Rating Curve

among the most beautifully optimistic levels I've ever seen, if not the most. at first I never really saw the appeal in this level, mostly because of the distaste for this sort of neodesign I once had, but playing this level changed my mind. ive been incredibly pessimistic especially as of recent, and this level has genuinely helped me through those feelings. one of the greatest

my favorite travel level in the game! for one, i absolutely LOVE the yellows this level uses. i assume many people will find the color choices here dull, but i think they compliment the simple yet effective designs super well. however, my favorite part about this level is how it uses objects. the way objects are used in this level feel incredibly random and abstract. you have everything from a part that involves you flying through a bunch of fists, to a part that has a background of default heart and potion blocks, and everything in between throughout its 9 minute length. it's incredibly random, but i think thats a part of the beauty of this level. nothing in this level has any concrete purpose, its just being there. its just being what it is, as the beautiful piano keeps playing and you inch closer and closer to the end of a level. it's a true utopia, but not in the traditional sense of "everything being perfect". nothing is perfect, but everything is at peace with one another. the gameplay is obviously super intense, considering its again 9 MINUTES, but every part feels fresh. i especially love the first parts at the first and second drops respectively, as the movements in the structures feel so powerful and dynamic. just an absolutely beautiful level, and one of my favorite demons ever

absolute classic. the original, and one of the most influential levels the game has and will ever see. and for good reason as well! i mean, i wasnt around back them but i'd imagine seeing that iconic wave effect for the first time would have me shitting bricks too

obviously people have remade this level a billion times, to the point where its become its own style, but i think where many of these remakes get it wrong is how lopsided the balancing is towards the wave. of course the wave is the hardest part in nine circles, but truth be told, only about 40% of nine circles is made up of wave. the first 40% of nine circles is made up of a rather difficult predrop (or, i guess really just the ship) that you can get mindblocked on super easily, and the last 20% is an incredibly tense cube that you can EASILYYY choke at. point is, the original nine circles has far more dynamics to it than any of its countless remakes to me, and thats what really seperates it from the rest all these years later.

"easy" - zobros

to be perfectly honest, i have never liked insxne's levels. ive always felt like theyve tried chasing an aestethic, but just fail to make me feel anything, and at first this level was no different to me. when i saw taiago was verifying it, i lowkey kinda just rolled my eyes and moved on. but this level has grown on me a lot, mostly due to its structuring. throughout each part, this level manages to keep a consistent and fresh style of structuring, and as each part changes, it transitions from one style to another incredibly smoothly. this is super hard to pull off, but the way this level does it is a prime example of how to do it, apart from some unnecessary movements in the level that make the level feel far less "spacey". granted though, the level already doesnt feel very "spacey" because of how clausterphobic and hard the level is, but maybe that isnt such a good thing for the level either. im undecided. its not that big of an issue though. the song is decent, kinda middle of the road modern day atmospheric dnb but it works with the theme of the level well enough. overall, a nice space themed level that i like a decent amount!

ive always been torn on this level. realistically i should hate this level as it represents a lot of what i personally dislike in a level. short wave bursts that feel slapped on, and the fact that the level feels like its over before it starts are all things that should bring my opinion on this level down drastically-and granted, they do-but i do see this level in a far brighter light than i do for many levels that follow this style. right from the start, the dark monochrome color scheme helps create this sense of dread as you creep towards the drop, where you get thrusted RIGHT into my favorite wave in the level, this stupidly intimidating looking wave with ridiculously stupid looking spikes jutting out. the animated designs, while a little out of place with the rest of the level visually, still look really good and work with the song rather well. i still dont fully rock with this level, i wish it developed more but i guess given the nature of this level, that would make it way too hard. even still, its a decent level, and one of my favorites from this Wave Challenge Demon niche

a solid, clean modern level, making really solid use of shapes to make a simple but engaging enough entry extreme. its obviously a fun one too, considering how common of a first extreme this one is. just beware of the ending! acu is not a level that absolutely blows me away, but it really doesnt have to. its just a fun and cute level that i enjoy :)

i'll never for the life of me understand how this is a semi-popular entry extreme. it's just acropolis but harder and worse and 2.0. it's so hilarious to watch that it removes ANY semblence of tension that the original once had, even with the impossible last wave in this level

solid enough flow level, the designs are slick and i especially like the colors. the gameplay is also pretty decent, having some rough balancing but overall keeping up high energy up until the ending. my main problem with this level lies in its progression, as it fails to work in tangent with the song very well. for example, the beginning of the ending part is super bright, while the very ending is much darker, but the song fails to switch up to represent this change. it feels like parts are just meshed together without much thought, and thats a real shame because i think this level has potential to be a really great flow level all around. i had fun beating it though so whatever

awful level. a good remake should be fixing up the worst qualities of a level while enhancing the best ones, but this level does neither as all of the positives of this remake come from the base level its working off of. it lathers the original, great 1.9 level 8o with enough glow to make your eyes burn if you're not careful. also they replaced that one cool ass ship in the original with a bunch of gravity potrals with some boring ass straight fly. that alone makes this go from a 3 to a 2

this level gets a rather negative rep in the community, and i'd be lying if i said it was hard to see why. the gameplay is INCREDIBLY unconventional, and to be frank, incomprehensibly stupid to play. however, i want to give this level its flowers because i believe it is one of the most stunning and thematically brilliant levels this game has seen.

this level revolves around the player venturing through-believe it or not-a lightning rod. for example, immediately upon entering the level, you are set in the base of the copper rod, or what i imagine is the ground rod. idk, im no expert. this beginning part alone sets up a lot of the defining atributes this level carries. for one, the gameplay is incredibly gimmicky; the first section has blocks that have electricity flowing through them, keeping you constantly off the ground. the gameplay for the next part keeps up the gimmicks, being a spider in which you have to pick up blue keys scattered throughout the part, while avoiding the red keys. idek what that gimmick has to do with the theme, but nevertheless its really cool.

the decoration of this level is equally as unique and daring, with many raw and even abstract decoration choices being put into play here. for example, at the climax of the song where you jump out of the lightning rod and soar through the skies, the decoration is messy and all of the place, throwing what in any other level would feel like pure clutter. but with the way this level uses its theme, it feels like a release of tension that blows my mind everytime i watch it. i also love the endscreen of this level. typically i dont like endscreens, but getting a full view of the structure you just climbed, especially considering how hard this level is has to feel SO unbelivably satisfying.

i also wanna talk about the song, as i think this song adds a lot to the theming, and i think lavatrex used this song to its maximum potential. in the first 60% or so where you actually climb the structure, the bass is the main focus of the song, and it genuinely feels electric. like, i dont know if its just me associating the song with the level naturally but the bass in this song literally feels like its going to electrocute me, and the first 60% of this level has that bass at full center. however, once you leave the lightning rod, the song completely transforms, truly complimenting the visual transition in a way that you rarely ever see in a geometry dash level. it makes the drop in this level one of my favorites of all time, and it makes this level in general one of my favorite extremes.