I decided to do a second review of this game since I wasn't too happy with my first and feel like I could've done a better job articulating why I didn't like this game.
To sort of recap, the Wii U version of Sonic Lost World was a game that while definitely far from the best 3D Sonic game, was an overall solid time. The actual platforming was solid enough though the game did have a fetish for weird gimmicks and I did like the parkour system though it could've definitely been fleshed out quite a bit more.
As for the 3DS game, truth is it wasn't a game I wanted to dislike. I got the game for my 14th birthday and I do remember liking the first few levels back then albeit never went past the first act of Frozen Factory. Still, even if I didn't like it as much as the Wii U version, I at least was expecting an overall solid companion title with its own take on the Wii U game's core gameplay.
Unfortunately I can't say that was the case. Frankly my first playthrough of Lost World 3DS was one of the most frustrating experiences with a video game in general and after the third world I straight up just wanted it to be over. I have since attempted multiple times to go back to the game and utilize any of the skips and stuff but even then my opinion of the game has yet to change.
A common argument I've seen regarding this version against it's console counterpart is that the parkour mechanics are more intuitive and better utilized in this version and to be entirely fair here I can understand where this sentiment is coming from. At the very least this game does a better job of making the mechanics themselves easier to grasp and understand. Plus the spin dash actually feels pretty good to use.
I just wish the game's actual movement was better.
I’m sorry but this game’s controls did not jive with me. I wouldn’t say that the console version was a bastion of great controls or anything either but they felt solid and ‘smooth’ enough so that they didn’t usually get in the way of my enjoyment to a great extent. In comparison, this game’s controls just feel awkward in a way I can’t even figure out a way to describe. Sonic feels way too sensitive and fast when holding down the run button, yet he feels extremely sluggish when not holding it down, on top of not really feeling like I have full analog control despite this being the 3DS and a thumbstick being available. These issues make doing any actual platforming in this game just feel overall clunky, especially when the game seems to make it pretty hard to recover from a bad jump.
Plus I can’t help but feel like there’s some jankiness with the homing attack and any related abilities (like for the lightning wisp). There’s several times in this game where it feels like the homing reticle just doesn’t show up when it’s supposed to and it’s actually screwed me over a few times (especially in the Frozen Factory boss).
The game also uses the gyroscope at various points and in extremely gimmicky ways - most notoriously for the special stages, which I gotta say... might be one of if not my least favorite special stages in a Sonic game, and that's saying something. The gyro controls just feel extremely imprecise, and just trying to turn yourself around and position yourself correctly feels way harder than it should be, on top of just being unintuitive.
But what really kills the experience for me, more than anything, is easily the level design. Windy Hill is admittedly pretty solid overall, and the game does have some decent moments later on, but for the most part it just feels like every issue I had with the Wii U’s stages is increased tenfold here - feeling extremely blocky and gimmicky, and whereas I could at least tolerate most of the Wii U game’s gimmicks… here it actively feels like they get in the way and slow the game down. The worst of it being easily Frozen Factory Zone 3, which is littered with unfun, repetitive snowball puzzles and ended up taking me like half an hour or so on my first run (also there was one moment where towards the end of the stage - the snowball that’s supposed to follow you so that you can position it and use it for puzzles literally just stopped moving for no reason)
Even with these gimmicks aside, there’s also the other problem where it feels like some of these levels drag on for longer than necessary without really offering anything that makes the levels feel not empty. Plus in true Dimps' fashion the level design is full of bottomless pits which isn't exactly helping things at all.
And yes, I am aware there are ways to beat most of the game’s stages in just a few minutes (including Frozen Factory 3) especially using various skips and exploits, but again, even then I’m just left with stages that just leave me feeling ‘whatever’ without any desire to return to them. Also I’m sorry but it doesn’t exactly reflect well on the level design if most of the fun I can have with it is literally skipping past everything.
The 2D stages especially just feel extremely dull in this regard - just feeling blocky and uninspired on top of the design just not complimenting the game's control and movement well at all. Also, I gotta ask, who decided to have the camera zoomed extremely close on Sonic in these stages?
I do want to make it clear if you enjoy this game, more than the Wii U version - more power to you, and I respect that you see something about it that I’m just… really not. But no matter how much I try, even as someone who does enjoy the Wii U game from time to time, I can not for the life of me find much to enjoy about this.
