Played the demo.
I like the music, though because the level is a bit longer than the original tune, I think they should have mixed in something else to it. Maybe a different set of instruments to the second loop, or add a bit of Bridge Zone's theme in there? Not an issue at all, just something I would have done if I made this, I guess.
Otherwise, I am not really sure of the experience I just had. I mean, the physics are so much better than Sonic the Hedgehog 4, but they are still nowhere as close as it appeared from people playing it. Moving in the air is very weird, it feels very loose in a bad way, like Unleashed and Colors, which was okay for those games, but it should be tighter considering it is all 2D here. There also seems to be some slight delay with a button push. It gives me the feeling the people who made this only played the XBLA/PSN versions of the classics instead of on the actual hardware, as they have a similar problem and there is a chance that Sonic Team just thought this was normal... I would not put it past them.
The rolling and spindash both are all kinds of broken. You cannot even roll when you are up on a hight slope... Shit. I think you could do that in Sonic 4 even. The spindash is FAR too fast on ground but slows down shockingly weird in the air, even worse is how you cannot jump instantly from a spindash which is also weird, both of the Adventure games let you do that fine. These both need major fixes.
The level design... Kind of sucks. Now, it is the first level in the whole game which is fine, but it is basically designed with speedruns in mind and little else. It seems entirely pointless to return to past sections of the level, in some cases it is also impossible. After recently being able to get all of the Chaos Emeralds in Emerald Hill Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 after all of these years, this was kind of a major letdown. I mean, I was not really expecting something like this as the levels have no real progression like the classics, but there should be some reason to return to past sections of the level. Bayonneta proves this concept is still amazing. Also, the springs are still garbage and not like the classic ones at all.
The art was also really disorienting. I mean, so much on screen is cool and all, but it was somewhat hard for me to see where some of the rings were without squinting a bit. This really, really should not be an issue.
Also, there is a hole RIGHT at the end of the level and nowhere else. STOP DOING THAT SONIC TEAM! EVERY TIME WITH THE HOLE RIGHT AT THE END!
Still really looking forward to this and honestly expect the full game to be at the VERY least very good, but I... I really do not know why I was being so optimistic about this. Damn Sonic Team, messing with my mojo.
