I mean, it's cool that they tried something like this for the time, but man this game is just a frustrating mess. My biggest gripe is with how badly Sonic controls. His movement here is really awkward with a d-pad control scheme, and is only made worse by the isometric view. Destroying normal enemies can be annoying with the confusing trajectory caused by the isometric view and control scheme, and can be nightmarish when more complicated terrain comes in requiring you to stumble your way around slopes, fans, electric ground, and projectiles. It's also nightmarish when the game wants you to pull off more precise platforming with controls like these. (that one part of Gene Gadget act 2 is pure pain) You have to search out for normal enemies too, as they hold the Flickies that you need to progress, and they can be a pain to manage as they scatter everywhere when you get hit, or whenever they come in contact with any sort of obstacle, leading to more stumbling around just to gather them all back up again.

The special stages are mostly just whatever. They're pretty easy except for the last one which is surprisingly bullshit. Something else I found to be surprisingly bullshit as well were the boss fights. They're were I lost most of my lives due to their wonky hit detection and near-instantly disappearing rings. (the Volcano Valley and Panic Puppet bosses are particular highlights of this)

But at least the music's nice, as per usual with this series. But other than that and the visuals, this is just some sort of failed experiment that makes me want to go back to the 2D sonic games on the Genesis.