Ok, I love this game. For reference, I have no nostalgia for this game as my first Sonic game was Unleashed on the PS2, but on my quest to play all these Sonic games, I knew I was bound to cross this one off eventually. I had only heard negative things going in, mostly about graphics and glitches, but despite both of these issues showing themselves in my time with this game, the positives outshine those negatives immensely! Each character plays so different that I didn't mind seeing different plot points over again a few times just to see each of their perspectives, and the whole concept of having different characters with subplots really turns this game from "Sonic saves the world" to "These animals are fighting to stop the flood" (Call that Noah's Ark)

I loved this game growing up because it was the first pokemon game I ever beat of my own merit. No action Replay, no hacked mons, just my team and I. While I loved this game for many reasons growing up, I noticed a lot of cracks in the presentation upon my recent replay. The dialogue leaves a lot to be desired, and the Team Flare storyline ended so suddenly that I kind of assumed it wasn't over until an NPC told me that I "saved the region". Either way, I enjoyed the experience, just not as much as I did with Pokemon Violet (As blasphemous as that sounds). But I will always love the memories I have of this game growing up and getting to beat the champion one day and lose to my IRL childhood best friend the next!