Rating Curve

A 'just okay' level with one of the funniest titles a Geometry Dash level could ever conceive of having. And to think that this level was made to celebrate Christmas too… The level's fine on its own, I guess, but that title is just legendary.

At its core, "Omega Scarlet" is a 2.0 update of the level "Alpha Scarlet". It's not necessarily an entire remake or revamp of the level, especially as it retains the same core skeleton as its predecessor. However, this time, it features an updated moving background, text to go along with the lyrics as well as very few, minute changes to the gameplay of the original "Alpha Scarlet". Unfortunately, I think it's definitely much messier than the original "Alpha Scarlet". In the original "Alpha Scarlet", the flashing blocks and colors were already enough for the level to mesh well with the music however in "Omega Scarlet", the newly-added background is just distracting and makes the level feel considerably cluttered. I think the addition of lyrics during the pre-drop ship also makes the level feel much more cluttered than its predecessor, especially because they cause you to divert your eyes away from the gameplay (which is already kind of a problem in a level that's as flashy and noisy as the original "Alpha Scarlet"). It's essentially a carbon copy of the original save for its few changes so it can't help but feel like a rushed asset flip.

Regardless, I do respect the fact that Thomaisho decided to upload "Omega Cosmos" separately from "Alpha Cosmos" as it easily could have passed as a 2.0 'improvement' to its predecessor. Lots of older levels certainly fall victim to being updated later on and in the process of doing so, can get worse (for example, the infamous levels "Gravity Cycles" and "Theory of Relativity" were updated in 2.1 and 2.0 respectively and barely anybody actually likes these levels). Ironically enough, Thomaisho's own level "Magnolia" was also updated in 2.1 (but I can't comment on its quality as I haven't beaten it).

Geometry Dash creators will really make a solid, serviceable, and respectable level before ruining it with the most godawful title. I'm not even going to say the title of this level in this review because I hate the title that much. For the most part, this level is pretty ordinary and unspectacular. It's far from being twigxcabaret's most impressive level but it fits with the song's lighthearted and cheery vibe I suppose. Other than that, the gameplay is fine. I can't really comment on it except for the fact that it's extremely 'Okay'. It's neither bad nor exceptional, just resoundingly alright and tolerable. It’s extremely short and exactly a minute long so it doesn't really leave much of an impact other than being a happy filler level.

Regardless of the level's quality, I just don't like the title. It's been one of the most inescapable and overused terms on the Internet in the past few years and I don't know how or why it has become so. I sincerely wish GD creators knew how to pick better titles for their levels, because the levels themselves are actually alright, it's just the obnoxious, cringeworthy titles which sort of 'spoil' the whole experience. The sheer annoyance of reading that title is enough to deduct one point. Sorry… :/

The Super Mario one was better.

All jokes aside, "Odyssey" is a level that just hasn't aged well. The designs are overall cluttered, messy and lack a strong sense of cohesion. The level is meant to be part of the 'Magic Gauntlet'. However, it's a level that's really lacking in any element of 'magic', with the only real hints this level is meant to be magic-themed being a few potions here and there at the start, a depiction of Harry Potter's glasses and scar, a floating spell book, and a small monster wearing a wizard hat (which is admittedly kinda cute). Aside from these features, the level could just be interpreted or viewed as a typical early 2.1 level. The worst offense that "Odyssey" makes is its tedious gameplay. Its second half is rather annoying to play through, especially considering the fact that any death here means you need to make your way through the level's sleepy opening once more. A sluggish beginning only acts as an impediment to any semblance of enjoyment when the player will probably need to replay it due to the shoddily-constructed drop (the ship transition at 65% is particularly a nuisance).

(It's better than "Empyrean" though!)

While "Persona" is a level indistinguishable from practically any other DubstepFanatic level, on the plus side, it has a good song (although any rendition will never be able to live up to the original 'Beneath The Mask' or its rainy day variant). Maybe I'd be much more forgiving to this level if it wasn't so tangentially connected to the 'Persona' series. After all, Persona 5 does have some of the most memorable and striking art direction in a video game and it would be very interesting to attempt to transpose its visual style into GD. Alas, "Persona" is a pretty inoffensive, monotonous level with not much special to it aside from its song.

It's really funny to think that "Lustre" and "Crystal fusion" landed in the same Gauntlet, especially when the latter has aged so terribly in comparison to the former. I'm sorry I have to admit this, but "Crystal Fusion" is way too cluttered and messy for my own personal liking. It might have been somewhat decent at the time, but now it just looks like a rather clumsy 'fusion' of glow (lots of it, in fact!) and questionable gameplay. It also doesn't help that obstacles feel somewhat obscured by the level's decoration at points. I like the concept that the whole level is escaping from a mine that is flooding with lava, but aside from that, it's a relic of early 2.1 that (in my opinion) hasn't aged too well.

"Good morning" is a particularly bizarre and surreal early 2.2 platformer level that closely emulates the dizzying sensation of getting up far too quickly for your own good. It's a completely nonsensical fever dream that tries far too hard to be absurd for its own good. Regardless, it's an interesting artefact for those later down the line who want to discover how baffling and bewildering some early 2.2 levels could be.

"Worst Drop" really holds the achievement of being the only BrainETR level that I would consider to be subpar (perhaps even bordering on terrible). The gameplay isn't nearly as bad as I'd remembered it being (though perhaps it's just because I got used to the blisteringly fast UFO section). Unfortunately, this whole 'joke' — if you can even call it one — died around two millennia ago. This whole 'joke' drop was never funny in the first place. I'm pretty glad this trend died out almost as soon as it started because it was just cringe from the beginning.