This may be a bit sudden, but this is actually my final YouTube video ever. Read more context here:
http://youtube.com/post/UgkxSzDOuUJomwRkS766bR9a3tXHNQ-HMJf3?si=dixPbIczoANIjPtJ
With that in mind, I thought it would be fun to list my favorite level from every year I played the game. For each year, I've recorded the level using the icons I used around the time of its release. Below, I've given a brief description of why I chose each one.
- 2014: When I was first playing, while everyone was making some type of clone of the official levels, this was the creator who constantly kept inventing new things. This level really introduced and popularized the concept of "effects" in my mind. There is another earlier level by this creator that I also considered for the same reason, but it didn't use effects as prominently throughout and mainly in one single part.
- 2015: Being one of the longest levels at its release, but also featuring a consistent theme and high quality visuals throughout, this is an unforgettable experience to me. And to top it all off, the level also has great synchronization to the music with some neat effects here and there. Keep in mind that this is still 1.9, a time with only 4 color channels at your disposal and few of the triggers we know today.
- 2016: Admittedly, this pick is quite biased due to the song (or well, remix) used. Still, I knew I wanted to feature this creator in my list, and it was really between this and their other very popular level from the same year, but the song made this feel a bit more special. While it looks clean but relatively standard in style for the time, nobody else made as fun levels to play in my opinion.
- 2017: A top list of the game can't happen without this creator being mentioned. They made some of the best minigames of all time in their long-running series, and this was kind of a "climax" to that. When I first saw this, I couldn't believe this was possible in the game. Now, there's obviously a lot more levels like this with all the tools at our disposal, but this is the origin for me.
- 2018: While this level is also more standard in its style, the experience as a whole is unlike many other levels. This creator has a huge talent for making cinematic levels, almost like you're having an adventure, whether it's in Geometry Dash or outside in other formats. It still holds up today for me.
- 2019: Another creator who really defined these years in my head. There are many levels to choose from their catalogue, but this one stands out to me the most due to its constantly changing style. Picking an album preview uploaded onto Newgrounds was a great idea at a time you could only use 1 unedited song in your level.
- 2020: This level mixes my two favorite styles in the game, design and effect, flawlessly in my opinion. With the synchronization to the epic song and clear and enjoyable gameplay on top, it's very memorable to me.
- 2021: I do really like the more silly story-based levels by this creator, which are always of high quality in every aspect, but this one feels a bit more important thematically. The consistent but varied quality over the duration is a testament to this creator's talent.
- 2022: It was very difficult to pick one level per year since there are so many good ones. However, for this year, I knew right away what my pick would be. The way the level limits your view (like the aspect ratio is 4:3) until the climax, where you can finally see everything (16:9 aspect ratio) is genius.
- 2023: Many players will probably remember another level from this contest's results more than this, purely due to visual hype, but this one hits harder thematically for me. The idea for the two different paths, particularly the contrast between them, is executed in an amazing way.
- 2024: I remember when I first watched this and found it quite chill and not too interesting in the first couple of minutes. However, it gets more and more crazy as you keep watching, all in perfect harmony with the song. In the future, I hope that more creators experiment with different genres of music like this.
- 2025: This level is a bit overdetailed and seizure-inducing, but I don't mind personally. It's just so incredibly hype and does justice to this banger of a song for me. Of course, it also has a funny theme that I think is executed very nicely.
And that's about it! Thank you so much for watching this and any other of my videos over the years, and also for reading through this and any of my other descriptions. The appreciation I received for these is a big reason for why I kept going for so long.
Finally, special thanks to @nasgubb for editing together my recordings for this for an epic final video, and to @Noelite_leclere (2016–201
and then @erdyuri (2018–2026) for all the amazing thumbnails over the years, featured in the transitions.
