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-/100
DIFFICULTY
7/10
OVERALL
7/10
VISUALS
7/10
GAMEPLAY

I like a lot of what this level does. It really has no major flaws at all… except for the ending. Yeah, I’ll get to that on its own in a bit, but I can’t help but feel disappointed considering how awesome the start of this level is. I actually want to take this review part by part instead of covering gameplay and visuals separately, because I think it’s the combination of those two elements that bring the level down in the end.

The first part of this level isn’t the best by any means, but I think it’s an excellent start to such an out there level. It’s pretty simplistic in design, but I think the patterns in this section are what kick off the sort of controlled chaos theme this level incorporates. They’re definitely really clean and well put together, but the way the layers sort of melt together (largely thanks to the color scheme) makes it feel so abstract and unstructured, despite the gameplay still being fairly simple. Hint: This will be important later.

It’s just occurring to me as I write this review how similar the second section is to commatose… not that that’s relevant since this level predates that one, but I thought it was funny. Uhh, anyway, I think this section has a similar feel to the first one, in that the distracting background causes a lot of blending between foreground and background. This visual effect certainly works well on its own, but I do want to note that the structuring is also pretty unique here. I think that’s cool from a design perspective, but I think that’s even cooler in tandem with the gameplay. It feels a little cursed since some gaps just don’t feel natural, so to speak, but it actually plays really well. Nailing that triple spike while jumping off the “air” is a stand-out part especially. It just feels really cool lol.

Alright, now… the moment. I really love the concept of this final section. The curvy structures are genuinely awesome, and the gameplay is smooth as butter. Once again, we’re sticking with the controlled chaos theme, but to a much greater degree. There are some clear patterns in the designs, but it’s still weird and not easy to parse, capitalizing on the theme that has been prominent earlier in the level. But the very end of this section… really bothers me. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to include jump indicators in this part considering how insane it is… but did those indicators really need to be bright green? Not only do they pretty much trivialize the gameplay, but they also look terrible in a level where the focus up to this point has been the consistency in colors. I just cannot understand this decision. No, it doesn’t ruin the level, but it does hold this one back from a potential A tier. It honestly would have been great if the indicators just want with a different tone fitting within the established palette. It’s just so unfortunate that this level concludes in such an unfortunate way, because otherwise I really like it. It’s unique while maintaining a very clean design, and has some really fun gameplay to boot. I just wish it did more with the ending, because right now I find it really disappointing.

-/100
DIFFICULTY
8/10
OVERALL
8/10
VISUALS
7/10
GAMEPLAY

This is a pretty low 8/10, but I think the level has enough going on to be in A tier. Yeah, the gameplay can be a little odd at times, but I think it makes up for it a little bit in how seamlessly some effects are done. Probably one of the few virus based levels to not be a complete disaster tbh, lol.

If I had one complaint specifically about the gameplay in this level, I think it would probably be the dual ship part. It’s not obnoxious by any means, but the high speed flickering does get a bit blinding at this point in the level. That wouldn’t normally be a huge issue, but the other problem is that the part includes some rapid gravity changes that are hard to account for when the visuals obscure them so much. Everything else though is alright. The gameplay can feel kind of non-existent at times I guess, mostly due to the emphasis on wild transitions, but I don’t think that’s a particularly bad thing. The flow factor, most notably the parts between the pad/orb chains, really makes this level feel exciting. Despite being loosely connected, it has an aura of completeness to it, which is pretty cool.

I think it goes without saying that the visuals are the main draw here. I’m not typically a huge Darwin fan (particularly after Backbeat Revenge), but there’s some gold in his repertoire. This happens to be one of those outliers, since the effects actually look really solid, and actually maintain a fairly consistent theme instead of just throwing random flashy effects together and calling it a day. There’s a very prominent glitch theme in this level, and that’s definitely most obvious at the start. I genuinely love the way the player freezes, and the rest of the screen sort of rushes by. It’s a pretty generic gimmick in concept, but here, the effect feels stronger than it does in several other levels that play with a similar idea. Beyond that point the effects kind of just go into a generic “cool” feel, until the end where the cube bounces along a series of purple pads and gravity orbs. That has a lot to do with the song representation to be fair, but it’s a really smooth visual effect that incorporates the player in a neat way.

