Well I got the game today, turns out where I live they were doing the same special promotion as they were in Spain which ment I got the limited edition T-Shirt in European style Sonic 1 megadrive case for free (while stocks last) I wont be taking it out of its plastic!
Now onto the game, I'm going to straight up say my favouite level in the game is Rooftop Run, (modern and classic) I love everything about that stage, it's beautiful, it has the best set peice in the game, music is awesome and I love, LOVE the bit at the end of Classic Sonic where [spoiler]You have to that very sonic colours style puzzle with the lock face and then it shows a cutscene of the blimp crashing into it and then you hop on. Amazing! [/spoiler]
When it comes to level design, apart from the Sonic 06 level which I didn't much like I think Sonic Team have finally got the 3D sonic stages perfect. There is a LOT more Sonic Adventure style free roaming and exploring to be had than I expected and I really like jumping off the beaten path to ledges only to find rings and hidden lives... Love that shit!
As for controls:
Classic Sonic of course could be improved in future games, roll, physics blah blah you've heard it all before but it is far from BAD and very playable and fun.
Modern Sonic is PERFECT when he is going at full speed, they have finally really nailed it! I love the spin dash power slide and while they are returning moves I can't give enough prise to things like Stomp and Wall-Jump- totally fun to use.
I think when he slows down they need to improve the way he controls it is still a little bit finicky and hard to control, I would actually suggest having sonics whole move set change when he goes slowly to a more mario-ish move set because just slowing down the very twitch-based sonic doesn't work as well as it should.
Other things I really like:
being able to change music for levels- this is usually the thing that stops me playing fun games. Getting sick of the level music is the bane of my life. So glad for this option!
The room for collections like art, music and so on.
The return of Red Rings... I love them- I hope they keep them forever! In fact I want them to put MORE things to find in the levels, maybe something even harder to find. For example a single blue ring which is properly hidden away somewhere off the beaten path and takes some kind of crazy pizzle to find.
The side missions are hit and miss, the partner games are the poorest ones... Amys hammer jump was fun though! I mainly liked ones that challenged you to use existing moves like stomp and wall jump in fun puzzle like ways, finding hidden things or racing the doppleganger.
Overall I'm VERY happy with the game. Love it in fact. I'm kind of looking forward to games coming out which are dedicated to one style though. The next completely modern game and hopefully the next completely classic game.
8.9/10 - almost perfect.