A bit biased since this one was my first game but this one had some really interesting things going for it, the ost is actually really good considering the amount of memory the composer had to create the tracks, the level design was really diverse and the game never felt that was overstaying his welcome, its short enough that you can finish in a few hours and move on. As a personal preference, i enjoy the rings mechanic on this one better than other sonic games, it works as a shield so sonic doesn't die but you cannot recycle them if you get hit, so getting hit is not so trivial as most sonic games.