Controversially, I like the level design quite a bit. It took me a while to really appreciate this game for what it is. I used to see it as Sonic 1 but the level design is sometimes better. It wasn't until I decided to go for a generator only run (where you destroy all of the generators in the past) where I really started to appreciate this game. Is it perfect? God no. Sometimes traveling to the past can be quite cumbersome, some of the generators can be ass to find, and sometimes the levels themselves are just ass (Wacky Workbench).

First time going through the generator run? It's pretty good. But once I went back and did it again and again, then I really started to love this game. It's taking one of the original philosophies of Sonic where you're meant to go back and use your skills to get better & faster at the game.

Overall, this feels like THE sonic game for me. It's not my favorite, it's also not the fan favorite, but whenever I think of old school sonic, this is what I think of. The aesthetics and soundtrack of this game are top notch, only being rivaled by Chaotix & the saturn sonic games (and sonic adventure 1). The cutscenes in this game is what made me LOVE sonic. This game oozes so much soul that not many other sonic games do.

If you're gonna play this game, do yourself a favor and play the 2011 decompilation. It's not as accessible as Sonic Origins, but holy shit is it way better.