Just to wrap it up, I think song representation is really what makes this a low 8 instead of a high 7. It feels closely linked to the level, since pretty much every major visual effect ties to another effect in the music. Funnily enough, I used to not really like Sharks’ music, but over time I’ve kind of come around. A bit unrelated, but I do think this song is like the little bow that ties together the gift of cool visual effects, wrapped into one level.

-/100
DIFFICULTY
7/10
OVERALL
7/10
VISUALS
7/10
GAMEPLAY

This is, like… the most 7/10 to ever 7/10. I actually quite like this level; the gameplay is pretty smooth, and the visuals, while simplistic, are still very clean and in theme. I fully intend to cover each element individually, but I will say that while I think both elements are good, neither one is especially mind-blowing. Both are fine, but they don’t really do enough for this level to reach any extremes in quality.

I feel like the draw of this level is definitely the gameplay, and while I do think it’s pretty clean, it varies a bit throughout in terms of creativity and quality. This is pretty clear with a lot of the cube and robot parts, because while they all play well, they do feel slightly compromised due to the inclusion of indicators. Don’t get me wrong, they don’t have any major issues and are still pretty satisfying as a whole, but it does bother me that the indicators are here since they remove what may otherwise be a very fun puzzle element. Fortunately this level does have a few parts with no indicators, and I think those are where it shines most. The ship, wave, final ball, and final UFO are all extremely fun, housing what is 100% the highlight of the level. They demand way more focus on your part since they hold your hand a little less, even throwing in some faded walls as bait. The difference in accessibility is honestly very funny in this level, and while I don’t hate that divide, I still feel like it impacts the gameplay score juuuuust a bit. Like I said though, even though the gameplay is easy to parse due to indicators, it still doesn’t lack focus entirely. The timings are still pretty tight, meaning the level doesn’t give you the option to simply jump at the indicators and be fine. A level of relative effort is still expected, and those parts still play extremely well from an execution standpoint. It’s just not noteworthy enough to really justify higher than a 7.

I think the indicators are equally as detrimental to the visuals of this level as they are to the gameplay, in all honesty. Not egregiously so, but in a level that is so hellbent on simplicity, adding that visual clutter sucks away some of that immersion. Just a little gripe I have and not a deal breaker by any means–in fact, I’m not sure if the visuals score would have been higher if they weren’t there–but they do feel out of place sadly. Aside from that though, this level does have a lot of charm. Like I said, simplicity is key here. That’s mostly a product of limitation, as this level comes as part of a creator contest made to limit colors, but it’s not like the level doesn’t do anything itself here. The color combination is really more of an inspiration, and the simple design does the heavy lifting. It genuinely feels like a blueprint. It’s not just a series of lines that happen to follow a certain design and color scheme, cleverly disguising the level’s identity as a Geometry Dash level. There’s enough attention to detail for it to truly feel like a blueprint for a location. It’s very cleanly structured, with a big emphasis on geometric design; much like a building. It’s an excellent showcase of simplicity and thematics coming together to create a really well-defined experience. I appreciate that.

Overall, while this level may not have any crazy effects or emotional impact, it does what it sets out to do really well. A very clean, yet deceptively tricky experience that I had a great time playing. It’s still unfortunate that the level makes mistakes with the indicators because I feel like it causes the level to lose some credit, but it’s really not enough to damage the score. With the relative simplicity, I think 7/10 would have been fair regardless. It’s just a minor nitpick in an otherwise very fun level!

-/100
DIFFICULTY
9/10
OVERALL
9/10
VISUALS
8/10
GAMEPLAY

I had pretty high expectations for this level considering how great some other works I’ve played by Vizitek are, but for something that predates Silhouette Garden… this absolutely surpassed any concept I had of how good this level was going to be. This level is absolutely stellar. Not only does it look phenomenal and play really well, but it also houses some of the greatest atmosphere I’ve seen in a level below XL length.

