A great improvement from the first game in ALMOST every way (remember that "almost" for later). Gone is the issue of half of the game being lacking, pretty much every zone here holds up better than the first game's zones. Even the weaker zones like Metropolis and Wing Fortress are better to play through than the likes of Marble or Labyrinth from the first game. The game also flows together better too thanks to the spin dash and better level design in general. It is a bit too strict on the final bosses however, with how they don't give you any rings.

HOWEVER. Remember that "almost" I said earlier in regards to this game being an improvement over the original? Back in my Sonic 1 review I went into a bit of a rant over the special stages and how dumb they were. But good GOD, I have no clue how they made the special stages worse here but they did it. They might have looked cool for the time but my oh dear lord they way they play is TERRIBLE. They might as well come down to sheer memorization with how the Genesis runs these. It's just not feasible to react to some of the rings and obstacles in time, and they can get really strict with the ring requirements too! At least you get more chances for these here and a worthwhile reward in the form of Super Sonic (and the good ending on top of that), but please, use save states or a rewind feature for these to preserve your sanity.

If you don't care about completion or missing out on Super Sonic however, this is a really great time! Much more worth playing this over the original.