A great way to celebrate Sonic's history. While I do prefer the Adventure-style controls for 3D Sonic, the boost playstyle definitely leads itself to a ton of amazing set pieces. Unfortunately trying to do any kind of platforming as 3D Sonic feels clunky as hell. At least while the camera is behind him, the side-scrolling parts aren't too bad.
The 2D Sonic in this game may not quite feel as good as he has in the past, or in Sonic Mania, but it's pretty close, and I personally prefer the art style for his stages here over the more cartoony ones used in his solo games. The stages look so detailed and much more alive. 2D Sonic definitely benefits from using 3D Sonic's stage designs.
So while I can't say this is the "best of both worlds", I do find both of them to be incredibly fun.
Playing through classic stages as 3D Sonic, or newer stages as 2D Sonic was such a great mix of nostalgia and brand new experiences.
The game is unfortunately pretty short, with only 9 main levels. The themes also feel lacking, with 4 out of those 9 being city stages. Luckily they do all have their own unique personality, with the only two feeling too similar (at least aesthetically) are City Escape and Rooftop Run.
The game pads out a lot of extra content with optional challenges. These vary massively in terms of uniqueness and enjoyability, but overall I found them to be a very positive experience for the game, and allowed some mini games that wouldn't have fit in the main stages. It also allowed Sonic's friends to show off their own individual characteristics without getting too overbearing.
The story is overly simple, which isn't too much of a problem, but the cutscenes still manage to feel cheesy as all hell. I'd almost prefer them to just not be there if they're going to put so little effort into it.
I struggled to decide if I should give it a 7 or an 8, but I think a weak 8 is deserving as even with its lack of stages, it had enough extra content to keep me playing for a while, and most of the stages were so fun and had so many paths that I didn't mind replaying them so many times. Except Planet Wisp Act 1, which is both way too long and has a horrible gimmick.
The 2D Sonic in this game may not quite feel as good as he has in the past, or in Sonic Mania, but it's pretty close, and I personally prefer the art style for his stages here over the more cartoony ones used in his solo games. The stages look so detailed and much more alive. 2D Sonic definitely benefits from using 3D Sonic's stage designs.
So while I can't say this is the "best of both worlds", I do find both of them to be incredibly fun.
Playing through classic stages as 3D Sonic, or newer stages as 2D Sonic was such a great mix of nostalgia and brand new experiences.
The game is unfortunately pretty short, with only 9 main levels. The themes also feel lacking, with 4 out of those 9 being city stages. Luckily they do all have their own unique personality, with the only two feeling too similar (at least aesthetically) are City Escape and Rooftop Run.
The game pads out a lot of extra content with optional challenges. These vary massively in terms of uniqueness and enjoyability, but overall I found them to be a very positive experience for the game, and allowed some mini games that wouldn't have fit in the main stages. It also allowed Sonic's friends to show off their own individual characteristics without getting too overbearing.
The story is overly simple, which isn't too much of a problem, but the cutscenes still manage to feel cheesy as all hell. I'd almost prefer them to just not be there if they're going to put so little effort into it.
I struggled to decide if I should give it a 7 or an 8, but I think a weak 8 is deserving as even with its lack of stages, it had enough extra content to keep me playing for a while, and most of the stages were so fun and had so many paths that I didn't mind replaying them so many times. Except Planet Wisp Act 1, which is both way too long and has a horrible gimmick.