Boy do I have some feedback for this one. This is absolutely the best game of SAGE 2024 and it is not close. However, I found that the first 50% of the only available level was perfect, peak sonic level design. The controls are pretty smooth and intuitive, but the level design then falls off a cliff in the second half. Very many automated sections fail and spit you out into death pits, the upward trick (LT) is required at one point, and it is not obvious how to perform it unless youve read the demo's webpage. Furthermore, the upward trick does not work unless youve already performed at least 1 trick off of a spring, which I heavily suggest should be changed, because the forward trick can be done at any time like you would expect. There are some precise dash rings/springs at the end of stylish set pieces like half-pipes etc. that are much too difficult to aim for, especially with the camera flipping around with sonic and even sometimes inverting and ending up in front of him. The boost system is great for the most part, but I found the economy to be extremely tight toward the end of the stage, where it is explicitly required that you have at least about 3 bars in order to outrun the big set piece ball rolling toward you, otherwise it is a one-shot kill (good thing checkpoints start you off with a full blue meter) There are also a couple of times where the slide is required to get underneath some tree branch under-passes, which I intuited correctly the first time I saw it just due to sonic muscle-memory, but upon hitting the button too late the second time, the invisible wall just launches sonic left or right straight to death. I think these should really just stop you in place like in any other game with this feature, and moreover there should definitely be some sort of UI prompt or big glowing red arrows pointing towards the upcoming hazard, just for QOL. The level also unfortunately caves in and has several small 2d sections, which I would have thought would be the antithesis of turning a 2d game into 3d? The core of this game is perfect all in all, but my review loses 2 stars due to the falloff in all of this level design. I cannot wait for more, I just hope this feedback and other reviews are not taken lightly, and that the second half of this first level as well as all future levels are reworked to be as fantastic as the first couple minutes. I do love the length of the stage though, that is perfect.
