So I finished the game a couple of times now and while I had a blast going through it, I have some criticisms about it:
- The intro set in Angel Island really got me pumped for it. The graphics were great, the music was great, everything was solid... only to have a small cutscene in it and then get warped to Green Hill Zone. I mean, I guess I saw it coming since GHZ was there and how could that not be the first stage in the game, right? But still, kinda bummed me out and made me really appreciate GHZ even less because of it.
- Overall during my playthrough of the game, I'm not sure if I just got good at it, but I felt a lack of challenge in most stages. Even in later ones where traps should be more common. It was just very easy to blast through, perhaps to be able to play it perfectly will take some time, but I didn't have any trouble with the game whatsoever.
- When I did get in trouble, it was due to very questionable level design which made a lot of crushing traps. They all seem to have a very inconvenient starting placement times where you're just rolling or going at it with some speed and with no time to react, you get crushed because of pixels. Speaking of which, this game really seems to have a hard-on for crushing traps. I mean, I haven't been able to find many bottomless-pits but they sure as hell got a ton of crushing stuff to make up for it and to grant those cheap deaths we all know and love.
- Bonus stages. Look, blue spheres is a nice mini-game and all, but it gets boring after 10 times or so. Sonic 3 & Knuckles had a great variety of mini-games to play for bonus rings and lives and elemental shields to aid you in your adventure. Not only do the blue spheres mini-game break up the flow of the game a lot, they're also set in this very inconvenient way where it's just too easy to accidentally get in them, because of how generous the game is with rings. Just wish there were more mini-games and that they did more than just give you medals to unlock stuff.
- I really wish there were more special stages or at very least a way to access them easily. It really bummed me out when I got all seven rings and all those big rings did was give me 50 rings. I know this is how it worked on the classics but damn, these special stages are fun! I really wish there were more of them. I'd totally buy a cheap DLC with extra special stages or something.
- The challenge was toned way way down for boss fights. Some of them weren't challenging at all and I felt like they were there mostly for doing "cool stuff" than actually testing the player skills.
- Mirage Saloon Act 1 for Sonic and Tails got me very, very sad with it being only a Sky Chase type of stage. I mean, the Act 2 is probably one of the best stages in the whole game. It just felt like a wasted opportunity to give more of that awesome stuff. I'm glad at least Knuckles' act 1 is a regular stage.
- Some of the level transitions of the game could've been a lot better and more imaginative.
- The story could've been better explained, we didn't had a problem with that in S3&K, but with Mania, I kinda don't have any idea on what the fuck is going on, why is little planet back, what is the Titatic Monarch and so on. I feel like some of that stuff will be better explained in Forces as, by now, we all know Mania is a tie-in for that game, but still, wouldn't hurt to have some extra cutscenes or a lil' more explanation of the plot.
- The drop dash while very nice and has its uses is a skill that, in the end, doesn't do much. I would've liked if they designed more stages with its use in mind. For most of the time, I just forgot it was there.
- I felt like level tropes were too hard on industrial settings, with so many great stages to use from the classic trilogy and CD, I really feel like they could've picked some better stages than Oil Ocean, Metallic Madness, Green Hill or Chemical Plant. I would love to see Mushroom Hill remade, or maybe Casino Night, Spring Yard, Mystic Cave and you get my point. I just feel like they played way too safe with the level selection and also choose a few of the least interesting looking zones in the trilogy. Seriously, why Oil Ocean?
- Final Zone is probably my least favorite in the game. Gimmicks were way over-used to a point where it was almost boring and the stage itself isn't really challenging or fun, it's just... run around and get bounced 'til you reach the end. Second act was terrible, when I got in I was expecting a boss rush with the HBH given how the level layout suggested that, but once you got to each "room" it was just a mini-act having you running around for a while before going back in the main part of the stage. Something about the last zone really screamed "rushed" for me.
- Last but not least, the true final boss was very boring and unimaginative. After playing a game with so many cool stuff and imaginative bosses, it really felt boring as heck to fight Robotnik and the Heavy King. Kinda felt generic and there wasn't much challenge involved. It gave Super Sonic a special ability when on the air, but never required it to be used.
Despite all my criticisms, it's a very fun game and got me smiling for almost the entire time from end to finish. All the references were amazing and I'm sure I missed a few still, the gameplay is suberb, level design is, for the most part, great, the OST is just amazing and the graphics, oh my god, they are incredible. I don't know if it has taken the crown from S3&K in the list of best Sonic games, but it's at very least a tie between the two titles.