Rating Curve

I’m ngl, this level made me crashout very hard the day 2.2 dropped.

This level can be split roughly into 4 sections.

The first section where you’re climbing a hill and then get captured has some standard plat gameplay. The part where you have to wait for a spike ball to fall to get a secret blue coin is annoying. That’s really all I remember from this section.

The second section where you break out of a cage and climb a conveyor belt factory to become a ball is really cool, and one of the best platformer sections in any of the RobTop levels imo. I love how different game modes act as means to unlock new areas in some Platformers.

The third section which I call the Pac-Man section has some unique platformer rooms with ball gameplay. This is a great section for introducing how some of the other game modes aside from the standard robot / cube can be used in platformer.

The fourth section where you fight against The Cursed Thorn is definitely the standout moment of this level, and not in a good way. My fundamental issue with this bossfight is it involves too much waiting. The pattern is simple - dodge 3 fireballs, then the boss fires a green fireball which you also have to dodge, and then collect the smoke from the green fireball to attack the boss. Unfortunately, your attacks are not guaranteed to hit the boss which adds a skill element to this bossfight. The problem is that the bossfight just has too much health, and as you hit it more and get farther into the bossfight, it starts using other attacks like a laser attack and a ground pound attack, making it harder. Any death forces you to start the entire bossfight over. The bossfight used to be much harder the day 2.2 dropped and I crashed out hard as I died when it had less than 3HP left like five times.

What makes the bossfight even more annoying is that if you’re going for the speedrun coin, you really only have 2 chances to beat the boss or you’ll run out of time. I died to the boss so many times trying to get the Speedrun coin and every time I had to replay the entirety of the first 3 sections, making it rage inducing.

I think my issues with this level could be fixed if you nerfed the bossfight / sped up its attacks and placed the boss at the start of the level instead of the end to help speedrunners.

This level is great, but my experience with the bossfight ruined it for me unfortunately

The Cellar really has one standout moment - the part where you blow up Rattledash. Aside from that, the rest of the level is pretty forgettable

The first half where you climb a tower is reminiscent of some of the midpoint castle towers in the New Super Mario Bros games. The second half where you jump under icicles and moving platforms is reminiscent of some of the underground levels in the New Super Mario Bros games

The second coin in this level is too hidden imo, and I don’t like it

Overall, this is a forgettable level aside from the Rattledash lore, which I don’t care about outside of Colon videos

The Sewers is a nice sequel to The Tower. I like that The Tower ends with you falling in a pit while The Sewers ends with you falling through a pipe into some sewers - it adds continuity to these levels. The first half (green part) of The Sewers is more standard platformer gameplay - this time with more moving platforms than The Tower. I don’t really have much to say here other than that I dislike one of the blue coins forces you to backtrack.

The second half with the elevator bossfight is a massive step up in difficulty. I played this when 2.2 dropped (before plat practice mode was added) and this bossfight was absolutely brutal. All the attacks are indicated but there are just so many that it’s hard to dodge them all. I do like the Boom Kitty song though.

Overall, a fun sequel to The Tower. The bossfight is a solid difficulty spike.

The Tower is a very inoffensive introduction to platformer gameplay in GD

I love the RobTop gimmick of having one coin for collecting all visible gold coins, one coin for collecting 3 hidden blue coins, and one coin for speedrunning the level. Some would say this reduces the creativity in platformer coins, but I disagree: the 3 hidden blue coins act like the typical secret coins while the gold coins and Speedrun challenges allow for replayability.

I don’t really have much more to say about this level - it’s a pretty standard platformer comparable to the Mario games or any other platformer game. It introduces the main villain of The Tower - the Glados-esque figure at the end of the level.

Overall, this was a well made platformer level, but nothing outstanding.

Dash is proof that RobTop is still an amazing creator after nearly 7 years of development on Update 2.2.

Let’s get the elephant out of the room first: the unsightreadable Dash spider part that Colon turned into a meme. I honestly think this part is really funny and I’m glad it made it into the level. This is the 22nd level in the game, so most people playing it have already seen some of the crazy gameplay GD can offer and should be prepared for it. New players will find this spider bizarre and I kind of love it for that. It’s similar to the Deadlocked beginning mini wave - if it’s too scary for you, you’re not ready for the level

Aside from the spider part, the whole pre drop is pretty fun and interesting. It makes good use of all the new 2.2 effects and is arguably the coolest looking level in the game.

Then at the drop you finally get the game mode we waited 7 years for: the swing copter. Unfortunately, swing is probably the lamest gamemode yet, primarily because there are many many levels that already have ball copter gameplay parts. That being said, I like that Rob gives you enough time to react to this new game mode as the most common issue with swing is its unsightreadable and kills you instantly if you guess your gravity wrong.

After the swing you get a few parts with some wacky camera controls including the first mirror portal since Electroman Adventures.

Then after the cool spinning ball part you get the second swing section which has a pretty tight second coin that requires precise control of the swing copter - I like how RobTop updated the indication for this coin.

