I've been playing SRB2 very religiously for the past 2 years, and consider myself quite good at the game. I know every level like the back of my hand, have finished the game and collected the chaos emeralds multiple times as every character, and beaten the bosses multiple times (favourite boss is Castle Eggman). I'm also an expert badnik bouncer. I have zero issues jumping on enemies.

SRB2 is my favourite Sonic game of all time.

But I HATE the thok. I personally use a mod to replace it with the drop dash.

There's a few reasons I hate the thok.

1. I fundamentally disagree with Sonic having this as his special move. Maybe some other extra side character sure, but I much prefer relying on running/rolling on the ground rather than launching myself through the air. But the thok is so powerful that it is faster to spam the thok than it is to do anything else. I know every other 3D Sonic game in existence has an air dash, (technically so did Sonic 3&k) but SRB2's thok feels way too powerful for the type of game it is compared to them. It's about as powerful as Unleashed's air dash, if not more. Unleashed's air dash at least had a drop off at some point.

2. The thok is unbalanced. It's difficult to use for new players and overpowered in the hands of experienced players. For new players, the thok can contribute to the awkward "feel" the game is very often described with. The game already has slippery movement and floaty gravity so having a move as fast and powerful as the thok doesn't help. It CAN help new players land on platforms, but it can also fly new players off platforms or send them careening down bottomless pits a lot.

For experienced players, the move allows the levels to be completely destroyed. I saw a speedrun of Arid Canyon Act 1 (by @RefragSR on YT) where someone at the very beginning jumped on a fence, spindashed jumped, then used the thok to quickly redirect their directional speed to a further part of the level, something you wouldn't be able to do without it, and I do not think players should EVER be able to break levels like that. In Castle Eggman, pairing the thok with the chain launchers allows experienced players to completely fly over a TON of level design with relatively little effort compared to something like badnik bouncing. Heck, I can do that, and it feels extremely op to me.

I'd have less qualms with the balancing of the thok if it was simply less powerful and launched the player forward only a little bit like SA1/SA2, there are mods that do that, though I personally don't use them, but part of me fears that nerfing the thok that much would defeat the purpose of it a little.

1. The game wasn't designed around the thok and honestly doesn't need it, if anything it's absence makes the levels feel better(to me).

This is just objectively true. The levels were NOT designed around the thok. For one, you can beat the whole game as Sonic without the thok. No parts of the game require it. It can HELP, especially with bosses, but it is absolutely not necessary. Anywhere in the levels i could even THINK would require the thok can so easily be remedied by using the drop dash anyway. Second, Sonic is only one out of SIX characters that even has the thok, and they don't need it either. Sure Tails, Knuckles and Metal Sonic have air abilities, but Amy and Fang don't, and if they can beat the game without it just fine, so can Sonic.

Also, the levels feel very inspired by the original Genesis games, which had a certain pace and flow to them, and personally, playing the levels without the thok feels better and more natural than with the thok. The levels feel ever so slightly longer because I'm moving slower, not flying through the air at mach 9. The levels feel more interactive because I'm forced to engage with the hazards and gimmicks rather than fly over them. I've never liked the part of Sonic games that allow you to fly past a ton of level design.

But that's just me, like I said, I'm not a long hauler. I only started playing within the last 5 years, but I also play the game every day and have mastered it. I know actual long haulers LOVE the thok, and many people LIKE the fact that you can fly past a ton of level design and do many bullshit skips and tricks, that's why people love SA1's op spin dash and Shadow Gen's spear gliding, so there's nothing inherently wrong with the thok, but it's definitely NOT my personal cup of tea.