Going fast sounds fun and all but it was 1991. Holding forward anywhere except where the game wants you to is basically guaranteed damage. Levels where running is encouraged aren't very engaging, but on the other end of things you get clunky platforming. Very stop and go on level to level and zone to zone basis. This was always my understanding of old Sonic games and it's certainly not that appealing.

The music is very good but everyone knows that about sonic games. At the same time the Genesis is capable of creating the most ungodly noises that they use for sound effects. Granted, I'm not sure that's a valid criticism of this specific game.

Although I'm a certified Sonic hater, this game is honestly fine. Only fine though.

Been a while since playing the last game so I can't compare directly, but I thought this game was pretty cool and fun. It's a good size for a metroidvania, but I feel it's missing some interesting abilities for progression. Unsure how I feel about the combat. There was one boss where I felt like a hit a solid flow, but otherwise I feel it may leave something to be desired. I didn't get much from the story but I was never invested to begin with. I like the aesthetic but a few sprites look genuinely awful, like a certain snake.

Plainly bad in that it's just a really boring video game to play. Nothing presented in the cutscenes really justifies the existence of the gameplay. It's really sluggish and clunky. Enemies are really annoying and levels seem to be designed around tanking damage and spending heals accordingly. I only died a few times because I just wasn't paying attention to my HP. Sometimes you turn a corner just to see a platoon of dudes instantly firing at you which might as well be guaranteed damage unless you know it's coming. Levels in general are just too long, and they're capped off by really pathetic bosses.

Only play this game to say you did as a FFVII fan.

One step forward and one step back with this one. While it's clear that this game is more sophisticated than its predecessor in a few ways, a whole new set of issues appeared to fill in for the old ones. Enemy spawns were the biggest problem I had with the old one and it was partially fixed. Level design I found to be more annoying on average compared the the first game- at the very least for the first half. The last level is just as fucked up and forces you into a boss gauntlet at the end. The extra ninja upgrade is really cool, but can be really annoying when it induces extra sprite flicker. They also obscure enemies coming from behind.

All positives are about the same as what I said of the first game. I'd call it a worthy sequel but not exactly a better game.

Really cool game that does a good job matching the feel of what inspired it. I feel it has an excess of customization that's good on paper but overwhelming in practice. Story is nothing special but I don't expect it to be. It could be a fun game to get good at but I don't think it offers much from doing so. Levels go on a little too long for my tastes and I couldn't play long sessions.

I unfairly judge this game for my inability to play it hard and fast with the base moveset. The respawn time and spikes annoy me to no end when I wanna feel like a badass but I can't consider that a real criticism.

This game is a little sad because it's actually super fun to play but it's held back by exactly what you would expect from an NES game. The first few levels are great but into the endgame it gets insufferable. The biggest issues are the presence of lives and how enemy respawning works. It also sucks getting caught on walls when you don't want to. Much like classic Castlevania, the game's controls feel very deliberate and hitting a flow with them feels awesome. The cutscenes are a bit verbose but I think they're cool.

Abused save states big time. Doing otherwise should be classified as self harm.

This game spends a lot of time meandering in a way that Undertale probably also does, but without Toby Fox's writing and Compositions. Trying to emulate those facets of Toby Fox's work may just not be possible and I really started to feel the weight of the constant text and repetitive enemies. Characters don't really gain any attachment early on so it really doesn't feel all that interesting for a while. Luckily I felt the story picks up by the end and it left a good final impression. I got the Pacifist ending and I think it slotted in next to the story of Undertale (uh oh) nicely.

There are some character designs that aren't bad but feel out of place to me. I don't think they're super far fetched but their presence in combination with the fact that it's a fan game makes it more noticeable. I hope some others will understand what I mean.

I'll likely try some extra endings.

Update: Did all endings. Genocide final boss was borderline impossible before the 1.1 patch so I had to update specifically for it. I had to manipulate my save because there's a point in the last area of genocide where if you cross into a room you can no longer kill everything. Really lame.

Non-pacifist routes didn't really change my opinion of the game overall. The Flowey fight was interesting but wasn't as cool as Omega Flowey, but to be fair it shouldn't be.