I've always disliked half of this game but after replaying this and Forces back to back I def appreciate the fantastic level design for Classic Sonic's stages WAAAAY more. He might not handle ideally to me but the way his spin dash is so super charged it basically acts like his form of boost and it's very fun to mess around with.

Modern Sonic levels are 10/10 but you already know about that.

Gameplay wise the only problems really are a few of the levels (Planet Wisp is a real wet fart of a stage to go out lmao) and ESPECIALLY the final boss cus good lord that shit is actually garbage.

The writing and overall creative prowess on display really lets this one down for me tho. The rehashed levels idea has definitely not aged the best in my head given the direction Sonic Team took after this game (Sonic going "man this place feels oddly familiar" to GREEN HILL and other moments like that have actually aged like milk lmfao) but I still gotta appreciate how gorgeous the reimaginings of these levels are.

The writing is probably where this game bothers me the most because there was so much potential for cute and fun interactions between the whole cast given the anniversary title nature but good lord this game's writing is dull beyond belief. Ig if you prefer your sonic game to be straight to the point I can understand the appeal but the characters are a big part of why I enjoy these games even in the more flawed stories and this game just gives you nothing to work with.

Basically you play this game the way you play Fire Emblem Fates. Whenever someone opens their mouth you skip that shit and go gaming.