Rating Curve

Controversially, I don't enjoy this level as much. It's an okay level, but it's not any masterpiece.

Firstly, I think this level tries to be too many things at once. It tries to be an art level, but also a flashy effect level, but also an homage to Kira's favourite entries in the Space Gauntlet CC, and it just doesn't work for me. It tries to be contextualized as an emulation, but I don't buy it.

Gameplay wise, it's perfectly playable, but nothing to write home about.

The real hit or miss thing about this level, though, comes with the decoration. I think Kira's flashy style is too overblown here. It worked fine for Wannacry, since the theming of that level allowed for such type of decoration and pulses, but here is just too much for me. Even the parts I like, mainly the 3D ship part where you avoid the meteors, have too much going on.

Somehow I one-attempted this one. It's decently fun, and pretty goofy! Complements the silly song pretty well. I can safely say that I enjoyed it :)

I've already discussed this level in video form, when it came out, so I'll try to summarize my thoughts from back then, since they are the same now.

Based on the prompt this level is based on (Stereo Madness remake), Bli made a pretty decent job on this level. The technicalities of this level are quite impressive, especially the fluid animations. I also very much enjoy the overarching story told in the level about a new player rage-quitting on Stereo Madness. The forced deaths the player has to experience are a clever way to build the narrative.

Unfortunately, the storytelling of this level isn't perfect. The first ship part, for instance, is quite simply a filler visual stimulation that has nothing to do with anything in the rest of the level.

The gameplay, while mostly being Stereo Madness, also has some major flaws... at least, when it comes to sightreadability. Some camera movements back and forth make some easy obstacles quite hard to predict, and we can be all day discussing the 9 screens section, and how everything wrong with it would be solved if Bli indicated which screen was not going to be smashed and, therefore, safe to look at.

Overall, like I said before, the level isn't necessarily bad, especially for its prompt and the time limit given, but it has quite some flaws in sightreadability and narrative cohesion.