Starting with the story... and its almost non existent. Dr Eggman and Dr Robotnik (I'll use Robotnik instead of Classic Eggman) have joined forces to control a creature known as the Time Eater, turning it into a mech for the two of them. The power of the Time Eater has been distorting time and space itself, causing all of Modern Sonic's friends to be kidnapped on his birthday, and leading to a team up between Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic. For a game like this, it works, but the issue I have with it is that it feels like there should have been more in terms of writing. There are some areas where it feels like more was written, but never implemented, giving it a rushed feeling to it. Green Hill Zone and Chemical Plant Zone have interactions between Modern Sonic and Modern Tails where they reminisce about the level, and I would have liked to have seen that for all nine levels, especially the three for Dreamcast and three for modern, where you could have had Classic Sonic and Classic Tails talk about the places they haven't been to yet.
The other thing that gives the game a bit of a rushed feeling to it is the level selection. I should say that the levels themselves were picked by fans, which I'm fine with, but what it led to was a collection of similar feeling levels. Green Hill Zone, Chemical Plant Zone, Sky Sanctuary Zone, Speed Highway, City Escape, Seaside Hill, Crisis City, Rooftop Run and Planet Wisp. To me, those feel like great levels to include, but they don't feel like the only levels to include, because of how much is missing. We didn't need four city levels, two hill/ tutorial levels and two factory levels on their own, and I would have preferred to see more levels rather then the game's mission mode. Even limiting itself to the 9 level structure, a more balanced selection I could think of is Green Hill, Chemical Plant, Sky Sanctuary or Ice Cap, Speed Highway, City Escape, Casino Park/ Bingo Highway, Tropical Jungle, Arid Sands, Starlight Carnival. I personally find Speed Highway and City Escape different enough to leave them in, and Speed Highway could borrow ideas from levels like Skyscraper Scamper. If a 10th level could be added in, I'd add in Crimson Carnival and combine it with other last level ideas/ Eggman levels from the past like Metropolis zone. Like I said, the level selection is fine, but it needed more to balance it.
In terms of the gameplay, while I am harsh to its level ideas, the game itself is a blast to play though, and one I often come back to replay. Both Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic are fun to play as and while I haven't had any major glitches happen to me, I have broken the camera a few times (hit the spring in the tower backwards in Crisis City Act two, messes up the camera). People complain that Classic Sonic doesn't play like he use to, I'm personally fine with it here as the game is designed for the new physics, but I do find Modern Sonic's levels the most entertaining to play through. It's why I want a modern sonic game that plays like this all the time, or have more 3D in it compared to Colours. The controls are mapped properly (I hated A-X for the homing attack), Boost is more available, and the levels are fun to speed run. It feels the most like a modern game in the style of the classics, it does however still have a bit to go (again, would like more 3D in my 3D sonic games).
The presentation of the game is also on point, as each level has clear indications of what its supposed to be, even fitting a few little Easter eggs to spice things up. The only thing that holds the presentation back visually is the levels its based on, with the whole "four city levels" thing. However the issues with the game visually don't translate to the soundtrack, which is almost perfect. Not a fan of all of the songs, such as Modern City Escape, but it is a case of "to each their own". If you can pull yourself away from Mania and haven't given Generations a shot yet for whatever reason, it is still fun to play. Let's just hope Sega makes a 3D game with more 3D in it, though at this point I'll take them not using Mania as an excuse to kill 3D Sonic entirely. I'm going to go on a small hiatus for a bit, due to laptop issues. It needs to get sent off for repairs. I will work on reviews behind the scenes though.
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