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20 Apr 2017
March 2017 Spotlights
March 2017 Spotlights
The Spotlights for March 2017 have been released and can be found here! Their respective packs will be soon available at the Beatmap Pack Listing for easier access.
Spotlights Creation
The spotlights have previously been created by letting volunteers alongside the Quality Assurance Team select the most noteworthy maps of this month. We also reward the top beatmap in each category by providing 1 month of supporter status to the mapper.
osu! (7)
This mapset combines great mapping with a catchy traditional-asian-inspired song and a simple and nice storyboard! While Irreversible is already well-known amongst the community for his signature pattern-based mapping style, the highest difficulties' creative usage of symmetry and stacking is unique and refreshing to see. The rest of the spread is simple but nicely executed. This mapset is definitely worth checking out!
This collaboration, created by Cellina and Dailycare, covers the song's varying intensity very well. Clean patterning and various interesting stream and spacing techniques are used nicely to create a fun, coherent experience! Overall, the mapping style reminds me of RLC's older works, so if you like that kind of mapping, make sure to check this map out!
This is a very solid map, where all the difficulties generally reflect the song really nicely and highlight its intensity quite well. Another plus is also the fact that it has a well distributed spread, which makes it appropriate for a wide range of players!
Were you ever thinking: "Why does no one ever map a marathon with an english song?" Well, now it's the time where you will finally get what you want: Check out this brilliant mapset, which doesn't leave out the people who aren't confident in playing Extra difficulties; Having combined an Extra and a Hard difficulty in one marathon mapset, players of (almost) every kind are invited to play these well-mapped difficulties!
Using a concept similar to his infamous "A-L-I-E-N", this map by Monstrata focuses on expression of the song through various slider designs. He uses mostly smooth/curved slidershapes to represent ordinary parts of the music, then extremely sharp/jagged slidershapes to represent intense parts of the song. This slidershape concept also covers the differences between vocals in the song, which are clear or distorted at times. Two sliders rarely share the exact same design, but they do share enough of the same characteristics to be associated regardless, which is an interesting idea worth bringing forward here on the March Spotlight.
Very interesting map which reflects the song's instruments by taking advantage of the slider leniency, providing an interesting experience composed of holds and dropoffs. Recommended for who likes technical and/or slider-heavy maps.
An enjoyable mapset for those, who'd like to play a full-length song by LiSA. The diffs are well-mapped and the spread is offering something for every type of player. A must have for all Sword Art Online fans!
osu!taiko (5)
Unlike other ranked sets, this ones speed is quite fast (300bpm) and causes it to be extremely hard and challenging for higher-skilled player. However, it is not the only reason why I nominate this set: The set itself implies the mapper's experience of mapping taiko maps. From Kantan to the hardest difficulty(Angel), it is the best choice to focus on the map's beat as the leading structure because of intensive rhythm on this song. The mapper also followed the main melody to decorate the patterns in order to eliminate the beat's disadvantages which lacks of diversification. To sum up, this map does not only provide a challenge to players but also a decent model of mapping fast maps.
We make the choices, and united we decided that hikikochan's United deserves a spot in this month's spotlight! This fun map on a drum'n'bass song (which is "somewhat" famous in standard) is sure a nice place to spend 5 minutes on, having a high amount of quite consistent but also varying patterns, rhythms that fit the song very well and some short streams. Get used to what's coming now, cause you'll hopefully like this map as well!
- Nekomata Master feat. Misawa Aki - chrono diver -fragment- by -Sh1n1- and Nardoxyribonucleic (Nominator: Arrival)
What a great approval! Collaboration between - Sh1n1 - and Nardoxyribonucleic, this map is really what we can call solid and enjoyable. Featuring a 1/4 patterning that emphasize on the vocal perfectly thanks to the 1/2 usage overall, it fits the song perfectly while being quite challenging because of the length and some 1/6 usage. The mapping styles of both mappers go together extremely well, giving birth to a coherent and well made map. In conclusion, a must-have chart that will for sure make you enjoy osu!taiko and Nekomata Master a bit more than before!
Great 1/3 map by Nwolf this month! The complex rhythms used in this map make it quite challenging despite the fairly low Star Rating, combined with the usage of a lot of finishers at the end of streams that can be a bit troublesome to hit, but making great emphasis on the powerful parts of this song. If you want a good map to train your 1/3 abilities, then this mapset is made for you!
