At first I thought it was an 8-bit port of the first game, but I was completely wrong
There was some bad ideas thrown in there, like an auto-scroller level (the idea itself isn't that bad, the problem is that it is on a Sonic game), but it still had some good ones like special stages being just bonus and to get the emeralds you search the stage
I don't get exactly the debate of which Sonic 1 is better, but I can confirm that neither one is bad
That being said, DON'T PLAY THE GAME GEAR VERSION
There was some bad ideas thrown in there, like an auto-scroller level (the idea itself isn't that bad, the problem is that it is on a Sonic game), but it still had some good ones like special stages being just bonus and to get the emeralds you search the stage
I don't get exactly the debate of which Sonic 1 is better, but I can confirm that neither one is bad
That being said, DON'T PLAY THE GAME GEAR VERSION