Rating Curve

"ANYBODY" is a (visually) serviceable glow level which is tainted, blighted and ruined by its absolutely abysmal, dismal and miserable excuse for 'gameplay'. It's a hostile level that actively tries its hardest to be as unfun as physically possible. When I first — yes, first — beat this level sometime back in 2020 (I can't really pinpoint exactly when), my game crashed, and let me tell you, I was probably going to implode had I not beaten it within the next 10 attempts following my game crashing. Anyway, "ANYBODY" is a dreadful experience, regardless of how 'easy' it is.

"Mystical Island" by Jeyzor is a level that evidently uses a decent amount of copy-and-paste in its creation, however, I really like the whole 'crooked' and 'jagged' block design that is featured throughout. The whole 'crooked' block design really makes the level feel like it consists of abandoned, desolate structures and buildings on the eponymous 'mystical island'. I really like the ornate spike pillars that are used in the mini-UFO towards the end of the level. My only real complaint (which applies to most Jeyzor 1.7 levels) is that "Mystical Island" is too short and too repetitive to be any greater than it currently is. The final ball part is a little too empty and feels as if it was shoved on at the end to ensure the level received a 'Long' length (as level lengths used to be calculated differently).

Reunomi is without a doubt the #1 creator when it comes to crafting the most detailed, dynamic, and breathtaking urban landscapes within the confines of GD. A stunning, captivating, and enrapturing visual marvel set amongst a dystopian, cyberpunk skyline, "Lumina" is an unconventional auto level that lacks an easily discernible narrative to guide the player's interest, instead acting more like a fascinating art exhibit in a museum that the player can gaze at and interpret.

The level opens with a scene set in present-day Indonesia (2019 if we use the level's release date as an approximation for when it it's meant to be set). However, as the level slowly progresses, the humble metropolis initially depicted only becomes more and more advanced and futuristic as the text 'Limitless' and 'Wake up' briefly appear on screen. So what could this all possibly mean? "Lumina" is a level that is all about surpassing boundaries, 'waking up' the player to the infinite possibilities and potential that we, as a society, hold. It's a level that seems all too fantastical to believe, but its whole message about pushing boundaries wholly fits with the level's own defiance of Geometry Dash's defined limits. Humans constantly make new advancements. Your city 100 years ago is almost entirely different than it is now. The way the world currently is will be a relic of the past in no less than a century. Alternatively, perhaps "Lumina" could be a warning for the dangers of unchecked growth and development? The opening title card explicitly refers to "Lumina" as an art project about [DYSTOPIAN INFRASTRUCTURE]. As the city depicted advances further and further, it only becomes even more unrecognizable to the player, with zero resemblance to its original self. The beautiful expanse that is the natural sky only becomes consumed and obscured by flashy, neon lights and daunting monoliths.

Whether you choose to interpret "Lumina" as a warning or an inspirational message of hope, it's certainly one of the most impressive art levels to ever grace Geometry Dash. Even nearly six years later, it's still as astonishing as it was. It's a level that really feels timeless in its beauty (ironic considering the level is all about change over time).

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.

"Indosiar" was a level so far ahead of its time that it only managed to scrape by with a mere star rate when it was so clearly worthy of an Epic. I'd argue that its mere star rate might be one of the most egregious sins and wrongdoings of the flawed GD rating system, as even though it is true that it had an obscene amount of objects (as well as lag) for its time, so many featured levels since have contained even more ludicrous and baffling object counts. I'd argue that if Reunomi was lucky enough to release this even a year later in 2019, it would have been practically locked for an Epic.

Grand, magnificent, breathtaking and expansive in scope, "Indosiar" is a phenomenal and exceptional level that couldn't be described as anything other than a captivating visual marvel. I still remember watching it for the first time in 2018 and being blown away by how advanced and realistic "Indosiar" was, and even 7 years later it's almost inconceivable to think that a level this detailed and mind-blowing could exist amongst its relatively bland and generic contemporaries. On a visual level, it is a fantastic tour de force, a landmark ocular odyssey that sweeps you off your feet to just marvel and gaze at the spectacular cityscapes and skylines that it subjects you to. Even to this day, it's a level that's highly impressive and admirable due to the broad, encompassing scale exhibited within it. It’s rare that a level is able to feel like it can capture the grandeur and unbelievably gargantuan scale of the big city, but "Indosiar" is able to do just that and succeed. The infinitely-stretching sky, the ceaseless seas of factories, the sprawling forest of skyscrapers. "Indosiar" truly captures what makes urban landscapes so remarkably special and distinct.

The weakest aspect of "Indosiar" is likely its gameplay. It's definitely a little learny and demands a few attempts or a practice run to fully decipher how to proceed onwards. The gameplay definitely does take away a little from the beauty of the incredible backgrounds, especially due to the need to split your attention between staying alive or staring in awe at the visual bliss bestowed upon you.

