AJ Bloom

I personally think people are too harsh on this Sonic for what it is. Arguably the best 3D sonic in my opinion for a few reasons. First off. The mech stages were pretty bunk and story+voice acting wasn’t the best. These aren’t the strongest aspects of the game though. What really shines is the level of polish from gameplay and the things you can do in between. Sonic and Shadow stages were all really well done and a good challenge to test players in late game that made it fun. (Minus Mad Space) The grind rail system was nice for some pretty stylish combos which were used to rack up points. The emerald hunt stages were unique to play and a different concept not many games have tried to recreate over the years. The multiplayer was also amazing with high speed fast pace footracing/go kart racing. Mech battles, Emerald hunts. They had a built in chao garden which functioned similar to pokemon. Not a lot of people really explored it to its full potential given how intricate it actually was. Breeding chao’s and raising them to compete was simple but also satisfying to do. It was designed into the levels so if you opened the Chao box and acquired the key, it would allow you to visit the Chao hub area. The rings were used to purchase eggs and items to power up and evolve your Chao. Not to mention the soundtrack in this game is downright legendary. I remember the days when games used to have iconic soundtracks and this is certainly one of those. The game had its flaws though, I’m not gonna lie the camera angles could be downright unbearable sometimes, but it kinda had its own charm in that way. The skill ceiling was high on some levels so it’s understandable why more casual players found it less enjoyable. If you’re looking at the game objectively for what it was not too many games had as much thought put into it as this game. Easily the most slept on Sonic game in the franchise.