Sonic Heroes wants to be a modern take on the classic formula, but it gets bogged down by being obviously rushed. This shows mostly in the level design, which can end up getting repetitive and mechanical first and foremost over all else. These levels, more than most others in the series, simply feel like backdrops to "gameplay", if that makes sense.

Ultimately how you feel on this game will probably come down to if you find this gameplay loop engaging (which I do), and whether you're willing to tolerate some jank (which I am). Unfortunately, this only really applies to the experience of just one team. The game makes you replay it essentially three times, plus a fourth mission-based playthrough, a decision I'm really not okay with. I think this game desperately needed to trim the fat and feature only one or two teams, leaving the others to a multiplayer mode or something. A single-team experience is already repetitive, but you play the same levels in the same order four times. Needless to say, fully completing this game needs to be a slow-burn process or else you're going to burn yourself out and want to put the game down.

(I recommend the GameCube version for the best experience - bad performance on PS2, and Windows takes a while to get set up with proper mods. Xbox is fine if that's your only option)