Really cool stuff from Serponge honestly, after learning it's really good, visuals are also awesome, like the trains colliding and then having to go through as gamemodes is an interesting take.

This level was honestly a bit disheartening to replay. I do think it's better than some give it credit for but some elements of Noel Electra really do not work. I'll start with some positives. I know a lot of people aren't a fan of the hyper-realistic art style in a lot of modern levels, and while that's valid, I personally really like the look of it. I think the theming is a perfect midpoint between a snowy wonderland and a harsh icy climate, and hey, it's around Christmas time (at least at the time of Noel Electra's release) so that fits too! I think some of the camera controls are weirdly floaty and unnecessary but not actively harming the experience before the drop. I like the part where you're on top of the train, and afterwards when you go through the train cars themselves, each one with a little bit of a theme, like a mechanical car, an icy car, and a botanical car. I think the animation going into the drop is cool, but this is where the level becomes a bit of a train wreck (see what I did there?). The drop is an absolute mess of gameplay that feels very unfair to the player with a lot of sudden camera triggers and direction switches with very little indication on what will happen. It is actively not fun to learn nor play, and a lot of deaths felt a bit out of my control. On top of that, there are some bugs which wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if this wasn't the hardest and most chaotic section of the level. I also find the square orb use to be really odd, serving as click indicators with not a lot of reason to use them as opposed to something else like arrows or anything. I think the way the train discombobulates is really cool and compliments the song well but it unfortunately doesn't save from the pretty unenjoyable section, and it's a pretty significant portion of the level. I will say I do love the fadeout with the bells letting you take in the atmosphere, it's a very nice touch, and the endscreen with the demolished train is pretty cool. While I do think Noel Electra has a neat style some good ideas, the execution of the later half of the level was quite rough and a bit disappointing which leads to a pretty mixed experience.

the gameplay is not that hard to learn and you feel awesome performing it

some gameplay choices are questionable though yeah

i don’t mind the janky drop gameplay personally, but why tf does it end at 86.93%?

That was truly the Zacian of event levels

Alright, when I beat this level when it was the event, I thought that the level was REALLY BAD, mainly with its gameplay. Im surprised that this level has a 5/10 on this site and not lower, because it does seem like one of those 2.2 “slop” levels, but, as I said before, the main issue is the gameplay for me.

I want to get the good stuff out of the way. This level has some GREAT decoration, and it doesnt feel like a complete rehash of Coaster Mountain, which is awesome. The first half does have quite decent gameplay. The end cutscene gives the level an awesome conclusion that unironically gave me a little bit of goosebumps, but thats really much it with the good stuff.

Even though I said that the first half has decent gameplay, thats only like half of the pre-drop because the other half are just CUTSCENES. This level may very well be the most BORING level I have EVER played and its just because of how much time there is spent doing NOTHING. Also, there are some hitboxes in the first half that SUCK. For example, in the train, theres a COMPLETELY INVISIBLE HITBOX. Also, the only reason i wasnt half-asleep was because of the song, because the pre-drop of the song is REALLY GOOD. The drop of the song does fall off HARD though. Speaking of the drop, the gameplay turns from boring to frustrating, because of the GODDAMN 2.2 EFFECTS. Its probably cool and energetic to people who are watching on YouTube, but playing this SUCKS. For the orbs in the cube parts, you just have to spam to pass them. The swing at 59% is very unintuitive and I died there MANY times, but thats probably a skill issue on my part. There are a bunch of orbs that are completely blind. The orbs in the last UFO do not feel good to pull off because they are unbufferable. And finally, the level ends with a really good cutscene after a couple of orbs.

Overall, this is a good level decoration-wise, but the gameplay is both boring and infuriating at the same time. 3/10, free medium demon.