ProtectorOfMemes
Retro's been using some black magic to make this game look and run as well as it does on the Switch of all things. All that's missing is the Fusion Suit, which is the only reason this isn't a 10 out of 10.
2001
While it's not exactly welcoming to a first time player, repeated playthroughs of X6 have made it one of my favourites in the series, for more than just the music and how well X and Zero still play. The new armours are among the franchise's best, the story's actually pretty good once you get past the iffy translation, and I did enjoy my time with the stages overall, even with stinkers like Blaze Heatnix's onslaught of donuts, or Ground Scaravich's stage being RNG incarnate.
Parry system wasn't the most well explained thing in the world, and the lack of quick weapon switching heavily discourages experiementing with every weapon, but Rising's still a damn good game, and the highs are indeed high. The final boss being the pinnacle of the whole thing.
Jesus Christ, April's packing the whole bakery
For what's supposed to be the Ultimate version of Sonic Colours, this was a major travesty at launch, to the point where the European physical release was delayed. Inferior lighting to the original, a forced listen to the divisive remixes prior to the final patch, various visual and gameplay related bugs alongside rather lackluster new additions have cemented that SEGA truly is unable to release definitive rereleases for 3D Sonic.
2003
Game's got a good soundtrack, and tbh, that's all I can say it does well at. Practically everything else is borked for one reason or another, and it's a shame that this was the one and only time the series ever attempted to go 3D.
2008
Rare struck gold with this duo, as the original Banjo-Kazooie remains a great title even to this day, with the 360 version's QoL addition of all Notes remaining collected taking a lot of the load off of the player's shoulders. Absolutely worth a playthrough, and it's easy to see why this game made the bear and bird popular enough to be included in Smash Ultimate.
2008
Actual peak fiction right here. While the inconsistent frame rate (fixed on Series X) and medal collecting are genuine issues, alongside the Drift not being the best, this game's packing the best Boost levels with it being the fastest it's ever been, a great hack n slash in the form of the Werehog, the best visuals of any 3D Sonic game, a phenomenal soundtrack, and, while not on the same level as SA2, Battle or the Storybook games, a good story that genuinely made me tear up at the end. Without a doubt, this is my favourite game of all time.
2000
For what was, for the longest time, considered a hype (intended) finale for the X series, this feels like a bit of a letdown, especially after having replayed every X platformer an uncountable number of times. Level design just lacks the flow of a good X game, the story's just there with its most iconic moment having the most contrived reason for it to even happen, cutscene presentation's kinda weaksauce and whatever new systems it introduces are either obnoxious (Alia's calls), or unintuitive (the Parts system and how you even obtain Parts in the first place. Also not too big on the new Armours introduced, and I feel the game's a little too skewed towards X with Zero feeling nerfed in comparison. Still plays well and the music's solid, but I feel both its immediate predecessor and successor are superior.
A pretty good collection overall, just held back a bit by the fact that it holds the more divisive back half of the X series.
2010
SA1 at its core is still great, but points are docked purely because of the port being subpar. Doesn't even have widescreen for some reason.
1996
A fun game every now and then, and a good time with friends, though not something I come back to often. Best played on PS3 and 360 for the extra characters and online play.
2011
With excellent gameplay, levels, bosses, visuals and music, there's little wonder why this is considered the best of the Meta Era. What holds it back are its criminally short length and complete lack of a story.
2004
A pretty solid return to form for the X series after X7 crashed and burned, and while the more gimmicky stages and the limited Retry Chip system may be a turnoff for some, the game's still a blast even after all this time. Story could've been a bit better though.
An excellent remake that does the source material justice while making quite a number of improvements to the story, combined with great voice acting from the whole cast. Gameplay's as fun as ever, and Vile Mode's a fun addition to give this remake more bang for its buck. If only it was made more widely available.