The spider and cube after the swing are short but sweet. Then you get one of the more annoying parts of the level where you crawl around the walls of a fixed camera room. This part prepares you for some of the 2.2 camera craziness that lots of 2.2 rated levels have.

The third coin in this level sucks - you just have to spam during a random transition. It’s indicated when you tap but there’s no indication if you choose not to tap.

After this room you have a very tight ship part that’s hard due to abnormal gravity. The robot afterwards is cool in its use of the fan effects.

The final gauntlet where you go back and forth above climbing lava is very good and really gives the level a climactic feeling. The cube jumps in these sections are always hard to read, even a year and a half of playing 2.2 rated levels, so I’m glad this part gives you an idea of what to expect.

The end of the level at the top of the tower leads well into the platformer levels in The Tower. This is also the first main level to not feature an end wall and instead feature an end trigger.

Overall, Dash is an absolute banger and a Top 5 RobTop level imo. I think the only reason people might not like it is because we waited 7 years for it - there’s no way it was going to live up to expectations. However, it’s still a great level in its own right and I’m glad it made it to the main game.

Also, shoutout to MDK for finally giving GD a theme song

Fingerdash always felt like the least effort RobTop level, especially compared to the 10 levels that came before it. Some parts like the robot after the ship part just feel shockingly empty and out of place.

That being said, it’s still a solid level and much better than most of the rated levels from the early 2.1 period.

The first cube truly feels epic and inspired some iconic 2.1 levels like Incipient. The introduction to the Dash orb is revolutionary - it really adds variety to orb spam parts when you have to hold for certain orbs.

At the end of the predrop you get an epic auto section that leads to the first spider part in GD history. This spider part does a good job of introducing what spider is all about - make sure you turn “Always Limit Controls” on so you can double tap for the first coin on mobile.

After the spider you have a cool ship part with lots of fire effects. The coin here requires some tight ship control. After the ship you have the robot which feels very empty compared to any other RobTop part imo.

After the robot you have the wave part which might have the trickiest coin since the Theory of Everything mini ship coin. This coin requires you to collect all 10 mini coins in the wave - if you miss a single one you’re locked out of the coin. After the wave you have a tight spider part and then a cube part to finish off the level.

Overall, this level just feels a bit empty. I think I agree with the general community this is weaker than the levels that came in 1.9 and 2.0 but it’s still a solid level and can be fun to replay. I also appreciate it because it’s a breath of fresh air after the brutal nature of Deadlocked.

Deadlocked is the best RobTop level, full stop. This is the perfect culmination of every gimmick that has been added to this point and in many ways it feels like the epic finale that the main campaign of GD deserves

The start of this level features the shortest part in any RobTop level - a 1 second mini wave part. This part immediately warns the player this will be a challenge unlike anything that came before. What follows is a cube part with some creative use of portals.

Immediately after you are thrown into a gauntlet of some of the hardest parts in any RobTop level - the triple speed wave here is just hellish for beginners and I remember spending thousands of attempts trying to get consistent at it. Immediately afterwards you have a mini ship part with some tight ship control around moving obstacles, especially if you go for the coin key.

Then you get to the ball part which has some creative orange and blue platform gimmicks. The green orb in this ball part is infamous for featuring a 2.0 bug where it doesn’t give you the correct gravity due to the moving platform before it. Then you have a short mini ufo part with some more moving obstacles. Afterwards you have a cool cube part where a portal projects you out of a cannon.

You have a robot part with some tight jumps followed by a mini ball with some cool portal use. What follows is a unique cube part with a mix of blue orbs and blue pads, arguably a memory part. Afterwards you have another tricky robot part with some tight jumps.

Then you get to the infamous “I like this part” ship part. This part requires some very fast reaction times as you constantly pop out of portals with different gravities that force you to react on the spot. This part requires tight ship control and memorization so practice it a lot.

After the ship you get to arguably the first bossfight in GD (there are probably bossfight-esque levels in 1.9 but I can’t think of any). The attacks are well indicated which gives the player time to react, unfortunately this did not translate to sightreadable bossfights for the majority of 2.0. I never had any issues with the coin here even though I see a lot of people call it the hardest one.

Then after the boss you have a 3x speed dual wave part which I still consider the hardest part of the level all these years later. The tight spam corridors are really difficult to get consistent at. The mini wave after the dual is thankfully a nice break part and I rarely ever died to it.

After the mini wave you have the hardest memory part of the level - the ship. First of all the mini wave to ship transition is not consistent for beginners and that makes it difficult to readjust after entering the ship. Once you readjust it’s a matter of remembering where all the moving blocks move so you know where to fly. If you can get past the ship you should win unless you choke.

The ball and UFO parts that follow have some cool moving platforms but are generally easy once you learn the click pattern. The final cube is generally easy, but nerves may cause a death here

Overall, Deadlocked is the true GD demon experience, especially if you beat this as one of your first few demons. I have fond memories of beating this after 3800*+ attempts and popping off so hard - unfortunately I missed the first coin on my original playthrough so I had to rebeat it, but it was fast to rebeat.

I cannot recommend this level enough, RobTop really went all out with this level and it shows. I still play this level for fun nearly a decade later, that’s a testament to how exciting it is.