All in all, "Indosiar" is a level that is far ahead of its time. It's a captivating and enrapturing level that truly embodies the expansive nature of the megalopolis. It's a level that makes you realize how small we humans are in comparison to the concrete jungles we have constructed and established. I should really get around to checking out "Anesthesia" however, because that is a whole other breathtaking beast of a level to tackle.

I understand that this level was made for a good cause and that it raised a lot of money for charity but that still won't stop me from thinking it looks pretty ugly. I'm sorry to admit this. :/

(The gameplay was alright tho)

Call me sadistic but I like Devin's "deaf meat". It's a twisted take on a cookie-clicker-esque idle game except instead of clicking cookies to bake even more cookies, it's clicking buttons to inflict incomprehensible amounts of torture and pain upon a poor, innocent cube. Get to 1,000 damage points before the level ends and you win! It's a level that might seem morally deplorable in concept, with it basically incentivising you to mercilessly mutilate and kill a helpless cube in order to achieve victory. There is no pacifist route in "deaf meat", only a bloodstained road of violence and torment lies ahead. However, personally, I see no reason to be provoked by the level's particularly macabre content. After all, if you chose to play this level about torture and you were disgusted by how violent it was, you should remember you're part of the problem you claim to be so offended by.

"deaf meat" is a well-executed crossover between Cookie Clicker and all those Flash games where you torture ragdolls. There's a myriad of interesting choices by which you can murder the poor cube. You can subject it to poison. Shower it in acid. Douse it in magma. Immerse it in dark matter. And even allow it to get swallowed by a black hole! The more damage points that you manage to accrue, the nastier and more gruesome the cube's appearance gets as it bleeds and then transforms into an incomprehensible smorgasbord of guts and gore. The level never questions the morality of your actions, confronting you with the harsh truth you chose to partake in such horrific acts of violence, instead imploring you to go bigger and greater with each elaborate mutilation method it provides. The effects and animations for each torture method are surprisingly well-done and I found myself trying to vary my torture methods in order to see each possible animation that could appear.

All in all, "deaf meat" is a nice minigame that will never (in a million years) get close to being touched by the rating system, the main reason being that it's far too gnarly to be promoted in a game played by many people who are still kids. It's an interestingly dark and Devinesque take on a cookie-clicker type idle game which is fun to play in spite of how morally questionable or downright psychotic it might seem.

However, there is a pretty annoying bug where you can get trapped while moving (this happened to me after I'd accrued around 700 damage points and was already 70% into the level; it's kind of annoying to get stuck so late, especially in a 15-minute level, so that bug might have hindered my rating, even if it's never happened on my previous playthrough).

Avoiding a specific color (or colors, in general) is a gimmick that has been accomplished before — in Jayuff's "Strange Color" — but Subwoofer is able to infuse "Red Is Bad" with enough stylistic flair to make it feel all-new and refreshing as it revisits this concept. "Red Is Bad" is a pretty apt title. Touch the color red and you die. The level's complementary color palette, entirely consisting of shades of red or green, makes it visually appealing, with the usage of red and green almost making the level feel like a retro video game at times (with the malignant red acting like a virus infiltrating and invading a computer system). It's a level that looks pretty good, the gameplay is considerably fun, and the three coin routes (which all require separate play through to attain) are also cool! All in all, it's a nice level with a neat concept.

The song representation on display here was truly exquisite…

"do you hear that" has a really neat concept. It can only be beaten if you set the 'Music' setting to 0. Unfortunately, aside from its novel gimmick, it leaves much more to be desired. In trying to be as opaque and abstract as possible (as evident by the equivocal text which episodically appears from time to time), it feels more so alienating than actually atmospheric. It's essentially a tech demo which, while it is cool, it felt too nebulous to really leave an impact other than 'Oh, that was cool, what next?'.

GD is meant to be a music-based platforming game, so a level that completely removes music from the equation feels almost alien to the basic principles of the game. The clicks, taps, and inputs feel rather aimless and directionless without the aid of a song to guide them.

"do you hear that" is pretty interesting, but aside from that, I didn't think it was the most resonant, especially as AudieoVisual is strongest when given an excellent song to work with and embody (levels like "LIMEADE" and "CUT DEEP" are examples of this).

Just when you think you've seen it all in life, you see a dolphin rocking it with a guitar…

"Bathroom Lagoon" is a level which very loosely follows the 'Bathroom' half of its namesake, with a few spinning toothbrushes and the hot steam of a shower being the only real indicators that the level is supposed to be 'bathroom' themed. It certainly hasn't aged the best since I first played it back in 2018, with the overuse of glow definitely being noticeable in some sections. It would probably benefit from being rated 6 stars compared to a mere 5.

I do still think it's a pretty charming level. The dolphin-with-a-guitar segment is probably the most memorable part, with the art and animations of the dolphin looking pretty good for a level released in 2018. I remember this level always lagging my old iPad 4 whenever I reached that section (Smooth Fix made laggy, object-heavy levels play as if I had speed hacks activated). I can't really elaborate on why, but the early 2.11-ness of it is also kinda endearing.