Rating Curve

Copied this on a google doc I made on a flight, so there might be some formatting errors

Back on Dash is a remake of Back on Track, and evidently so. The structuring in a lot of the sections use the iconic structuring from back on track, such as the 3 jump pads into spikes and the ship portion. Back on dash has unique and interesting visuals throughout the entire level, and the visuals fit with the song pretty well. The gameplay is back on track with more features, which is done pretty well here. The amount of tiny details in this level are austonishing too.

The creator certainly did a good job when making this level.

Nullscapes is a level the community is pretty split on, but in my opinion (especially when compared to its predecessor) the level‘s atmosphere and progression really make it shine. The minimalistic block design lets the focus draw towards elements like the background, which was done in an amazing way. The theme of this level is very well done, and really fits with the music. The way it does it’s effects fit perfectly, especially the end where it glitches out into nothingness. I want to take a moment to highlight the drop: this part actually made my jaw drop. The background was really good, and the sun exploding was visually epic.

Overall, the creator did a good job making these level, which excels in areas such as atmosphere and backgrounds. There is an evident amount of improvement from the predecessor, which I commend. Good work ItzKiba.

(This review ignores aspects such as gameplay because I do not have the skill to play it, and the cbf blocker - but I feel that the cbf blocker portion is dismissible if we are just talking about visuals)

Cubetapper is a level that uses its song to a great extent. The creativity from choosing which cube would make a certain noise was evident, and the movements while making the “noise” is fluid. Since there is no focus on the gameplay (due to it being auto), the creator evidently spent a good chunk of time polishing the movements of the cubes and following the style of the song.

This might be one of my favorite auto levels, the creator did a really good job

Out of This World strives to be, well... out of this world. Both the gameplay and decoration are incredibly unique, using niche aspects of the editor to create this level. The gameplay is pretty learny, but it is still very doable and still seems "fair" for the player. The use of only wave and moving it in different ways makes the gameplay incredibly unique. The visuals use a shader to create their static effect, which when paired with the red flowers, it looks absolutely sick. It may still be one of my favorite creating styles to this day.

Perox did an incredible job with this level

This level was based on a challenge to use 10 pixel objects per part. And with each of these parts, the creator used these pixel objects in extremely creative ways. Instead of the pixel objects being sort of a "tile", the creator used them as a paint brush - making words, art, etc. The background and foreground for each sections couldn't have been better executed, they were really good. The transitions flowed so nicely, and it made each part feel smooth and connected. The level also follows the song very well, especially at the drop. The highlights of the level, besides the drop, is also the very ending, and in my opinion it was pretty well executed. My only main complaint is that the orbs that go in the background after each "section" needs to be more transparent.

Overall, the creator did a fantastic job on this level!

(Sorry about any grammatical issues, I was in sort of a rush to write this)

Gameplay: The gameplay is quite slow, but is still engaging. The speed also matches the flow of the song quite well. It is a bit strange that the structures or not "rest-able", and they don't seem like they should be able to kill the player. In the grand scheme of things though, it doesn't seem like it would be a problem, due to the fact that no one is going to go close to those structures anyway. It remains in this manner until around 33 percent, where it shifts to only upside-down gravity. Here, the speed changes to 1x speed, but unfortunately it still doesn't increase the intensity of the part all that well. Nevertheless, the gameplay is still pretty good, and in contrast to the previous part, the clicks follow the beat of the music. It is sometimes a bit hard to tell when to click or not at this part when the player is on a structure and there are spikes on the ground right after that, but it doesn't really take that much away gameplay wise. While this could be a bit controversial, I actually admire the decision to not use any jump indicators, because it forces the player to look ahead instead of being hand-held and blindly jumping whenever the level told them to do so. However, the lack of jump indicators could make the difficulty feel a bit higher than a 4*. Midway, it switches to a robot portal, but the gameplay is relatively the same, but fortunately the use of gameplay in this part in general makes it constantly feel fresh. Around 65 percent in, it switches to dual wave. The gameplay is a bit basic here, and the song seems a bit more intense than what is happening on screen. The coin should also be mentioned, and its placement in the level isn't my favorite. Besides the coin, there isn't any indication that the slopes that envelope this coin are "phase-able". After that, the player meets a swing portal, and the obstacles are now dodging these big saw-like structures, and at the end float in the middle for a while. The gameplay in the first part of this section is done surprisingly well. However, I wish the last part of the level did something a bit more with the gameplay, but it is acceptable because of the transition happening at the same time. Overall, the gameplay is pretty good, at a solid 7 out of 10.

