I don't wanna defend this too hard but it's certainly overhated. The sound design is an abomination for sure, every time I closed a menu it played a screeching noise that made me pray to God for salvation, but it's really just a stylish yet average ds rpg. The writing and plot are certainly all fluff but the game gives you dialougue options to role play sonic as. I always picked the smug asshole option.

When you transition between worlds the game plays this animation of sonic running through the hills as you're speeding through the map on the bottom screen. Each character has distinct play styles and special moves that appeal to their personalities. There's a minor Chao garden mode for Pete's sake!
These are the types of touches that keep the game from feeling soulless. I've played many a ds game in the past year and while the game is fairly flat and gimmicky it has enough charm to where I'd say this is not really a contender for WOAT as people make it out to be.