Really enjoyed it, here are some thoughts:
- Controls and gamefeel have been greatly improved from last year and I think the physics are very accurate to Rush now. Feels right to me.
- Grindrails, trick ramps, the boost's visual design (with the trail behind Sonic/Blaze) and the Unleashed speed meter on the right of the screen are all great ideas that hugely enhance the "cool factor" of the gameplay. Not to mention the trick combo meter which once again is a fantastic idea that adds to the chain style gameplay. I replayed levels multiple times trying to keep my combo chain going. I love games with features like these implemented. These were all genius additions.
- Homing attack range and speed are both perfect and work perfectly too.
- Sonic and Blaze's movesets have also been expanded from memory and I like how you've replicated their Rush movement styles.
- The sound effects like the grind rail SFX, walking SFX, music changes when going underwater and Sonic/Blaze's voice clips all help to make the game feel like a real breathing world and I really appreciate what may seem like small details like that. They have a huge impact on creating a great experience.
- I love the Rush inspired level intro title cards, very nice touch that adds a lot of personality
- Menu theme song still goes insanely hard
- That fish chase scene in level 2 makes you feel so cool. Same for Metro Heights levels 1, 2 and 3 (love the night theme!) and the world map where you run on the side of the skyscrapers.
- The little Unleashed inspired boss sections are a clever addition to mix up the gameplay and keep you on your feet.
- The moving background when underwater which indicates how deep Sonic/Blaze are is a really really nice touch.
- In terms of what can be added, I think a good alteration to the moveset would be to make the stomp come to a complete stop upon holding down instead of sideways. Atm in gameplay I've found pressing down leads you into a dropdash. I like the dropdash but I thought maybe it makes more sense holding sideways. Another idea of mine was increasing the speed of the spindash as well by a little since atm it's a bit on the slower side. Maybe could be inspired by Advance and Rush's spindash speeds or the dropdash speed in this game. Continuing the level design that prioritises flow like you already have done is a great idea too. The option for control remapping would also be nice as well. I imagine you're already aware of all of these things that I've mentioned.
The hub world softlock is one I'm aware of and the dashpad there was intended to act as a bandaid fix until I could figure out what was causing it, sucks that its still easy to trigger.
Glad to know Blue Coast came off how I wanted, I was iffy on how long each of the acts were but decided it was the best way to ease players into how the game would play. As for Act 3, I do need to add a real underwater bg, seeing the normal bg underwater bothers me too. And I'll work on the orca animation too, readability is important.