Rating Curve

This level is very overrated in my opinion, but I will admit it is still one of the more impressive Late 2.1 easy demons.

First of all, the gimmick of theater mode vs reality mode is amazing and probably the best use of the split mechanic in the Discord Gauntlet contest. That being said, from a grinder perspective there’s really no reason to ever play reality mode so both times I beat this level I used theater mode. This may have reduced my enjoyment a bit. Another issue is that in 2.2 on mobile, I encountered a bug where you always die when you enter the spider after the spam wave unless you buffer click which is not communicated by the level. This may have been fixed so this might be a moot point.

The song choice is amazing and the gameplay goes with it very well. I especially like the ending of this level with the super fast-paced gameplay. Every part is memorable in its own way. It is also impressive how optimized this level is with its low object count.

That being said, I think there are hundreds of late 2.1 levels that are of similar or higher quality. I cannot agree with the “bli glazers” who call this one of the best levels of all time. It’s a great level - just not one of the best of all time. If not for the Discord Gauntlet contest, I think people would have forgotten this level, or at least wouldn’t have praised it so highly.

B is one of those levels whose popularity makes no sense to me. First of all, it’s hard to find this level in the search tab as there are many other popular levels that start with the level B - the easiest way is to go to Motleyorc’s account and scroll through his levels or search completed medium demons by downloads. This makes it very impressive that it got as popular as it did given it wasn’t released until Update 2.1. It has the same issue as -SIRIUS- or X in this regard.

Putting aside the name of the level, it’s a slightly better than average early 2.1 level similar to ABATE by the same creator. The gameplay mostly flows well with each part transition being passable. My biggest issue with the gameplay is that the ball part is WAY harder than everything else combined and you have to play a good amount of the level in normal mode just to get a chance at it.

The biggest reason for this level’s popularity is the bossfight and deco. Motleyorc has always been good at making simplistic but interesting looking modern levels, and this might be his magnum opus in this regard. The standard in 2.0 and early 2.1 was to make bossfight attacks completely unsightreadable, but the boss in B is mostly fair with practice. I think the boss alone would have made this level iconic no matter what.

I personally wouldn’t recommend this as a new hardest for beginners as it is choke point heavy. That being said, it is a classic medium demon and probably a must-play level for any GD veteran.

I also think this should be easy demon, but that’s an unpopular opinion

Putting aside the Circles trend this level created, it holds up well on its own with very cool effects by 1.9 standards and some interesting ship and ball gameplay.

The wave really carries the difficulty but is done pretty well in the original Nine Circles so it is bearable. All the transitions flow well together.

This is a must-play for any GD veteran, even if it’s not the best level of all time it’s a classic without question.