Rating Curve

If you make a level with this song some spirit possesses you to create a peak level. This, combined with the fact that durianhead is probably the most technically proficient creator ever seen in the video game, makes for one of the best 1.9 styled levels ever conceived past the update itself. A lot of creators often struggle in hitting that 1.9 vibe, and while their levels are still good, it misses out on a lot of the abstraction that made 1.9 levels as interesting as they are. This is an exception here- such a mystifying level on display, dreamlike in nature, twisting GD's artstyle into unimaginable forms. It's a sort of funhouse mirror into a more idealized 1.9, a reflection of the style's trajectory during 2.1, but executed with the grace and nuance only a creator like durianhead would be able to pull off.

This is like if Terraformer was a GD level- very indulgent, a bit too long, but I'm a sucker for that type of stuff. A great cap off of nasgubb's space series and initially to his entire creating career before Afterlife's release.

Skitten's parts here are fine, but Sandstorm absolutely snapped here. It's only one trick- that single block design, but combined with the frantic gameplay and the pretty decent color work and it turns into something really interesting. And that dual- one of the few times that 3x speed has felt faster than 4x speed.

A lot of people only know Sandstorm for beating levels but back then it was common to see players be pretty strong creators themselves, and vice-versa. Kind of a shame that we don't see that as much anymore, although looking at what a lot of top players are creating nowadays, it's probably for the best.