This is truly a noteworthy addition because it is the first time in ages since a map has provided a genuine challenge for even high level players (alongside Hold Angel). Hopefully this marks the start of a new paradigm of "difficult maps" becoming ranked. Regarding the actual mapset itself, it has good spread, helped in part by the excellent guest difficulties mapped by Nwolf and Dainesl. However, what truly stands out is the challenging [Limit Break] difficulty, mapped by Grimbow himself. With an SR of 7.54*, it has great execution of flow when it comes to placement of long deathstreams. In spite of the repetitive nature of the song, the patterns are varied enough to keep the map interesting and enjoyable, without sounding out of place at all.
osu!catch (3)
It may have taken a while to get this to ranked status but - Magic Girl - and JBHyperion were determined not to let us down. Making an appearance together for their second Spotlight in a row 'Don't let you down' is a wonderfully crafted lowish bpm overdose that's shows us these two really have something magic when they collaborate. For those who prefer a lower density compared to your typical overdose this should not disappoint, though do watch out for some cheeky streams. As a couple of extra bonuses it comes with a cute custom skin and let's be serious for a moment, who doesn't like Halozy?
Okaerinasai certainly is a pleasant map for those who enjoy aesthetic mapping. This map is wonderfully paced and reflects the subtle nuances of the song all through-out, especially towards the end in reflecting the repeated vocal. Thank you to Ascendance for creating yet another lovely map.
Sinnoh here gives us a small set, not going for difficulty, but still being one of the quality osu!catch beatmaps of the month. The map finds ways to make the repetitive rhythm feel less repetitive, and that is one of the main good points of it. Together with fun patterns and execution, make this map one of the Spotlight maps. Oh, and by the way, it's a word meaning lake.
osu!mania (5)
It has been a looong journey Kamikaze, right? This map has been around for like 3 years and it has finally been ranked! And thank god it happened.
Featured in the MWC 7K of 2016 as the tiebreaker this mapset comes back once again with the usual combo from Kami. That combo I like to call it EVERYTHING. A decent amount of different snaps are used here in combination with streams with harsh accentuation and of course, LNs and SVs to add on top of it. Not only that, even as a player who plays without hitsounds I can tell the hitsounding here is GODLIKE tier and I absolutely love it. Totally deserved #1 spot of the month after such a long time fighting. Congratulations Kami!
I have to admit that this mapset isnt something that I particularilly love but jesus that it is unique. At first, I thought this map was not really that great but after putting my time into the editor, trying to learn the Slider Velocities and pretty much just playing the map a bunch of times I realized how carefully is this map executed. A map that looks really innocent pattern-wise but add all this crazy Evening-tier SVs and you have a really complex in both timing and reading skillsets. I swear to god the day I hit the jumptrill patterns correctly I will be super happy, but for now, I will just keep trying, as this map replayability is real good too. You will feel lost, but trust me, this map is amazing.
A song we doesn't see often ranked in osu!mania and Janko managed to map it in a very interesting and challenging way. The "Landung" difficulty (what means "landing" on German, by the way) is extremely stamina draining. A lot of jack pattern and jump jack pattern are waiting all over the difficulty and especially the second part of the chorus get's even more intense with longer jackhammer. The last third adds additionally to the jumpjacks some longnotes which require together with the pretty high HP/OD rate very accurate and does not allow a lot of mistakes, especially on 240 BPM! Together with some pretty cool visual Slider Velocity changes a challenge for every player and a well deserved place in the Spotlights.
Who said there couldn't be a challenging Normal / Hard difficulty mapset? ArcherLove is well known for long note oriented beatmaps and this is no exception. From this seemingly calm song, ArcherLove has managed to add some patterns that are extremely tricky to nail down perfectly. Furthermore, LordRaika's guest difficulty presents a completely different style of LN patterning in a way that contrasts ArcherLove's mapping and these three difficulties combine to make for some interesting experience not seen often in ranked maps.
If we have some unique and challenging maps in one spectrum, we have enjoyable, relatively easy maps in the other! Sennen no Kotowari offers difficulties ranging from Easy to Expert which caters to all 7K players alike. The patterns are relatively simple and fits the song nicely, with a pleasant balance between regular notes and long notes. To some of the higher skilled mania players out there, the GRAVITY difficulty gives tests players on entirely different skill sets with DoubleTime, so have a go at it!
The March 2017 spotlights will end on the 15th May 2017.
Past Spotlights results
Congratulations to the winners of the January/February 2017 Spotlights. They receive two month of supporter status for their efforts!
- osu!: Toy
- osu!taiko: Edgar_Figaro
- osu!catch: RAMPAGE88
- osu!mania: hizasama
Good luck with the new Spotlights! We'd love to hear any and all feedback you have about the new planed format for the Spotlights - feel free to leave a comment below!
—OnosakiHito
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