I honestly have no idea why I enjoyed this game so much, interesting to say the least
There are 3 stories that consists of Sonic's, Silver's, and Shadow's, these 3 stories eventually tie together to form the plot. The plot is a little over-the-top, dramatic, and actually pretty good as far as Sonic games go. The game first starts off with an absolutely gorgeous movie which has Eggman crashing a party seeking the Princess of Soleanna. Sonic shows up to stop him of course, but Eggman eventually succeeds in capturing the princess. In a ping-pong style Princess Elise bounces back between Sonic and Eggman, which kinda got old. Eggman's main goal is to release the Flames of Disaster that is currently sealed inside the princess. Meanwhile on Shadow's side another great evil is released known as Mephiles. While Silver travels to the past to destroy some Iblis trigger so he can save the future. Now all of this sounds complicated, and it is, but all will be explained in more detail as you play through each side of the story.
As was mentioned before you will mainly play as Sonic, Shadow, and Silver. Sonic's level are focused on him speeding on through. Silver plays at a much slower pace, but involves using his telekinesis to lift up objects and solving puzzles. Shadow plays similar to Sonic but has skills more suited for combat, he moves at the same speed as Sonic but has to defeat more enemies. Even though they are the main 3 characters you play as, there a number of support characters that you can play as. The support characters are Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Blaze, Rouge, and Omega. Each of them are quite different in speed and abilities, but they are enjoyable as a change of pace.
Cut-scenes and movies are by far the best that a Sonic game has yet been seen. It makes you wish that the whole game looked like their movies did. There are quite a bit of cut-scenes to be watched, they can all be skipped but shouldn't be because of story and their quality. As far as the rest of the game goes don't be expecting the most realistic graphics and you'll be fine. The soundtrack definitely stands out as 1 of the good parts about the game, as well as very well fitting themes that were given to Sonic, Shadow, and Silver. Watching the credits roll is worth-while as you can listen to the themes and cut-scenes for the character story that you just played, and then you realize just how fitting the themes go. The music played through this game is something you will remember and want to add on to your computer or ipod.
Wandering around Soleanna you can find a shop to buy skills to customize your character. Also to be found in Soleanna are many pointless NPC's, some of which will want you to do some jobs for them. These jobs or side missions are best avoided they are just a waste of time, just ignore them and play the main story. There should have been more added to Soleanna since it is the main hub, but sadly there is nothing fun to do to make less disappointing. They should have worked harder on creating a better hub.
Be prepared for a lot of glitches and unexplained deaths, but they are actually tolerable. This game is very difficult and may take many tries to get past levels. If you play this game enough you will be become much better and be able sail past levels much easier, you just have to give it a chance. With many frustrations aside, this is a very fun game. Somehow it just makes you keep wanting to play and finally complete that level. Some controls are very hard such as Shadow's vehicles and Sonic's snowboard, but with enough practice you'll soon overcome them and learn to enjoy them. I know lots of contradictions that don't make any sense, but that just how this game is. Just when your about to be done with this game it will beg for your forgiveness and you'll be playing again. It's a shame this game could have been so amazing if not for all its flaws, I would love for them to try and make another Sonic game like this one but with fixed errors. It would also be great if we could see Silver in more games and also possibly as a main character again.
Final Notes
> Absolutely gorgeous movies and plenty of entertaining cut-scenes
> Many different yet enjoyable support characters to play as
> Very challenging, fast, fun, and long lasting levels
> His World, All Hail Shadow, Dreams of Absolution, for the win!
> So many glitches and unexplained happenings
> Boring and stupid hub area with terrible town missions
> Some sections of levels have terrible controls
> Lots and lots of loading screens
> This game really isn't for anyone, only a forgiving Sonic fan could enjoy this as much as I have