Even the slower moments of this game feel tense and flow like a stream. Has very few "bad" zones; the only ones I don't like are Marble Garden and Sky Sanctuary. Soundtrack and presentation are top notch. Really, my biggest problem is the inconsistent bosses. Some are fantastic, including the true final boss, while others, such as both Ice Cap Zone bosses, are abysmal. Luckily once you have super forms the bad bosses are easy to brute force. Lastly, the special stages are pretty good. I know blue sphere is divisive but let's be real what sonic special stages aren't, other than mania's. Personally, I'm a fan; I just wish there were more chances to get the super emeralds. Overall though, yeah it's a masterpiece.
This is the best 2D sonic game, The level design is great, Knuckles is good in his first appearance, I love he's always in your way to halt your progress, The boss fights are peak in this game as well, Big Arm is the GOAT. This is the definitive way to play sonic 3 and knuckles.
This, Unleashed and SA2 are peak sonic IMO.
9.8/10
This, Unleashed and SA2 are peak sonic IMO.
9.8/10
Easily my favorite of the classic Genesis games. Same great qualities as usual such as the amazing visuals and music. The main thing that stands out the most to me are the practically seamless transitions from zone-to-zone and act-to-act that does a great job at making the world feel connected than feeling like just a bunch of levels. There are also a lot of moments that really caught me off-guard, such as Angel Island on fire or the different seasons of Mushroom Island. In return the levels are a blast to play through minus a few stinkers like Marble Garden, beginning, and Launch Base to an extent. I really like how the special stages are implemented, where you have to seek out the special ring in the level, and Blue Spheres is just really fun with how it gets faster the more spheres you collect as a fun challenge. Overall like I said in the beginning, this is my favorite of the classic Genesis trilogy, and this is absolutely worth playing.
Probably my favorite sonic after experimenting mods, level design-wise i slightly prefer sonic mania, but to play through this with Shadow and his boost and homing attack, Chaos and his moveset from all main characters and a harder final boss, Amy and her hammer, Fang and his gun and triple jump, Mighty and his immunity to spikes in a game with lots of them, it's all a blast, add this with the already amazing gameplay from the main characters, banger OST, and the improvements this have compared to the vanilla game or even sonic 3 complete, and this is my favorite platformer experience so far, and my comfort game.