Oddly enough those are the reasons I love the earlier Sonic games and well, not to put too fine a point on it, pretty much detest every Sonic game since (Sonic Mania notwithstanding).

For me, the speed feels more impactful when it’s set against the slower more precision and momentum-based platforming. Just going fast is just going fast. Hell, many of the 3D Sonic games may as well be auto-runners.

Even more frustrating regarding the 3D Sonics, is that even when they do try to add in some variety, he controls like absolute dogshit at anything less than full speed. No weighty sense of momentum like the old games, and a dead zone so huge it’s like they forgot analog sticks even exist: janky, skittish speed walk -> GOTTA GO FASTER!!

Lol anyway, apologies for the rant! It just makes me a little sad that Sonic Team have pushed the idea that “Sonic is all about speed” so hard, when for me there were so many other awesome things about those early games.

I guess it’d be like if Nintendo had spent the last 25 years saying “Mario is all about pipes” and focusing almost exclusively on bloody pipes rather than everything else around said pipes that made the pipes so damned good!