I'm giving the highest rating I really think I can give here, initally on my first playthrough I hated this game so much, yet now I can't help but like it.
It still isn't a good game, yet sometimes the game get fun every now and then the potential this game has shines through and you'll find yourself actually having fun, these moments are few and far between sadly. There's so many times during a mission I'll actually be having fun and then I die in a stupid way or the mission goes on for way too long and then I start to realise every fault this game has.
It's not anything new or interesting to point out but the game on purpose removes certain abilitys and stops Sonic from Controlling as well as he should for no reason other than the stupid Level system they decided to add, so Sonic for half the game plays like ass and you can't really do anything about it. Even when Sonic doesn't play like complete ass, it's still mostly ass, there's no fine movement with Sonic here and sometimes a mission actually demands you move carefully which is kinda impossible to do when Sonic auto runs and he controls terribly, especially with the motion controls being imperfect.
So outside of the gameplay really letting the game down, I honestly kinda like the game. The story isn't anything crazy, I like Sonic and Sharas dynamic and Sonic is written pretty well, especially compared to any game in the 2010s. Jason Griffith does a good job and so does most of the other VAs, though Erazor sound funny so sorry his va.
The Music is amazing and by far the best and most memerable thing about the game, so many bangers in this Soundtrack, yet even still they decide to play Seven rings in Hand for like every single moment you possibly could and it gets so out of hand it's crazy, and then when you get to the final boss it has no impact, it's still a good song just not used well in game.
Visually this game looks really good every location actually looks pretty good, Sonics model looks pretty good etc just a very pretty game.
Now I won't lie I could happily give the game like 3.5 stars if the game was just a few hours shorter, it's not even a long game yet even still it drags out. Having to play the mindeless other levels to actually get the world rings is annoying and the game just does not say which missions you actually have to play to progress, I really think people would like the game more if they just removed half the skills in the levelling system and just made them apart of Sonics base moveset and just shortened the game length by 2 - 3 hours. Like Sonic can be fun to play sometimes, the music slaps, it looks great visually, the story is decent it really could've been good. & to be fair being created as a response to Sonic 06 not being able to be ported to the Wii therefore having a crazy short dev time and team the game is still decent. I wish I could like it more & I have slowly grown to actually really like it, but also I'm a sonic fan, so non of my opinions should be taken seriously.
I also gotta say, I think a reason I like this game now more on replay and in retrospect is because I played Sonic Forces. I really thought this was the worst Sonic could be, still got some cool stuff but ultimatley not exactly good, and then I play Forces and it's just the most soulless boring game ever made. This game has ideas and a clear passion behind it, the end result isn't perfect but theres clearly effort put into a lot of aspects of this game, and in many cases I find it works out well. It just sucks it plays poorly, I so badly want to give it a higher rating but I just can't.
Overall I reccomend giving it a go if you can handle a game that isn't perfect because if you honestly give it a shot you may find yourself having fun. And even if you're not then the music still kicks ass, it's honestly so good.
(Also screw the final boss so much and all bosses in this game for that matter, but the final boss especially because that boss physically hurts to play, that's not a exadgeration it actually physically hurt my wrists playing that stupid boss)
It still isn't a good game, yet sometimes the game get fun every now and then the potential this game has shines through and you'll find yourself actually having fun, these moments are few and far between sadly. There's so many times during a mission I'll actually be having fun and then I die in a stupid way or the mission goes on for way too long and then I start to realise every fault this game has.
It's not anything new or interesting to point out but the game on purpose removes certain abilitys and stops Sonic from Controlling as well as he should for no reason other than the stupid Level system they decided to add, so Sonic for half the game plays like ass and you can't really do anything about it. Even when Sonic doesn't play like complete ass, it's still mostly ass, there's no fine movement with Sonic here and sometimes a mission actually demands you move carefully which is kinda impossible to do when Sonic auto runs and he controls terribly, especially with the motion controls being imperfect.
So outside of the gameplay really letting the game down, I honestly kinda like the game. The story isn't anything crazy, I like Sonic and Sharas dynamic and Sonic is written pretty well, especially compared to any game in the 2010s. Jason Griffith does a good job and so does most of the other VAs, though Erazor sound funny so sorry his va.
The Music is amazing and by far the best and most memerable thing about the game, so many bangers in this Soundtrack, yet even still they decide to play Seven rings in Hand for like every single moment you possibly could and it gets so out of hand it's crazy, and then when you get to the final boss it has no impact, it's still a good song just not used well in game.
Visually this game looks really good every location actually looks pretty good, Sonics model looks pretty good etc just a very pretty game.
Now I won't lie I could happily give the game like 3.5 stars if the game was just a few hours shorter, it's not even a long game yet even still it drags out. Having to play the mindeless other levels to actually get the world rings is annoying and the game just does not say which missions you actually have to play to progress, I really think people would like the game more if they just removed half the skills in the levelling system and just made them apart of Sonics base moveset and just shortened the game length by 2 - 3 hours. Like Sonic can be fun to play sometimes, the music slaps, it looks great visually, the story is decent it really could've been good. & to be fair being created as a response to Sonic 06 not being able to be ported to the Wii therefore having a crazy short dev time and team the game is still decent. I wish I could like it more & I have slowly grown to actually really like it, but also I'm a sonic fan, so non of my opinions should be taken seriously.
I also gotta say, I think a reason I like this game now more on replay and in retrospect is because I played Sonic Forces. I really thought this was the worst Sonic could be, still got some cool stuff but ultimatley not exactly good, and then I play Forces and it's just the most soulless boring game ever made. This game has ideas and a clear passion behind it, the end result isn't perfect but theres clearly effort put into a lot of aspects of this game, and in many cases I find it works out well. It just sucks it plays poorly, I so badly want to give it a higher rating but I just can't.
Overall I reccomend giving it a go if you can handle a game that isn't perfect because if you honestly give it a shot you may find yourself having fun. And even if you're not then the music still kicks ass, it's honestly so good.
(Also screw the final boss so much and all bosses in this game for that matter, but the final boss especially because that boss physically hurts to play, that's not a exadgeration it actually physically hurt my wrists playing that stupid boss)