A very unique take on Sonic that I think fixes a huge problem the 2D series faces. And that's level design. Many people say the levels in this game are all very samey and lame, and they're right. What chaotix does, is shift player expression and depth off of the level design, and onto the character mechanics themselves.
The tether mechanic has such a high skill ceiling, we'll likely never see it be mastered. By making the gameplay ENTIRELY revolve around this mechanic that's all about getting better at using your momentum to your advantage, this game manages to nail the entire point of Sonic with basically no further steps required. They did it, it doesn't matter that the levels themselves don't offer much at all as far as platforming or obstacles, the act of playing your characters and experimenting with different combinations is enough depth on its own. Would I have liked to see more variety, and get a bit more out of the levels themselves at points? Of course. Weirdly enough some of the training levels have unique mechanics not seen in the main game. But I just think this game is very misunderstood.
Using a strong character like Vector and throwing someone small and fast like Mighty, done right literally lets you fly through the air. Mighty flies ahead, dragging vector with him. If you tighten the tether and release in the right way, vector will launch in front of mighty, using his heavy bod to really drag mighty behind. This is the whole game, trying to endlessly build speed by shifting momentum between the two characters seamlessly. And the levels are all very vertical oriented, you start at the bottom, goal at the top, so it really encourages a lot of the really satisfying flight you're able to accomplish even with characters who can't naturally fly. I also like that rings have a use to instantly call your partner to your side if you get them stuck and don't want to break your momentum to go back for them. And a small wrinkle for the speedrun is that if you finish a level with negative rings it basically doesn't tally up any score at the end of the level.
The special stages are also a lot of fun, glad they went back to the bonus rings being at the end of the level if you've brought 50 rings. Extra cool is any bonus rings you bring into the special stages count for extra time in them. They're fully 3D obstacle courses that increase in complexity well.
Despite my very positive feelings for sonic 1 and 2, I think sonic actually inherently works better in 3D. Making good level design around such a fast character is hard when you can't actually design any interesting obstacles while he's going fast or else it could be unfair. Slowing him down can lead to very uninspired platforming that doesn't really take advantage of Sonic's unique properties if the reason you're slowing him down isn't to play with momentum or speed in a different way. In 3D you can see everything coming so it's just a lot easier from a level design standpoint. Excellent 2D Sonic gameplay CAN be done of course, they've done it multiple times already this early into the series, and it definitely isn't the last but it's very easy to land in a this is just lame, nothing's happening or a This is actively unfair type of category with 2D Sonic. All this to say, the tether mechanic focuses the entire appeal into what's on screen that you're actively interacting with 100% of the time. Your enjoyment of the game is no longer tied to the level, your speed isn't just what the level allows you to reach anymore. You're not mastering and memorizing the levels, you're mastering the crazy tricks you're able to pull with this game's mechanics.
All wrapped up in a beautiful game powered by the 32X with an excellent soundtrack! The only thing I have to complain about is that the bosses don't really leave much of an impression and can be kinda sloppy I guess? And yeah some more level themes would have been nice instead of having 5 acts per zone. But, this game does more to play with the concept of momentum (the entire thing Sonic was built on) than a majority of the series even pretends to attempt to do, and I think that's really neat.
The tether mechanic has such a high skill ceiling, we'll likely never see it be mastered. By making the gameplay ENTIRELY revolve around this mechanic that's all about getting better at using your momentum to your advantage, this game manages to nail the entire point of Sonic with basically no further steps required. They did it, it doesn't matter that the levels themselves don't offer much at all as far as platforming or obstacles, the act of playing your characters and experimenting with different combinations is enough depth on its own. Would I have liked to see more variety, and get a bit more out of the levels themselves at points? Of course. Weirdly enough some of the training levels have unique mechanics not seen in the main game. But I just think this game is very misunderstood.
Using a strong character like Vector and throwing someone small and fast like Mighty, done right literally lets you fly through the air. Mighty flies ahead, dragging vector with him. If you tighten the tether and release in the right way, vector will launch in front of mighty, using his heavy bod to really drag mighty behind. This is the whole game, trying to endlessly build speed by shifting momentum between the two characters seamlessly. And the levels are all very vertical oriented, you start at the bottom, goal at the top, so it really encourages a lot of the really satisfying flight you're able to accomplish even with characters who can't naturally fly. I also like that rings have a use to instantly call your partner to your side if you get them stuck and don't want to break your momentum to go back for them. And a small wrinkle for the speedrun is that if you finish a level with negative rings it basically doesn't tally up any score at the end of the level.
The special stages are also a lot of fun, glad they went back to the bonus rings being at the end of the level if you've brought 50 rings. Extra cool is any bonus rings you bring into the special stages count for extra time in them. They're fully 3D obstacle courses that increase in complexity well.
Despite my very positive feelings for sonic 1 and 2, I think sonic actually inherently works better in 3D. Making good level design around such a fast character is hard when you can't actually design any interesting obstacles while he's going fast or else it could be unfair. Slowing him down can lead to very uninspired platforming that doesn't really take advantage of Sonic's unique properties if the reason you're slowing him down isn't to play with momentum or speed in a different way. In 3D you can see everything coming so it's just a lot easier from a level design standpoint. Excellent 2D Sonic gameplay CAN be done of course, they've done it multiple times already this early into the series, and it definitely isn't the last but it's very easy to land in a this is just lame, nothing's happening or a This is actively unfair type of category with 2D Sonic. All this to say, the tether mechanic focuses the entire appeal into what's on screen that you're actively interacting with 100% of the time. Your enjoyment of the game is no longer tied to the level, your speed isn't just what the level allows you to reach anymore. You're not mastering and memorizing the levels, you're mastering the crazy tricks you're able to pull with this game's mechanics.
All wrapped up in a beautiful game powered by the 32X with an excellent soundtrack! The only thing I have to complain about is that the bosses don't really leave much of an impression and can be kinda sloppy I guess? And yeah some more level themes would have been nice instead of having 5 acts per zone. But, this game does more to play with the concept of momentum (the entire thing Sonic was built on) than a majority of the series even pretends to attempt to do, and I think that's really neat.