Rating Curve

The only level to ever pose a threat to VSC's reign of terror atop the Challenge List. As a level, it's not much to write about, just a "360fps" cube challenge that borrows a LOT from CYCLOLCYC. That being said, the story surrounding this level, its unlikely verification and even more confounding removal from the challenge list makes this worth a few extra points.

Perhaps I’m just a sucker for the effect/modern levels of 2.0, but this level is one of my favorite megacollabs ever. Each part is great in its own way, and feels like a showcase of each creator’s talents. Some of the effects here are still jaw-dropping, all these years later. No part here looks dull, and the bright, cheery song uplifts the overall vibe. It’s an absolute blast of a level, and a love letter to one of my favorite eras of this game.

A satirical comment you often find on YouTube videos of songs that are considered bad is something along the lines of "This wasn't released, it escaped." In a sincere context however, that is what this level feels like to me, a sounding board of random ideas, a sketchbook of sorts. The name, "Test Tube", implies this. This is not really a GD level in the conventional form, and I find it strange that people are judging it as such. This is a canvas of paint splatters, perhaps a scrapped palette adorned with attempts to mix a new colour. This gives me the same feeling as listening to a "mumble demo" of a song, something you'll often find in internet leaks in unreleased music circles. In particular, Ye (fka Kanye West) is known for these demos, where a finished instrumental will play as he tries to form a rhythm by mumbling out a verse. Most of it just sounds like "sunna wunna hunna mmffpgh" as the beat plays, but oftentimes a random word will slip out, reminding you that you are not listening to an intentional work. These leaked demos are often obtained illegally through iCloud hacks, SIM swapping and social engineering. They were not meant to be heard by anyone, just a part of the artist's creative process. To listen to them feels like intruding into another person's mind, an act of voyeurism through an mp3 on KrakenFiles. "Test Tube" possesses that same eerie feeling, yet for some inexplicable reason, BlanketAddict decided to release this for the public. The twitter drama that spawned upon this level's release is also interesting on its own. It feels like Duchamp's "Fountain" for an audience entirely unfamiliar with it.

Another victim of the mind virus that infects creators with the idea that an easy 2-star level can't have more than 20 clicks. Either build some actual gameplay or spare us the trouble and make an auto. Visually and thematically it's just BUSSIN for a different target audience. Not much to say there. Well done as usual for blockbuster releases these days, and i'm sure connot had fun making this.

It's alright I guess, nothing too groundbreaking or special to write home about. Neither is it something that in and of itself would spark discourse like BlanketAddict's Test Tube or even Tidal Wave. It's a level that the NCS Event Level Creators got together to make as a send-off to the entire event. That being said, I feel bad for this level. It didn't ask to be rated Mythic, with Viprin himself stating that he didn't think it would receive that rating. Unfortunately, much of the discourse has been through this lens, judging the level alongside all the others to receive the holy blue fire and sacred 5 creator points. I think people would've been a lot nicer if this was featured or even Epic, but this serves as proof that the new rating tiers are not the ultimate solution to the community's woes about the rating system.

The Top Minds of Twitter have said most of what can be said about this level, so I don't intend to dwell on this subject. That being said, this feels like a Mr. Beast video in the form of a Geometry Dash level. It's full of jarring jump-cut transitions, as needed to keep up with the fried attention spans of Generation Alpha. There's the permeating lack of personality in the level, in line with the character that Beast himself puts on for the camera, a calculated effort not to offend anybody. And above all, there's the root of all evil itself: the big dollar amount that is this level's reason for existence.

EDIT [2025/04/26]: if only you knew how bad things really are. Rating Updated [1->4] in response to the creation of "Dead Device" by IMOXI.

Easily one of my favorite design levels ever. It's one of the best executions of the cyberpunk/city theme out there, and one of the design genre's finest works. The predrop features the rare sight of player colour integration, once a mainstay in the 4 colour channel era. It uses both player colours in the background and in the glow that accents the blocks, an effect that helps personalize the level. The notes of progression in this part are also noteworthy; the tall buildings of the titular metropolis loom in the background as a helicopter flies overhead. The drop is an explosion of colors and fine detail, with every block looking meticulous. The pulses just add to the frenzied explosion of colour. The gameplay here is fairly enjoyable in my opinion, with the rapid portal switching fitting the intensity of the drop. Then we transition into the headline-grabber of the level, its midsection that employs a wall-jump system several years before RobTop would add the arrow trigger that makes building such a section in 2.2 fairly trivial. Naturally, playing such a part has its little oddities that come from the direction switch implementation, but it's not that much of an annoyance and doesn't bring down the experience as a whole. The buildings that were once looming shadows are now visible in much more detail as we approach the level's climax. I've always interpreted this part as being a section where the player climbs up an alleyway in between two buildings. The final part is a glorious tour de force, a euphoric joyride through this intricate city. The colours here are magnificent, with each flash and pulse complementing the vibe. One of my favourite effects here is what happens when the player pops in and out of the brightly lit sections as the player becomes a blacked-out shadow, just as what happens when someone stands in front of a large light source. The gameplay perfectly complements this freewheeling spirit, and playing this section feels like a sequence from a Spiderman film as he player jumps and flies from buildings to industrial equipment as skyscrapers and a tower reminiscent of Shanghai's Oriental Pearl Tower dazzle in the background. The structures here are simply beautiful, with the high rises looking absolutely gorgeous with colorful windows. All in all, DesTicY's Metropolis is an absolute masterpiece, a dazzling trip through a colourful cyberpunk utopia.