Solar Flare

Solar Flare is an absolute triumph of the Nine Circles style. Created by Linear and rynoxious and verified by swiborg, it takes the classic 2.0-era epileptic wave trend and modernizes it into a breathtaking 2.1 Extreme Demon. Instead of relying on the usual dark or neon colors, the level is themed entirely around the sun and stars, utilizing a beautiful but blistering palette of yellow, orange and dark grey.

The synchronization with the song “Solar Wind” by Jumper is phenomenal, driving the relentless momentum of the level. The pre-drop lulls you into a false sense of security with difficult but manageable cube and ship sections, famously flashing a cheeky ‘GLHF’ text at 31% before all hell breaks loose. Once the drop hits, it becomes one of the hardest Nine Circles waves in the game. It throws an absurd amount of tight wave corridors, invisible quadruple-speed changes, and even a memory section disguised as starry constellations right at you.

My favorite detail about Solar Flare is the incredible personality baked into the background. During the drop, a giant smiley-faced sun affectionately named “Janet” watches you play. The creators added an amazing easter egg: if you crash at any point during the first half of the wave, Janet instantly turns into a sad, black face. It is an incredible touch of humor in a level packed with 89 agonizing 60 FPS frame-perfect inputs. Solar Flare proves that you can make a punishingly difficult level while still giving it a massive amount of charm and “almost being a shape.”