The 2.5D stuff is pretty neat, but on the whole, this level is meh.
The intro and ending stuff, and the title, are like totally unrelated to the actual level. Sure, it uses the dark forest tileset thing, but it has cheerful music playing over it. The 2.5D made it more interesting, but I found it weird that grass grew at the "back" of areas and stuff hanging down from the ceiling hung from the "front". (Though to be fair I can't think of any way around this.) The level relies too heavily on the novelty of the 2.5D effect. Also the level is like totally lifeless- I don't remember even seeing, say, any wind or rain. In all this feels like the start of a bigger level. The final screen is really neat, and I thought that the level would pick up from there and get better. But it didn't.
Right after I started I went right a bit and down a bit and found myself in a pit I had to ctrl-r out of. Then I got two powerups and then, whilst exploring, found this really tall wall. In the interests of exploration, I slid down the wall to look around the bottom. It turned out the bottom was fatal, and nothing hinted at this before I touched it.
These things weren't really
that inconveniencing, but still.
Anyway like I said the 2.5D stuff is really neat, but I'd like to see it used to greater effect in a larger, more developed level. The last screen really is neat, and I'd like to see more like it.
(Incidentally, I only remember seeing 2.5D in KS done once before, and not as well or as consistently as here. So, the technical achievement is great on its own.)