Geometrical Dominator is commonly considered one of the worst modern RobTop levels, and aside from the memory part I’ve never understood why

Basically the whole level is a banger - this was the first main level song that was specifically composed for Geometry Dash, and by none other than the GOAT Waterflame.

First of all, this level introduces the robot. The robot wouldn’t pay its true dividends until the introduction of platformer mode in 2.2 where it quickly became one of the best game modes.

That being said, the robot is used to interesting effect in this level, with two of the coins making use of its increased jump height in creative ways.

The moving obstacles take a lot of practice to get used to (a common theme of Update 2.0). That being said, I think they’re a lot more fair in Geometrical Dominator than the average 2.0 level. RobTop did a good job of using moving objects in moderation - they spice up the gameplay rather than being an annoyance,

The rainbow effects in this level make it possibly the most colorful level in the base game, even more so than Dash. Some may see this as ugly but I think it’s done well in Geometrical Dominator.

This all leads up to the one part everyone hates - the memory dark cube part. This part gives the player very little time to react to upcoming pillar platforms, which makes every jump feel like a guess. As a result, this is commonly considered the least sightreadable part in any RobTop level, and understandably people do not like it for that reason. However, I find this part is not nearly as bad as people say it is and the blind jumps feel logical for some reason.

Everything after the blind part is a banger too, with more movable blocks, keys, and robot jumps.

Overall, this level was the perfect introduction to 2.0 for me, and I still find it nostalgic over a decade later. I do not get the hate for this level aside from the memory part.

I think most people would agree Theory of Everything 2 is the weakest of the three RobTop demons, but it’s still an incredible level in its own right.

This level really tests everything you’ve learned up to this point (excluding mirror portals). The first ship is very intimidating with all the invisible obstacles. The UFO after it requires some precise fast UFO taps which are tricky to learn. Incredibly, it’s possible to skip the slow portal going into the UFO and pass the UFO at higher speed (much harder & desyncs the song) which allows you to save time here in the speedrun, a very cool skip - unlike the Hexagon Force skip which is almost certainly unintentional, this one might be intentional, I’d love to ask RobTop about it

You have a cool memory ball followed by another UFO. This ball probably inspired the Viprin ball mazes in the Sonic series of levels so it’s worth noting. I love how the blocks and fakes correspond to the player’s primary and secondary colors

The cube after the second UFO has a few fakes that force the player to practice and learn memory gameplay - unfortunately memory mazes became a staple of 1.9 demons (not that they weren’t common before 1.9, but they certainly got more popular after 1.9’s release)

The second ship is very unique and tests the player’s ship control. Then there’s a short cube part with some unique slope gameplay.

Finally, you get to the second drop - the wave part. These waves are way tighter than Blast Processing and the higher speed can be tricky for beginners. You have another memory ball part in the middle too, which has a cool skippable platform. The second coin might be the hardest coin in any of the RobTop demons and I always have to guess it whenever I rebeat this level - in general I’m not a fan of wave coins where you have to go into the slopes

After the wave you have a cool ship part with invisible obstacles before you finally get to the break part. This break part leads into the most infamous part of the level - the 73% ship. This ship requires possibly the tightest ship control of any RobTop level (including Deadlocked) so it’s no wonder so many people have horror stories of dying repeatedly at this part. Luckily everything after this ship is pretty easy so you have a good chance of beating the level after this choke point.

You have a short memory cube, ufo, and mini wave part before you finally get to the final cube. Notably, the final cube has you end the level in the mouth of a dragon - yes, the same dragons that would be animated in 2.0 and that are present in the Deadlocked bossfight.

Overall, I love the variety of this level, but unfortunately it doesn’t have the same staying power as Clubstep or Deadlocked imo. I’d still consider this like a Top 8 RobTop level, but that’s primarily because demons are just more fun than non demons in general.

BWOMP

With one simple sound effect, Waterflame immediately made the most recognizable GD song since Stereo Madness

This level is an absolute banger - easily the most variety of gameplay of any RobTop level up to this point, eclipsing even the demon level Clubstep.

For starters, it introduces arguably the best game mode - the wave. This game mode is simple to learn but impossible to master, and it’s no coincidence both the hardest Pointercrate levels and the hardest challenge levels feature lots of wave gameplay.

Blast Processing gives the player lots of time to react to the wave game mode both in the first wave and the dual wave part.

In between these new gameplay parts, RobTop spices things up with lots of other unique gameplay, featuring lots of sloped corridors and unique obstacles. The second coin with the UFO going through the Clubstep monster is extremely unique UFO gameplay - it looks much harder than it really is.

My one problem with this level is the ending - the final cube features lots of fake block decoration which can be tricky for beginners. That being said, experienced players can easily tell the difference between the real blocks and fake blocks, making this part free on rebeats.

The fact that Random Processing, a carbon copy of this level that just randomizes the portals, has become one of the most popular 2.2 RNG challenges is a testament to the incredible variety this level has.

Overall, this is a fan favorite for good reasons, Blast Processing is a banger