Got through this in one day just because I could and I gotta say, it was much better on replay. The parts that suck still suck but they're over with fast, and the parts of this game that rock are some of the most fun in any Sonic game period.

Mods are still absolutely essential though.

Edit: Here are my thoughts after 100%:

-Big the Cat's A rank mission killed my grandma (15 FPS option revived her)
-A ranks are pathetically easy other than that so I don't mind them
-Adventure Field emblems are nice but I feel there's to little of them
-Sub-games are so much more fun post-game than in-game
-I used the Chao Editor for the Garden because I do not care for that side of the game
-Metal Sonic awesome