Overhyped af imo. Don't get me wrong the game is still great, but I feel like some of its levels drag on for far too long without making up for it too much in the exploration department. The special stages are significantly less bs than the ones before it though, the extra playable characters offer a new source of replay value, music is still excellent, yadda yadda yadda. If you liked Sonic 1 and 2 you'll like this one, if you like platformers in general you'll probably like this one.