Starting with the weaker of the two components here, I think the gameplay is alright, but certainly has a little bit of room for improvement. Most of it is pretty strong, especially in the opening sections. The first cube is pretty simple, only featuring a handful of timings and little else in the way of creativity. I still like this part, especially since the overhead spikes make the section feel more claustrophobic and dangerous, but otherwise it’s fairly unremarkable. But then you get to the ship section, and this is probably the highlight of the gameplay. Creatively, it’s not extremely noteworthy, but this section feels so good because it feels so daunting. I’ll get more into why this is later, but the precision flying here feels terrifying in a way. In particular, the series of portals where you just hold is really awesome. It kind of forces you to trust the level, but since the section already has an untrustworthy feeling to it, it’s like being in a state of limbo where you can’t really know for sure if the portals will actually deliver you to the end. Again, all of this contributes to the greater level in a way that will be detailed later, but for now I’m just covering it overall. With that, I do want to quickly note the final section, because I feel like this is unfortunately the main thing holding this level back. I tend to enjoy faster sections in levels a little bit less than slower paced ones so that’s probably affecting my judgement, but I found the final UFO and Robot both significantly harder than the rest of the level, and also unfair? Kind of? I mean, it’s not too bad, but I felt like some of the moving obstacles really made it difficult to judge click timings. They’re alright, but were an unfortunate conclusion to a level that is otherwise extremely solid.

I think this is stellar on a visual level. What immediately caught my attention was the heavy use of these choppy animations. I fell in love with this kind of animation when djudjeito did it in Out of Place, so any time I see it now it’s just… so good man. The animations like the eye at the start and swinging chains at the end absolutely are absolutely stand-out details that really bring the level to life, but I would be remiss to neglect some more subtle details where the ground shifts into place, or the narrow pillars in the brief cube intermission before the drop that uncomfortable squirm in place. On top of this, the color scheme is doing a lot of favors to the level. Aside from gameplay components, it’s entirely black and red. This is a really powerful palette on its own, but it goes beyond that, since the red almost always reflects blood in some way. The level is relatively minimalistic due to that limited color scheme, but it’s also weirdly grotesque.

I think it achieves that through atmosphere, ultimately. On its own the level is kind of simplistic, but what makes it so special is the world building and song rep. And I think that’s why this level is able to achieve what it does at such a short length. There is a degree of progression, and it feels special because of how quickly it falls apart. The opening is desolate and hollow. The jumps are tight, as I mentioned, sending an illusion of confinement, but the song doesn’t really reflect that. Droplets of water can be heard, and they echo out for a couple seconds, telling you that this is a big area. It doesn’t feel big though, because the gameplay crams you into this tight area where you clearly can’t roam free. My conspiracy theory here is that this is a sewer of sorts. You may roll your eyes and say, “well, obviously, there are storm drains and flowing “water” all over the place. How could it not be a sewer?” And, I mean, I agree with that, but I’m greatly appreciative of the fact that the level isn’t just relying on imagery for that. It’s about feel. It emulates all of the characteristics of the environment it portrays. The way it looks. The way it sounds. The way it feels. Even the way it smells, with the lyrics of the song. In that way, the level sort of reminds me of Man Man, since that level also used a variety of details to immerse you in a highly uncomfortable and disgusting setting. The level isn’t clearly about something ugly beneath the surface, and it all comes together so well in the end. It’s a pity that the end of this level doesn’t fit the atmosphere like the rest does, because it’s kind of the crux of a level that is absolutely stellar otherwise. But, at the very least, the design is on point, so it’s hard to complain too much. Great level by Vizitek; I am more hype than every to play Before Machinery soon.

-/100
DIFFICULTY
7/10
OVERALL
9/10
VISUALS
6/10
GAMEPLAY

Ok, so like... I think this is a good level, and I'm happy to see that someone made a gameplay oriented level for the SGC, but... am I the only one who finds this gameplay a tad awkward? Like, maybe I'm just desensitized to actual gameplay in 8* levels now because so many of them are free or... really bad, but this level didn't feel super smooth to me. Some orb timings are a little weird, the ship at the start feels sluggish to control, and everything seemed oddly out of proportion, making it difficult to judge distances. I guess it's a me thing, but I really didn't have a great time with this level because of how strange certain parts felt. Not to mention the lag, because I had some serious trouble with a couple parts of this level due to significant slowdown. I might just have to do with me recording content, since OBS has a bad habit of causing frame drops, but I can't help but feel like the level didn't need this much detail.

