String me up on the cross and jab me with hedgehog dildos, Sonic fans, but I don't think this is the worst game ever made. The physics are wonky and the music is poorly mixed, but no lie, the level design is a little decent and the air-dash plus homing attack is great. I want to see more 2D Sonics with the homing attack, it can set up for some incredible fast-paced platforming, as evidenced by this game. And if I'm being truly honest... this game is much less frustrating to play than the original trilogy. Granted, this game has like 15 years over those, so QoL was inevitable, but I will die on this hill: Sonic 4 E1 > Sonic 1.