Rating Curve

(Completed in 4/7/25)

I had a lot of fun with this one. A very easy to sight-read level despite most of the visuals being rather flashy and effect-based. I especially liked how the level utilizes it's sync both with the gameplay and how it represents the music, as that is something MaxxoRMeN is really good at with any of their levels.

Not sure what to feel about the dual waves though. They feel fun and are a cool visually, but they kinda just half the time don't work when I was practicing the level. I did manage the fluke the entire second half of the drop so I guess it didn't bother me too much after that. But that's basically my only complaint I have for a very solid level like this one.

Total Attempts: 68

Ah yes, Bli’s entry. What do I even need to say about this one? Well…I do have my own thoughts.

This…is basically what I exactly expect from a Space Gauntlet entry by Bli; super overly-detailed and focused on cinematic visuals, while also having a lot of 3D effects to a lot of its deco. Obviously it looks incredible, but that’s as much as I could enjoy it with that mindset. I honestly don’t really have much care for the quote-on-quote story it was trying to tell, and honestly the way it tries to tell it maybe could’ve been executed better.

And while it was still playable in the end as the actual gameplay is actually straight-forward and quite fun to play, having half of your total level’s runtime be dedicated to an opening cutscene felt like a choice made for showcaser to preview in their video rather than having the player wanting to sit through it. I am still thankful it is skippable and not designed to play within every attempt, but I’ve always been a little mixed on that overall choice.

This is what I mean on why no other Bli level will top Change of Scene, because that level nailed everything perfectly on what it was trying to aim for. This one also tries to aim for something, but the execution isn’t going to work as well for how much the woah-factor isn’t really there as much as it was. Sometimes having the best visuals the game can ever offer doesn’t exactly mean the level will still have enough substance that makes it really stand out than what was shown before. Still, huge props to Bli on how he creates his levels, and this one is no exception. But I wouldn’t lie to say I wouldn’t really want this in a gauntlet as it does start to feel like this was made to be more like a crowd pleaser than a “gauntlet” level.

This and Out of Place were the only two successful Space Gauntlet entries that I did not watch fully before the results were out, as I only went in and saw a few sections of the level than the entire thing. Seeing this level in its entirety after it was revealed as the 2nd placer of all these entries, really surprised me.

To put it in this way, this entry was presented way later before the results were released, and by looking at it, it just looks like every other Space Gauntlet entry going for the same approach. I suppose it was placed this high for overall looking better than those entries, but there really isn’t that much with it that makes it stand out compared to the so many other unique entries that innovate with its “space-theme.” I think this one is going for some “space train” theme, but that was really all I got from looking at the level visually.

With that said, this was surprisingly a lot of fun to play, and probably one of the better levels in terms of its gameplay. It really compliments the song to a T with how it syncs to the music, and how it overall flows with each moment of gameplay. There’s also some nice unique moments that do help it stand out in a way compared to other entries such as the moment your ship goes around a star. And though the level doesn’t have much to make it stand out from many entries, it does have some genuinely cool visual moments like the train going through the wormhole and the very 3D-look of the planets at the following part.

There is a chance this level would start growing on me at some time, but while giving me a good experience I do find other entries to be more memorable and have a lot of unique moments of its own to stand out. Still a cool level as usual.

As much as I liked 102 BLUES more for how it also has a pretty similar style-choice, I don’t want to blame anyone else liking this one more and chances that I would start to like it more than that level. All I have to say is that this at least needs to be around 6-7 stars even for how obscurely long it is. There aren’t many parts where you can die easily and other parts that are just free roam at best, admittedly making the level feel a little too slow and as if it drags on a little too long. Then again most of these entries are really long and I don’t want to go and complain about that.

Still this one has that chill-vibe that compliments its extra length and slow-paced gameplay. The art created from this style, as well as how much the song also compliments it, makes this a very calming level to play while still remaining as fair as possible. Maybe the swing-copter part could’ve been better handled with where it placed the indicators and how super easy it is to skip any of the orbs, but that’s really the only part I have complaints about via gameplay.

This still should be the 6-7 star level and be the third level instead of Jova.

This is an oddly therapeutic level for how intense the song can get. While there are a ton of other entries I personally hold higher than this one, this one is still very visually appealing and plays as decently well as a super long 5 star could get. It has the staple Glubfuberz-style that can be easily recognizable with 2.2 levels nowadays and it doesn’t look bad in any way for that.

