Stardust Speedway remains a low point for the game, I think, which is a shame because the ornamentation (of the brass instruments in the present, and overgrown pipework in the past) is evocative of the Starlight Zone, probably my favourite levels of the original Sonic game. The route to find the generator, and get to it in the past, is overly convoluted and seems to require luck as well as skill. I did explore a lot to find the route that worked for me, but maybe I was missing something.
It’s taken a while, but I’ve now completed this, getting the good future in every zone, and even destroying the Metal Sonic holograms hidden throughout. The game is very different to Sonics 1 and 2, rewarding exploration as well as speed, finding the best places and routes to run along, rather than just always moving to the right. Maybe this is why I found it oppressive; it was just too different, while looking the same. Having explored everything, though, and now with a better knowledge of routes, its become much more like classic Sonic, and I feel like it has the same sort of replay value.
In fact, I know it does, because having completed the game on the PS3, I immediately restarted it on the Xbox 360 (well, the 360 version running on the Xbox One), to unlock some long-standing achievements. I played through it all the way to Stardust Speedway Act 2, where I found I couldn’t remember how to find the generator and I had to look it up. Having done that, I proceeded through and completed it again.
It’s not perfect by any stretch. The final boss battle is a bit of an anticlimax, especially when you compare it to the iconic Sonic 2 last stage. Metal Sonic’s race is a bit too much of a difficulty spike. Some of the level design, especially in the present, is a bit confusing, where they have tried to vary the routes in the past, but leaving rings in the same places. The special stages, even though I now know what to do, are rubbish and uncontrollable; I managed to get four time stones at most. And yet, despite all this, it’s a really good solid game, well up with the best platformers I’ve played.
Having completed the main game, I then looked at the time trials, which are more traditional Sonic material with the time travel removed, and the sole aim is to get through the present version of the level as quickly as possible. I hadn’t explored looking for the most efficient route; maybe that’s something to do in the future.
