Mirage Saloon Act 1 became one of my least favourite levels due to the Sky Chase segment. The special stages feel pretty much impossible if you have Tails as the CPU in it. I always thought Sonic 2 was the weakest of the three, due to the second half of levels being weaker than the first. There's a lot to love about Sonic 2 and I get why it would top most people's lists but I honestly feel it's weak in a LOT of ways. Kinda feel like that's an interesting concept that wasn't explored as fully as I'd like. The opening, time transition, and momentary break on the train also help to break up the zone a bit, though I do wish more of the level took place on the train.

It's odd, because I don't think it changes much about it mechanically, so much as the level and its music makes it feel a lot more fast paced than it actually is. It was also the first Sonic game I owned as a kid and I kind of burnt myself out on it, even back in the 90s, which probably impacts my ability to enjoy it upon revisiting.īeing that this thread is about Mania and I don't want to derail it horribly: I do think Mirage Saloon Act 1 is a good take on Sky Chase.

Special Stages are about rote memorization and playing them with Tails is like hamstringing yourself with input latency. I get this was the first game Super Sonic was included in, so they hadn't quite figured this out, but transforming as soon as you jump blows and results in transformations the player has little control over (unless they opt not to get the emeralds, which is somewhat reasonable since you don't unlock much for getting them besides Super Sonic.) Clipping through him and getting hurt would be more tolerable if I had a ring or two to rebound with. Sky Chase slams the breaks on the games momentum, generally not a fan of auto-scrolling in a Sonic game.ĭeath Egg's lack of rings would be fine if not for the fact that the Death Egg Robot is buggy. Metropolis is overly long, samey, a bit cheap, and generally a bore. Hill Top has terrible music, a bland aesthetic (it is a recolor), and unremarkable gimmicks. It's just a mess and is rife with garbage that hits you before you can react, even after all these years and countless playthroughs.Ĭasino Night is my least favorite 'bouncy' stage, though it's still a fine level. Sonic 2 has the largest ratio of zones I dislike to those I like.Īquatic Ruin is one of my least favorite classic zones.

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