To sort of recap, the Wii U version of Sonic Lost World was a game that while definitely far from the best 3D Sonic game, was an overall solid time. The actual platforming was solid enough though the game did have a fetish for weird gimmicks and I did like the parkour system though it could've definitely been fleshed out quite a bit more.
As for the 3DS game, truth is it wasn't a game I wanted to dislike. I got the game for my 14th birthday and I do remember liking the first few levels back then albeit never went past the first act of Frozen Factory. Still, even if I didn't like it as much as the Wii U version, I at least was expecting an overall solid companion title with its own take on the Wii U game's core gameplay.
Unfortunately I can't say that was the case. Frankly my first playthrough of Lost World 3DS was one of the most frustrating experiences with a video game in general and after the third world I straight up just wanted it to be over. I have since attempted multiple times to go back to the game and utilize any of the skips and stuff but even then my opinion of the game has yet to change.
A common argument I've seen regarding this version against it's console counterpart is that the parkour mechanics are more intuitive and better utilized in this version and to be entirely fair here I can understand where this sentiment is coming from. At the very least this game does a better job of making the mechanics themselves easier to grasp and understand. Plus the spin dash actually feels pretty good to use.
I just wish the game's actual movement was better.
I’m sorry but this game’s controls did not jive with me. I wouldn’t say that the console version was a bastion of great controls or anything either but they felt solid and ‘smooth’ enough so that they didn’t usually get in the way of my enjoyment to a great extent. In comparison, this game’s controls just feel awkward in a way I can’t even figure out a way to describe. Sonic feels way too sensitive and fast when holding down the run button, yet he feels extremely sluggish when not holding it down, on top of not really feeling like I have full analog control despite this being the 3DS and a thumbstick being available. These issues make doing any actual platforming in this game just feel overall clunky, especially when the game seems to make it pretty hard to recover from a bad jump.
Plus I can’t help but feel like there’s some jankiness with the homing attack and any related abilities (like for the lightning wisp). There’s several times in this game where it feels like the homing reticle just doesn’t show up when it’s supposed to and it’s actually screwed me over a few times (especially in the Frozen Factory boss).
The game also uses the gyroscope at various points and in extremely gimmicky ways - most notoriously for the special stages, which I gotta say... might be one of if not my least favorite special stages in a Sonic game, and that's saying something. The gyro controls just feel extremely imprecise, and just trying to turn yourself around and position yourself correctly feels way harder than it should be, on top of just being unintuitive.
But what really kills the experience for me, more than anything, is easily the level design. Windy Hill is admittedly pretty solid overall, and the game does have some decent moments later on, but for the most part it just feels like every issue I had with the Wii U’s stages is increased tenfold here - feeling extremely blocky and gimmicky, and whereas I could at least tolerate most of the Wii U game’s gimmicks… here it actively feels like they get in the way and slow the game down. The worst of it being easily Frozen Factory Zone 3, which is littered with unfun, repetitive snowball puzzles and ended up taking me like half an hour or so on my first run (also there was one moment where towards the end of the stage - the snowball that’s supposed to follow you so that you can position it and use it for puzzles literally just stopped moving for no reason)
Even with these gimmicks aside, there’s also the other problem where it feels like some of these levels drag on for longer than necessary without really offering anything that makes the levels feel not empty. Plus in true Dimps' fashion the level design is full of bottomless pits which isn't exactly helping things at all.
And yes, I am aware there are ways to beat most of the game’s stages in just a few minutes (including Frozen Factory 3) especially using various skips and exploits, but again, even then I’m just left with stages that just leave me feeling ‘whatever’ without any desire to return to them. Also I’m sorry but it doesn’t exactly reflect well on the level design if most of the fun I can have with it is literally skipping past everything.
The 2D stages especially just feel extremely dull in this regard - just feeling blocky and uninspired on top of the design just not complimenting the game's control and movement well at all. Also, I gotta ask, who decided to have the camera zoomed extremely close on Sonic in these stages?
I do want to make it clear if you enjoy this game, more than the Wii U version - more power to you, and I respect that you see something about it that I’m just… really not. But no matter how much I try, even as someone who does enjoy the Wii U game from time to time, I can not for the life of me find much to enjoy about this.