(copy and paste from my S3K AIR review lol)

One of the greatest 2D platformers of all time. It's crazy too cause despite me vastly prefer what "Modern" Sonic does in terms of design, lore, and storytelling; S3K still manages to do everything I want in a Sonic game.

My love for its admittedly simple story mostly comes from the lore it brings to the series. Sonic lore was one of the reason why the series was and still is so special to me and S3K brought so much interesting stuff to the table. Furthermore, I just love how interconnected the world felt in general. Those little cutscenes at the end of levels really helped Angel Island feel so connected to me. The atmosphere is crazy good too. I just love how the progression of stakes in the story is shown through the levels we play in (shout out Lava Reef Zone Act 2). Doomsday Zone still gives me chills to this day man I love it.

The level design was absolutely amazing as well. There are a few questionable design moments in some areas but overall, playing and replaying the levels is still extremely fun. It's insane to me how fun these levels are despite me playing this game at least 20 times. The balanced of speedy spectacle, nice platforming, and satisfying exploration really makes these levels so replayable. Speeding through these levels on replays always proves just how fucking fun Sonic games can be.

Don't even get me started on the music and visuals dawg. I love the more realistic direction they took here man. I loved the surreal bullshit that was in Sonic CD and 1 but I still feel that this slightly more realistic art direction here is just as good. The vibrancy of the colors in these levels still make these visuals have that bit of surrealism that I'm looking for in Sonic art styles. The music was phenomenal as well. While it isn't even a top 5 OST in the franchise, some of the tracks here are still incredible to me (shout out Hydro City)

Gotta also shout out the AIR port of Sonic 3 as well because it makes this masterpiece of a game even better. I love all the customization options and I love the small changes the AIR team made to make the experience even better. Stuff like a super sonic button, faster transportation gimmicks (elevators in Launch Base), widescreen, and some small level design changes (Angel Island Act 2) are all great.

Overall, like I said before this game is an absolute masterpiece to me. It's not perfect but it has quite literally everything I want from a Sonic game, and a videogame in general. 10/10 masterclass

One of the greatest 2D platformers of all time. It's crazy too cause despite me vastly prefer what "Modern" Sonic does in terms of design, lore, and storytelling; S3K still manages to do everything I want in a Sonic game.

My love for it's admittedly simple story mostly comes from the lore it brings to the series. Sonic lore was one of the reason why the series was and still is so special to me and S3K brought so much interesting stuff to the table. Furthermore, I just love how interconnected the world felt in general. Those little cutscenes at the end of levels really helped Angel Island feel so connected to me. The atmosphere is crazy good too. I just love how the progression of stakes in the story is shown through the levels we play in (shout out Lava Reef Zone Act 2). Doomsday Zone still gives me chills to this day man I love it.

The level design was absolutely amazing as well. There are a few questionable design moments in some areas but overall, playing and replaying the levels is still extremely fun. It's insane to me how fun these levels are despite me playing this game at least 20 times. The balanced of speedy spectacle, nice platforming, and satisfying exploration really makes these levels so replayable. Speeding through these levels on replays always proves just how fucking fun Sonic games can be.

Don't even get me started on the music and visuals dawg. I love the more realistic direction they took here man. I loved the surreal bullshit that was in Sonic CD and 1 but I still feel that this slightly more realistic art direction here is just as good. The vibrancy of the colors in these levels still make these visuals have that bit of surrealism that I'm looking for in Sonic art styles. The music was phenomenal as well. While it isn't even a top 5 OST in the franchise, some of the tracks here are still incredible to me (shout out Hydro City)

Gotta also shout out the AIR port of Sonic 3 as well because it makes this masterpiece of a game even better. I love all the customization options and I love the small changes the AIR team made to make the experience even better. Stuff like a super sonic button, faster transportation gimmicks (elevators in Launch Base), widescreen, and some small level design changes (Angel Island Act 2) are all great.

Overall, like I said before this game is an absolute masterpiece to me. It's not perfect but it has quite literally everything I want from a Sonic game, and a videogame in general. 10/10 masterclass

My new favorite game of all time. Ori and the Blind Forest was already a masterpiece to me and somehow this game just surpassed Blind Forest in literally every way. The level design was masterclass and was made even better with the addition of new moves that helped with traversal. The new combat was sensational and was extremely fun to experiment with. Don't even get me started on the new bosses man. The music was even better here, the story was just as emotional and engaging as it was in the first game, and the visuals were even more beautiful especially with the new environments in the game. There truly wasn't a single dull moment in this game man.

Peak gaming. 10/10 masterpiece.

The one that started it all!! Overall, it’s a very solid Sonic game if a little boring at times. It’s no where near as dated or bad as people say but it does have a heavy case of first game syndrome even with this 2013 remake.

Green Hill is still one of the greatest beginning levels in all of gaming but the way the game falls off after that is quite noticeably. It peaks again with Starlight Zone but everything inbetween (and after) is just good to ok.
Playing the original version definitely does show a lot more of it’s age in terms of design (thanks to the lack of a spindash) but even with the 2013 remake, the level design is still a bit unrefined and is nowhere near the peak of the series or the formula.

The overall aesthetic, controls, music, and gameplay is still very solid; it’s really just the unrefined gameplay that brings the game down. Being the first game in the series, it’s to be expected.

7/10

Sonic 2 is a a fairly large improvement from it’s sequel and is a Sonic game that I still find quite enjoyable; however, there are a few issues I have with the game.

Sonic 2’s level design is generally good and is a large improvement over Sonic 1’s level design but I can’t help but feel that it gets a bit shallow a lot of the time. Playing through a lot of stages and completing them in less than 2 minutes without even trying to speedrun is very unfullfilling and the general quality of the level design falls off after Mystic Cave Zone. My favorite stages were easily Aquatic Ruin and Mystic Cave Zone but even these stages don’t reach the quality of any stage in Sonic 3 or Mania.

I still find the aesthetics to be very solid, the music being great, and the general story good for what it is (the ending is still fantastic) but the more and more I replay it, the more and more I find the game less appealing.

Shout out to the 2013 mobile port for improving the special stages, adding a playable Tails and Knuckles, adding the cut hidden palace zone, a steady 60 FPS, and widescreen. It definitely brings the game up by a bit.

8/10