Aside from the optimization, though, this level looks beautiful. It strikes a good balance between complexity (however laggy that may be) and minimalist, with some designs being really intricate and pretty, and others sort of just looking like... standard GD objects. I like that. It's not a critique, I genuinely love that sort of blend since it doesn't try to hide the level's identity as a GD level. It displays a degree of appreciation for the game its made it, but still uses enough detail to stand on its own. Plus, it's not only about the visuals being beautiful; they're also extremely clever. Every little thing in this level oozes with charm, because the various diagrams and posters contain cheeky little easter eggs that also act as love letters to the game in which they're made. Specifically, the final section of the level has a couple nods to certain gamemodes, formed out of constellations. Flash's name is sneakily hidden in the final planisphere of the level. Hell, earlier in the level, little H's can be seen along a ceiling, textured like the tiles that are scattered across the walls, subtly hinting at H blocks you can use. I love the amount of soul that has been poured into this level, it honestly looks phenomenal. Absolutely one of my favorite levels in the game, visually speaking.

Maybe it's unfair to underrate this so much because of my apparent skill issue, but I sadly just didn't really love playing this. It feels finicky and unnatural, which is truly devastating when I know how much potential this level had to be excellent. Much love, Planispheres. But sadly, my gut tells me 7.

-/100
DIFFICULTY
6/10
OVERALL
7/10
VISUALS
5/10
GAMEPLAY

Just played this one. An initial practice run of this had me deeply concerned, but after playing it for a while I found that it really isn't too bad. It's a style of gameplay that I tend to not like too much due to the rapid amount of gamemode changes (I think it's classified as "flow gameplay" but idfk I don't know gd terminology), since it's often really difficult to react to some of the more squeezed together motions. After a while, though, I kind of got a feel for this.

I will give credit where it's due; the level actually doesn't have too many cases of awkward spacing. Most of the parts, but regular and "flow" don't really punish you that much for being slightly off, making them really fair as a result. Usually when I died it was because I was way too early, or way too late, and I never felt cheated by the level's design. There may have been a couple orbs like that, but if so they must not have been significant because they've basically left my memory. Aside from that, the level is pretty smooth. I especially like the first section after the drop. It felt like the most readable section while still requiring enough legitimate practice so that it didn't feel terribly out of balance with the later parts of the level, and a couple of those motions (notably that brief snake pattern with the mini ship) just felt good. Unfortunately the second part drops off a little bit, but it's still not too bad. Less about being finicky, more about blindness. A couple of parts really sweep up and down, and the screen struggles to catch up. This was especially frustrating in the mini waves, the last of which killing me about 4 times just because I couldn't see. Kind of a sour note to end the intense part of the level on, but it really doesn't ruin it or anything. Just an unfortunate conclusion to an otherwise ok drop. Also, the last part is free. I was initially nervous, but then when I realized you just need to click green orbs in the last cube, it was far less daunting.

As for visuals, the level does look pretty nice. A lot of it is unmistakably rough just as a result of 2.0 limitations, but there are some nice concepts that elevate it to some extent. I think it's pretty obvious that the most notable case of that is the final part, where the level divides into 4 different aesthetics. That's honestly really cool, and I'm kind of surprised to see an effect like that from this era. The rest isn't too remarkable, but a couple of brief ideas like the flashing diamonds in the background of the first ship, or the huge wave of colors that passes by in the 3x speed ship near the end, with narrow spikes closing you in, making it feel much more dangerous and... well, just cool as hell. The level really relies a lot on that "awesomeness" factor, which is part of what makes this fun. Still though, it does lack a little bit of polish, meaning it can only go so far.

Overall I enjoyed most of what I played here. It's just a little rough around the edges. By no means an awful thing since it does give the level some charm, but it still prevents the level from reaching the heights it otherwise could have.

