What can I say about this game that hasn't already been said? It's indeed a very mediocre and poorly made Sonic game. If anything, this game represents why Sonic will never be good again under SEGA's flag. Why? Because SEGA clearly doesn't get it. Either that or they don't want to get it.
For those who are unaware of this, not too long ago SEGA made a statement about finally realizing they needed to step up their game and do better when it came to the blue blur. Naturally, I didn't believe them because talk is cheap. So, wouldn't you know it? SEGA indeed didn't learn jack squat. They're making the EXACT same mistakes they made in Sonic Generations. Heck, if anything, they did it worse than last time.
Too many characters being reduced to talking heads and cheerleaders? Well, let's make even more because it worked SO WELL the last time. Classic Sonic being a nostalgic lure to get people to buy Generations? Well, let's put him in a game that has no need for him like Sonic Forces, but we'll do it anyway because we can. An interesting new villain in the Time Eater? Well, let's make another in Infinite, but not make him the final boss and even less formidable in comparison.
Seriously, it's like SEGA doesn't care anymore. Why else do they keep making the same stupid mistakes over and over? People want to play as Sonic's friends again, but they're AGAIN reduced to background characters. WHY? I understand they're trying to make this game more about your created character being the hero/heroine, but that is no reason to make the others utterly useless and just sit around doing nothing. Heck, the people who made Dynasty Warriors figured this out over a decade ago when it came to character customization, so why is SEGA so far behind the eight ball on something that shouldn't be this complicated?
Not only that, they ruin it by making it so all your weapons are exactly the same. Yea, they may attack differently and use different attack animations, but the point is, they're pretty much the same weapon. All of them do the exact same amount of damage. None of them have different pros and cons, so what's the point of giving your created character a different weapon if all of them are no different? Heck, considering most of the enemies don't even challenge you with them, that makes them even more pointless in theory. AGAIN, Dynasty Warriors made it so all their weapons handled differently. Yea, sure, they may attack the same in a sense, but how you swung them depended on your weapon and what combos you chose to use. You couldn't fight the same way with two different weapons and have it work as good. Oh yea, best of all, enemies were alot more challenging regardless of what weapon you chose. Sure, some are more powerful than others and make it easier to fight, but you had to unlock the more powerful ones to use them, which is SEGA SHOULD HAVE DONE here. Have you work to unlock the more powerful weapons your created character can use in order to dominate the levels.
Seriously, SEGA, it's not that hard to figure out. It's just you being so damn lazy and not putting enough effort into your work to make it good. How is it Sonic Mania, a game I don't even care for, was made better by a small team compared to you? That's just embarrassing the more I think about it. You should be ashamed of yourselves for allowing that to happen.
However, to me, the cardinal sin of this game is not all the stuff I mentioned, or stuff I haven't, like the convoluted story regarding Infinite and the Phantom Ruby or how insultingly short this game is. Those are bad enough on their own, but by far, the worst sin this game commits is this one: You don't even have to try to beat certain levels. In fact, you don't even have to press a button to beat the stage either.
I'm not even close to kidding about that. Someone on YouTube literally showed you could beat a double boost stage without pressing a single button. Heck, not even the lasers that come by while falling even come close to touching you. You can literally, as the reviewer did, make a sandwich, come back, and the stage will be beaten by then without the slightest risk of failure.
Congratulations, SEGA. You have officially sunk to a new low. To me, that is even worse than pathetic quick time events. At least those expect you to press some buttons to beat a certain objective. But this? You don't even have to press a button. It's things like this that literally sums up SEGA's heart as a company when it came to effort in this game. They don't care. They literally don't care.
There is no excuse for this. You can argue all you want games are being made easier now so people don't get frustrated and rage quit, but they still expected you to at least put in SOME effort when beating a stage. For SEGA to think the players are so brain dead and stupid, that they needed a handicap to this magnitude is just despicable.
So yea, Sonic as far as I'm concerned is officially dead now. SEGA will never get it right, nor will they ever care to. The fact they're hinting about Classic Sonic returning AGAIN in a future title shows just how incompetent they truly are. The only way for Sonic to be respectful again is someone else buys the rights to it and gives the blue blur a much needed makeover.
As much as I'd like to rate this game a 1 for all the gross laziness SEGA dared to pull, I'd be lying if I said some of the concepts of this game were decent at least. Heck, even some of the music was really good too, but what killed it is like I said, way too short of a game, horrible plot, horrible characterization, insulting levels and gameplay, having Sonic and his classic counterpart shoved down our throats instead of letting the game be about our created character, or day I say it, if they had to team up with someone... Sonic's comrades! Seriously, I don't hate the idea of our character teaming up with Sonic during a stage, but WHY ONLY HIM?! Why not Tails? Why not Amy? Why not, Knuckles, Silver, Shadow, Rouge and the Chaotix? Heck, why not even some of the comic cast while we're at it? This kind of game would have been perfect for them to debut in.
But no, SEGA just has to make it so it's all about the blue blur and no one else when it came to the game cast. His friends should have been removed from the game entirely if all they were going to do was sit around and talk like a bunch of chatterboxes.
Anyway, I've rambled on enough. This game gets a 4 out of 10, and that's only because it didn't completely fail as a product, but it still failed hard nonetheless.