Even 10-year-olds would give up and say "I hate this." I would know, I have the heart of a child that age.
As Sonic, I tried playing this games and I always found myself dying or something equivalent happening. Radical Train was always painful because I wanted to get on with it and before I can enter Kingdom Valley, I still struggle with the 3 Wise Men's riddles and tasks.
As Shadow, I also dealt with unbearable frustration. Trying to finish the side missions made me want to tear my hair out literally. (No joking here, I have done that before.)
As Silver, I got all the way to the final battle, but I found myself falling into a boiling lake of lava when trying to finish off Iblis.
I gave up. The only reason I have the game in my collection is so I have a "measuring stick" to gauge my other games against.