(Completed in 3/25/25)

Man I miss these types of megacollabs back in mid-to-late 2.1. Very art-focused levels with a consistent theme that doesn't try too hard on the visuals, and overall looks very clean even if not the most cohesive. It really reminds me of a more intense and harder version of bli's Fall Apart (who also has a part in this level), and much like that level, it is a hell a lot of fun with how it focuses on click sync without it being too learny. I really dig how this level does the music sync here with the fitting song it has, even if I had to desync my audio a lot to have my clicks stay consistent, which I don't want to blame the level for that. There are definitely a lot of skips you can do because of how much room you are given if you choose not to click to the music, but I would like to prefer it still having the click sync rather than it never working at all.

When it comes to things I don't like? Well, the transition to the 49% dual was pretty bad because you are forced to let go at the very moment you switch to dual mode, because there are no J blocks to prevent the top cube from jumping to its death when holding the button. That and the ship after that dual was a lot harder than it really should be. Other than that I had a blast with this one and would like it to get more of the attention it got in the end.

Total Attempts: 202

(Completed in 3/24/25)

Pretty enjoyable level, though I do wish it was a little more fun than it was when I started it. The level is very visually pleasing and has such a nice color palette that is well composited within each part, and the level for a good majority is still a lot of fun. However it was kind of a weird experience practicing it because one part always felt off than the others.

The ending starting at 71% started off really awkward at first with all the orbs and pads being thrown at you, and there are many moments where the brief auto sections bug out, especially at the spider part. It did thankfully got a little more consistent with enough practice, but I feel like that part took way too long to figure out and led to a massive grind of attempts. Still every other part is tolerable enough and it could've been a lot worse in the end.

Total Attempts: 225

(Completed in 3/20/25)

Admittedly I'm not a fan of the song here, but with that aside this is such a really neat level. It does a lot of aspects that I've seen in other levels, but it still executes them very well for how well-designed and polished it looks with this abandoned city setting. I'll also say the level gets really consistent to play despite how learny and timing-based it is.

It's been quite some time since I've ever liked a multiple paths part in a level, and while the beginning gets some time to get use to, it's a lot of fun for how you can choose your path switching between being above or under the surface. It is noticeably harder than the second half, but it does end up being very consistent once you went through it from 0% plenty of times. I'll also say the sections starting from 33% and 49% were tons of fun, with the latter doing a really good job with the music sync despite most of the level being rather slow.

Maybe I could've enjoyed it a little more than I did if there weren't as few too many annoying clicks still in some of the parts (the 58% click was a weird one), but that doesn't hurt the level's consistency too bad even if it was frustrating dying to one considering how long the level is. All in all a very solid 2.2 level that was rightfully nominated for the Best Hard-Insane Demon of that year.

Total Attempts: 453

(Completed in 2/20/25)

Weird that I have never beaten a Split72 level before knowing how many levels this guy makes. This was one I was familiar with from the start and would like to try at some point, and as a first impression of her levels, it's a surprisingly good one. It is a very punishing level however. I am a big fan of click sync, but I usually have mixed-feelings for ones that click-sync really fast. Which this level has with it also only being 45 seconds long.

It definitely got very tiring playing this for more than four minutes, but my experience aside and for how this level does play, it is some very fun gameplay and might be the best case of high cps click-sync of any level I've played (which is not many for a reason lol). You do have to remain consistent with how it plays because it can grind all your attempts if you aren't even the slightest bit consistent. The beginning is the worst example of that, and maybe a few clicks at the drop did start to feel like chokepoints. Once you do reach the ball section of the drop, it's definitely some of the most fun gameplay I've touched in a while, and a really good one if you can handle fast-pace high-cps.

It's been a while since I've enjoyed a very short level, and this one didn't disappoint even if I didn't want to play it any longer for my personal health lmao.

Total Attempts: 133

(Completed in 2/17/25)

This is a very under-the-radar level because I really thought it was nice to play throughout. Maybe that just could be that I beat it from my first attempt from 0% after not even that long a practice run, but a lot of it plays in a very unique way and the level also has this kind of calming vibe to it. It does use some interesting ways with orbs that need a bit of sight-reading practice to handle, but with that done you'd basically beat the level in a second like I just did.

Total Attempts: 26