizing to complete.

At the time of writing this review, I plan on sticking with my 0/10 on the enjoyment of this level. However, the decoration is still fantastic, and I still really love this level. For the future, I would like for Sillow to invest in some playtesters for his next levels, as playtesting can undoubtedly improve the quality of the gameplay and balancing. Although, I would like to see Sillow continue making levels, as I can see him quickly becoming a fantastic creator through his decoration.

Written on July 30th, 2024.

AbstractDark is a famous creator who has recently risen to fame again after not releasing many levels in 2.1. Throughout his 8 year journey in Geometry Dash, he has shown his talent in the editor numerous times, creating fantastic levels like Seasonal Haven, Tornado, Underground, Darkness Keeper, and many others. However, I would like to talk about my personal favorite time where Abstract impressed the community with his talent. Not even a month into 2.1’s release, Abstract released one of his most famous levels, titled “Generator.”

For Abstract’s first 2.1 level, Generator is a very impressive take on the new features. Unfortunately, the level’s decoration is not too great. Most of the block designs throughout the level are cluttered with objects exclusive to 2.1, leading to designs that have aged for the worse. Additionally, the majority of the level uses a strange blue combination where the background is a deep navy blue, while the designs and other assets use a bright royal blue. Although the decoration is very rough around the edges, there is one aspect that Abstract excelled in, which cements this level in history as one of the most famous early 2.1 levels. The rotation trigger, one of the major triggers added in 2.1, was difficult to figure out for a majority of the community. However, Abstract learned the rotation trigger almost immediately and used it to fantastic extents in Generator. The most impressive usage of the rotation trigger in this level is the ship part at 18%, which features entirely rotated gameplay. There are also other impressive uses of the rotation trigger, such as the rotating carriers in the ufo at 38%, the rotating backgrounds in the parts at 60% and 91%, and the rotating lasers and saws found throughout the entire level. Abstract tastefully used the rotation trigger many times in Generator, which gives this level a lot of charm regardless of the abnormal decoration.

Fortunately, the gameplay is a step up from the decoration. Although this level came out less than a month into 2.1, Abstract did not overuse the new gameplay elements. Because of this, Generator has gameplay that experiments with the new features while not being overly confusing, which makes for some very fun gameplay. Nevertheless, the gameplay is not perfect either. Although the ship at 18% is the most impressive part of the level, the gameplay in the ship can get very boring having to play many times over. Additionally, the part at 60% utilizes 4x speed, which makes the gameplay tough to sight-read. Yet, if you keep these two complaints in mind, the gameplay is still very enjoyable.

Although the decoration and gameplay are not perfect, Generator is still one of the best early-2.1 levels. Abstract’s fantastic usage of the rotation trigger created an experience of a level that still holds to this day. Generator undoubtedly showed Abstract’s sheer talent in the editor, and helped him become the amazing creator he is today.