-/100
DIFFICULTY
5/10
OVERALL
7/10
VISUALS
5/10
GAMEPLAY

We lowering the average with this one 🗣️

Real talk, I actually love this level on a conceptual level. The concept of playing rooms that endlessly repeat and trying to find some way out of them is actually really novel, and I think it was executed pretty much perfectly here. And that’s not even mentioning the great aesthetic, with some cool machinery and symbolism to give a testing facility vibe. It’s ominous, but still feels pretty straightforward and approachable to a casual audience. My only real complaint with this level is just that it’s, like… not very fun? It’s not because it’s super awkward or janky, so it has that going for it, but the level really lacks substantive gameplay once you’ve figured out all the puzzle solutions. It often boils down to “click an extra time in this one place with semi-accurate precision,” really meaning that after you play the level once, or hell, play through a puzzle once, there’s very little else to do in it. The rating mostly comes down to matter of replay value. After discovering the main route… I mean, what else is there really to do? Deaths feel kind of monotonous, since there’s not much to engage with beyond a first attempt.

And speaking of death, that really brings me to my other major complaint with the level. I just find this level to be too hard for what it’s trying to do. Sometimes, to get that essence of “replay value,” I might hand this level off to a friend or family member to see them try it. A couple have made their way through, but more often than not, they hand the phone back to me because the gameplay was just too difficult for them to grasp. By easy demon standards I still think this level is pretty chill, but I would honestly argue that this level just shouldn’t have been a demon. Maybe that could be done just by nerfing the difficulty of the trials, but I think the much more reasonable approach would have been to add some sort of makeshift checkpoint systems. One that, when you die, will just put you back in the trial you’re on. I think that would make the concept stand out far more, because in its current state, it feels a bit overshadowed by the stress of dying and running it back from square one. This would be especially beneficial at the end, since that part just plays normally, making added deaths just… extraordinarily frustrating.

There’s definitely much to love about this level, but I think the structure is highly flawed. With some tweaks to the gameplay, mainly through some light nerfs, this could have been a really great time. Currently, though… while I don’t hate it, it’s rare that I ever have a desire to revisit it.

-/100
DIFFICULTY
6/10
OVERALL
7/10
VISUALS
5/10
GAMEPLAY

So, I’ve never played Yume Nikki. I know a lot of people in the GD community enjoy it, but I have yet to do so myself. That said, I really like the dreamy, ethereal atmosphere this level sets up. It’s kind of sloppy, but in a super endearing way that makes the level feel much more bizarre and disconnected from reality. There are several levels like this, but this has to be one of the best because it almost feels… incomplete. But, that’s kind of in the nature of a dream. Dreams never really feel complete. They never feel grounded, so to speak, because they occur in a time of disconnect from reality. Therefore, representing a dreamy state of mind through a minimalist approach is kind of genius. Admittedly, it’s probably not a deliberate design style, and just reflective the creator’s lack of experience, but I don’t think that subtracts from the vibe in any way. I feel how I feel, and I don’t think context should have anything to do with that.

All that being said, I feel like I should touch on some of the more specific details of the level with this one. The gameplay is probably by biggest gripe with this one. It’s not necessarily bad from an execution standpoint, but it does have some memory elements with split paths that are hard to figure out at a moment’s notice. As such, it makes for a pretty irritating style of gameplay, given some fails just don’t feel like your fault. In addition, there are a fair few parts with awkward jump timings or hitboxes, but they really don’t feel too bad. Overall, the gameplay does feel really unstructured and free-form, adding to that “ungrounded” vibe, but I don’t think it stands as strongly as the visuals, so it’s just a nice touch and little more.

A lot of the art in this level is also just gorgeous. Like I said, minimalist, but some of the pixel art in the level still looks really nice. The sculptures and tapestries are colorful and detailed. The plants in the final section are subtle, but very effective in conveying the cold and desolate, yet natural environment. Plus, there are some little dancing guys in there. Nothing significant to them really. Just some little dancing guys. But they’re out of place, once more adding to the mystique of the level. Overall, a really solid level. It may not be a masterpiece, but it’s just a cool one to sit down with and chill.

