I had no idea what this game was before I started, and after finishing, I still don’t know. It’s not just me either, it seems like this is a pretty common reaction from people, it’s so unique in every facet of its design that it almost defies categorization. To put it in its simplest terms, imagine a sidescroller where the stage would fit perfectly on the face of a cylinder, you can go up and down to the edges of the screen, but the stage loops on itself as you freely fly from side to side. The goal is to collect 20 blue orbs while accumulating points from picking up items and doing aerial acrobatics. You have to reach a certain point threshold to unlock new levels, but past that, my comprehension fails me. There’s an odd system to breed dream creatures and affect their moods to create new ones, which then affect the music and landscape of the stage you hatched them in, but it’s entirely optional and I didn’t even notice until doing research afterwards, along with many other little hidden mechanics. The deeper you go the weirder it gets, and the bright circus aesthetic can be almost sinister when laid on top of systems and symbolism outside the realm of comprehension. While surrealism is usually pretty concurrent with horror, the game seems to capture a surreal form of joy instead, fitting for a game that focuses on dreams, but I mostly found it off-putting. The gameplay itself is decent enough, the flight has a nice momentum to it and looping around to pick up gems can be satisfying, but this is the first time where I have to dock a game points for feeling uncomfortable. It all works fine, it’s imaginative, but… it just doesn’t feel right. I guess that means I have to give it the points back for effectively using surrealist imagery to speak to the subconscious, and that’s not something I thought I would ever have to say about a Sonic Team game made for kids. Even though it defies traditional description, it can at least be remembered as Sonic Team’s most imaginative attack on my psyche yet.