First and foremost Sonic is a game for kids. So you would think that it wouldn't ask too much of the player when set to easy. Let's just get straight to the point, the difficulty in this DLC is busted.

It is pretty much required to look up a guide on how to do a lot of the challenges in this DLC. Not only do all your stats get reset to 1 but you are also limited to spefic moves and on a timer (either literally or because of ring depletion). Not only that but one of the challenges is actually harder if you use the attack it says you are limited to.

This has been compared to soulsborne games but I don't think that is correct, because those games are much fairer when it comes to being hard. The limitations that are imposed on the player means that you are fighting enemies and bosses that were designed for what is essentially a different moveset than what you have available to you. I didn't feel a sense of accomplishment when beating a challenge, it felt like I cheesed my way through with techniques that were far from the intended solution but were the only viable option.

And that isn't even the only problem. The other playable characters are laughably limited at the start for what is the final island of the game, and leveling them up and unlocking skills is tedious to the point of feeling pointless. And some of the platforming segments (especially the tower climbs) just exacerbate an already janky feeling camera and homing attack. Both of these things I would have been able to forgive if the aforementioned challenges were worth the trouble.

I have decided to shelve this for now in hopes that a patch or mod can address the difficulty balance. But as there is little sign of this happening any time soon the game is abandoned in all but name.

But hey, at least the music is good.