-/100
DIFFICULTY
6/10
OVERALL
6/10
VISUALS
4/10
GAMEPLAY

In hindsight I kind of regret leaving such a concise review on this the first time around, because while I still stand by my rating, I’m unhappy with my claim that it “lacks artistic value.” Despite the level being kind of flashy and all over the place, there definitely is a world and narrative behind this level that I don’t think should be so quickly disregarded. It’s definitely not a masterclass in quality design, but there’s still a lot of charm and unique design that elevates this level pretty significantly.

Looking directly at the gameplay, I feel like it’s pretty obvious that this level doesn’t play the best. A lot of parts tend to be blind or hard to see, and when they’re not, typically they’re abundant in indicators. As a result, the level does suffer in the gameplay department, but I’d be lying if I said it was all bad. Some of the slower sections, notably the first part, are actually decently fun, especially since they use slopes, making it a little less hand-hold-y. On top of that, this is one of those levels that kind of has that hype factor since it’s certainly fast-paced and exciting. It is hindered a bit by the somewhat jerky and confined nature of the level’s design, but as far as song rep goes, it does an okay job. It’s definitely not the worst gameplay ever, but I do think it could have been much better, especially in the final part, as it’s a pretty weak conclusion to the level as a whole.

All that said, I can’t help but respect the cute style of this level. While that may take an unfortunate backseat to flashy effects at times, there’s still plenty of adorable details that give the level soul. It should go without saying that the little monsters are really cute and definitely act as the true “life” of this level, but I think there’s more to it than that. Often times the level will use a lot of bright colors and stronger light effects to coincide with the more climactic notes of the song, so the level certainly does a lot more to create a wholesome, yet adventurous environment. The progression is definitely great, and even if it isn’t a visual masterpiece, I think there’s more merit here than I initially gave it.

As a whole I like Sky Tower, but it’s a level I very rarely return to just because I can’t get behind the gameplay. Even if I don’t hate it, it’s too awkward and difficult to see, and really sours the experience as a whole. That said, I’ll always appreciate the creativity in this level, despite its flaws.

-/100
DIFFICULTY
3/10
OVERALL
3/10
VISUALS
4/10
GAMEPLAY

haha! I give InsanitY 3! I am above these nostalgia-blinded fools who say InsanitY is a “good level”

Okay, to be completely honest, I can see the appeal behind this level. For 2.0 standards it’s pretty impressive visually, and it doesn’t play poorly, per se. So yeah, I can see why people like this level…

I can also see why people like BER ZER KER and I sure as hell don’t like that either.

InsanitY is a level that places too much emphasis on the visuals, loses a lot of atmospheric merit on overly-flashy and intense details, and just feels poorly thought out as a whole. All that is to say, nothing in this level really makes me feel anything. The level is definitely very focused on this kind of violent “serial-killer” theme, and while I think that’s novel in concept, I feel like there’s really only so much you can do with it before it feels stale. The level starts off with a hoard of saws that gradually get closer to you over time, takes a small break, throws a chainsaw in your face for a bit, takes another breather, and then ends with… another cluster of saws? There’s very little development, and very little appeal. By the two minute mark, the level has basically just done the same thing over and over again, and it’s just a waiting game for the level to end… or rather, an exhausting battle as you hope for the level to end. This level constantly demands full focus, because a lot of the level is extremely input-intensive and exhausting. Never-ending wave corridors, awkward and spammy UFO click patterns, and a highly repetitive dual ball with no memorable element, really giving you no down time in a section that is blinding and frustrating as you direct every ounce of attention in your mind towards the barely visible platforms flying by. The level just… isn’t fun. It’s monotonous and uninteresting, while still requiring so much focus that it becomes super stale by the end. Like, you can argue it’s absurd to criticize a level for requiring focus… but it becomes a hell of a lot harder to do that when the level just doesn’t look appealing.

Ultimately, my point is that InsanitY is, like… 2.0 slop. I think this is still better than the likes of BER ZER KER, or WANNACRY, or Alien Dream Emulator, or any other overdecorated flashy nightmare level that plagues the modern creating scene, but it still just feels terrible. The gameplay is 100% an afterthought, and all emphasis is placed on the visual effects, making the level an absolute chore to play. Still don’t hate it; I don’t think it’s as “soulless” as modern levels, but the slop factor is in full effect here, making for a highly uninteresting and mediocre experience.

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sorry about this gang