Decoration: The level starts out black and white, and is done surprisingly well. While it is a bit empty, the atmosphere (which is emphasized by the smoke particles on the top and bottom of the screen) keeps it interesting. The white blocks also flicker, which complements the vibe. The white blocks also contains details in them, and some white blocks are replaced with the square-kill-object, just to break it up a bit. There are also some circle audio-pulse objects in the background, which helps the level feel less empty. Halfway through this section (around 20 percent), it starts getting brighter, and the player even has a glow object on them that is tied to their player 1 color. Then, the player hits a cube portal, zooms in, and launches up to the second part of the level. This transition is executed really well and fits the song too. The next part contrasts the previous, where the design is mostly red and black, with some white elements for detailing. There is a lot going on here, so I will break each section down. Background: the background utilizes a grid like pattern, some having a pulsing square in it, and some containing art that is put on a layer with a chromatic-glitch effect. The chromatic-glitch effect I am pretty split on, because for some arts, like the eyes with the tear or the note, work really well with it. However, the horizontal hand art does not. This is because the chromatic glitch effect sort of does its thing only horizontally, and horizontally-oriented art looks strange with this type of effect. To make this better, it is probably a good idea to avoid horizontally-oriented art. In total though, the art is pretty good, and there seems to be a "linkage" between them all. Ground and UI details: The ground and UI circles really helps this level feel less empty. There is a white pulsing glow object that shoots out every strong beat, and the creator wasn't afraid to change the colors of the ground and circles from black to red to emphasize some moments. The fact that the circles also expand and shrink makes them feel way less static. Block design: The block design in this part mainly consists of solely black structures, some with white details in them. They can also have, if attached to the ground, a spinning circular object on a connector object next to the structure. They can also have, if attached to the ceiling (since it is upside down it is the bottom of the screen), a black "rope" or some sort of connector. The creator also chose to do some touches with things that have this "rope", such as the yellow gravity portal swings with it. The white objects inside the black structures also move to make it feel overall less static. The creator also decided to not just resort to rectangular shapes, so the white diagonal squares inside the blocks have a complementary black diagonal square, which breaks up the flat surface of the structure. After of all of this, the player hits a spider portal, the title screen plays with an appropriate black and white flash that goes with the song, and is thrown into the wave. This part uses black structures with white highlights that sometimes flip around in beat with the song. The structures also have a 3D parallax effect tied to them, with the structure shrunk smaller and smaller behind it 3 times. The ground also has white glow objects attached to it, though it does look a bit jarring. The white "electricity" objects also look a bit jarring as well. On a brighter note, the background is pretty sick in this part, and luckily doesn't intrude with the block design. When it switches to swing copter, the background stays, but a "particle-line-speed" particle effect (not sure what the name is) appears, which really helps the background a lot. In general, the swing part is the same as the wave part, but the block design is switched for spiney like saw structures, with spikes attached to the ends. There is also a black and white effect in the middle of this section to emphasize a strong beat, which helps make it feel less samey. It would be nice if there was more of a ground design at this part though. With the level ending, black glow borders close in, and then the swing shines with a bright light that turns the entire level white. This ending sequence is really well made in my opinion, and syncs to the song well. The ending screen uses a chromatic effect, with an eye symbolism in the center with a rotating circle that ties it all together. There also seems to be a code of some sort at the bottom left, but I could be wrong. Overall, the decoration of this level is very good, with the atmosphere and vibe executed really well. I would give the decoration an 8 out of 10.