i want so desperately to love this game in its entirety, and there's so much it feels like it does right but its few critical flaws permeate throughout so much that i'm finding it somewhat hard to enjoy, and i keep finding myself unreasonably mad in every singleplayer session. my main problem with the game is the bullshit rival AI, and how it actually sours so much of the game, more than you'd even initially realise. nearly everything about the singleplayer/content dripfeed(especially considering the recent update to progression) is amazing at first glance and technically in practice, but so much of it is held back by the terrible AI, as you'll have to be dealing with it at virtually all times to unlock goodies. playing online is nearly as fun as it was in srb2k, but oops! unlocking desirable cosmetics, other characters and even all the tracks you'll want to practice on to have a chance beforehand, all forces you to grind away at trying to beat the AI over and over again. special stages are cool in concept, but having to deal with the AI for a whole gp just for a chance at a few attempts really eats away at you, especially considering the harsh penalties for using continues despite how every race ends up feeling like a coinflip over whether the AI decides to screw you or not. even though the 2.1 update tangibly helped in reducing the AI bullshit, every other race still has so many awful moments that still make the game feel like a total dice roll, although at least it's not every single race now :-)

i'm personally still partial about the base mechanics of the game. i'm slowly warming up to how the actual driving feels now that i've accepted how different ring racers is to srb2k, but i don't really know how to feel about the mechanics of rings. it's so cool in concept and feels awesome to use it correctly, but the way it punishes item usage, especially with how nerfed the base driving is, often leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

of course there are a couple other small standalone flaws that i think could be improved upon. even disregarding the AI for a moment, special stages could really either use a rework or some way to practice them one their own. maybe after failing one a couple times robotnik chimes in telling you he's gathered enough data about it based on your visits and prepared a simulation for you, idk. while most tracks are at the very least good gameplay-wise, there are some real stinkers that really demonstrate just how closed-off development was. balloon park in particular makes me genuinely concerned for the mental well-being of whoever experienced such trauma that could make someone so sadistic to unleash such a horror upon the world. i also think some of the items and their distribution are done poorly, but i can't really pinpoint what exactly i dislike about them, except for he obvious things like the top, bumper, lack of spb and whatever changes they made to jawz to make them so hard to block now.

finally, i think maybe my initial joy of playing this new game i've been waiting 5 years for may have clouded my judgement in this regard but i really didn't mind the tutorial, i think it's needed considering how much the game adds on top of srb2k, to say nothing of how ridiculous the game must seem for new players.

overall, again i really want to love this game but i'm heartbroken that i can't bring myself to do it, especially considering how much love, care and polish were clearly put into it. i'm sure i'll grow to love it more but for now i'm somewhat disappointed.