Hexagons are my favorite shape, so this gets brownie points on that alone.

But wow, yall need to play more bad games. This is pretty alright! After three boost-style games back to back, I actually welcome Lost World's slower pace. I mean, having a Run button in a Sonic game is funny as all hell, but I dunno... I didn't find it that intrusive? I think the game was designed well enough around it. This is easily one of the most platform heavy games in the series, if not the actual number one. It was a cool change of pace, and there were a number of high speed sections here and there to reminds us that "Hey, it's still Sonic".

Also, uh. Best rail grinding controls so far? That took me by surprise. Instead of awkwardly snapping from one rail to another like SA2/Heroes, or simply locking to a different one like Colors/Generations, you instead jump between rails and it feels REALLY accurate. There are two levels dedicated entirely to rail grinding(accompanied by my favorite track in the game. One of my favorite tracks in the series? Like wow. The violins at 0:49, good lord), and they felt super fair.

In fact, I'd say the entire game is very fair when it comes to its difficulty. There was never a moment that made me go "that's bullshit"; the slower pace really puts emphasis on accuracy over stylish automated setpieces, though there are still instances of automation. This is a post SA1 Sonic game, after all.

Stellar soundtrack, as usual. Tomoya Ohtani, my man, I think I love you. The aforementioned Sea Bottom Segue, Dragon Dance, Silent Forest Act 1, fucking hell THE FINAL BOSS THEME! This guy quickly became one of my favorite composers, he just gets it.

I do agree that the story is dumb as all hell. What tone were they going for here? Stupid silly fun like Colors(Baldy McNosehair), or serious(Tails getting captured and experimented on, Amy and Knuckles freezing to "death")? From the halfway point onwards, it constantly zigzags between the two but never really commits. This means the comedy hardly ever hits any notes, and the drama does not stick in the slightest.
Also, you wanna talk about forgettable villains, you start with these 6 fuckos. Why does Zavok hate Sonic again??? I thought Eggman was the one who enslaved him and Sonic literally kicked the doc's mind control device away. Oh, he's evil and wants to suck away the Earth I guess. Cool...?
Also yay fatphobia yay

I don't know man, I've played much worse. Aside from the shitty story(which isn't even a huge detriment considering this series' previous narrative trainwrecks), this is a perfectly fine game. Maybe a bit too simple, but it clicked for me.