As usual I'm just going to be spitballing, but I should make it clear that any game I have under 2 stars is just straight up bad to me. Even with it getting 2 it is just BARELY getting past that point, as to me Shadow is the lowest point this franchise went in every way except polish, because for some reason of all games in the series that one has the least amount of bugs (in terms of 3D games). Outside of that though its just impossible to cook up a tangible reason I would have Shadow over 06 instead of the contrary, but I guess I should actually talk about the game in question, huh?
The story of 06 is something that I'm... admittedly fond of. I say that but Sonic's story is just shit from beginning to end for me, even if his gameplay is the third least bad in the cast. Shadow and Silver's campaigns were pretty fun to sink my teeth into though, and the game somehow delivered my favorite iteration of Shadow in the games thus far. Most of the credit for that goes to Omega and Mephiles though, of whom hard carry whenever they're on screen and it just feels like a waste of time when they aren't. Pacing is definitely the worst problem the story has to offer, and this is most apparent with Sonic/ Silver, who often have downright incomprehensible Point A to Point B transitions, that aren't helped by the (admittedly cool) time travel gimmick in this game. The less I speak of it the better, but the time traveling in this game is possibly the most convoluted shit in any game I've played, and I love it to death. I'd even venture to say this is one of the best 3D Sonic stories in the franchise... but that's not saying much since the best two I can think of are uh, idk probably Unleashed of Frontiers. Black Knight was pretty good if I remember correctly, but story focused Sonic games have rarely worked up to this point, and even past it.
The gameplay speaks for itself: worse Adventure formula with about the same level of automation as SA2 (but not as bad as Shadow because that's impossible until Sonic 4). Its a shame too because I find myself having fun with Shadow, Blaze, and for the most part Sonic for the most part. Even Shadow's stupid vehicle gimmicks are fun despite how broken every section is. It never felt like I was working against the game's with the vehicles outside of White Acropolis. Tails and Omega are fine as well, and the treasure hunting duo are more jank versions of their past selves, but harmless aside from the occasional clipping to a wall. Silver just seems like an afterthought, mainly due to his speed because Jesus Christ why is he that SLOW? I like his psychokinesis too, but what was stopping them from just upping his speed sliders even a little? Amy sucks so I'm gonna ignore her, making for an unremarkable cast, only worse off with the level designs that just aren't built for them. It sucks too because the stages themselves are pretty good, and varied for the most part, which is good to see, its just that half of them don't play well, dependent on which character is being used for that section. For example Sonic is just unplayable in Wave Ocean, like seriously who thought that would work for him as a first stage? But Blaze on the other hand is perfect, kinda like she was the basis for Sonic's movement and arsenal and they just scrapped it midway through and gave it to her instead. Shes less slippery, and easily has the best air control in the entire cast, which is like, required for a platformer. Last but not least are the mach speed sections, and while these are cool in concept, they are waaaay too punishing for how unresponsive the controls are, which lead to the most undeserving deaths in any game I've ever played.
But despite all of that, despite the gimmicks, the automation, that damn ball puzzle, I still can't consider this the worst game in the series. Too many good concepts and enjoyable story beats with Shadow in particular for me to say it is deserving of that judgement. And besides I'd rather the story end with a complete reset here, as the character moments aren't meant to recontextualize the cast in any way, just make their personalities shine more, something I cannot say for Shadow (or most of the series honestly lol). So yeah, this game sucks. But despite that I cannot say my time was wasted. This is a game I can point and laugh at any given moment, and I never found myself bored, more angry or relieved when I got something time consuming done. With Shadow, it all felt hollow, like I was just wasting time because the game said so, aimlessly going stage to stage for an eventual boss encounter that was no different than the last 4 times I played it before. The difference here is that I can explain what went wrong, and that there IS worth in a lot of the problems at hand here, problems and mechanics that would be fully realized and released to the public a decade later with P-06. With Shadow, as much as I can laugh at that story, there isn't anything else I enjoyed or even thought worth salvaging, it truly was doomed from the jump.
What I'm trying to say is that its not THAT bad, but at the same time, it really is THAT bad, y'know?
The story of 06 is something that I'm... admittedly fond of. I say that but Sonic's story is just shit from beginning to end for me, even if his gameplay is the third least bad in the cast. Shadow and Silver's campaigns were pretty fun to sink my teeth into though, and the game somehow delivered my favorite iteration of Shadow in the games thus far. Most of the credit for that goes to Omega and Mephiles though, of whom hard carry whenever they're on screen and it just feels like a waste of time when they aren't. Pacing is definitely the worst problem the story has to offer, and this is most apparent with Sonic/ Silver, who often have downright incomprehensible Point A to Point B transitions, that aren't helped by the (admittedly cool) time travel gimmick in this game. The less I speak of it the better, but the time traveling in this game is possibly the most convoluted shit in any game I've played, and I love it to death. I'd even venture to say this is one of the best 3D Sonic stories in the franchise... but that's not saying much since the best two I can think of are uh, idk probably Unleashed of Frontiers. Black Knight was pretty good if I remember correctly, but story focused Sonic games have rarely worked up to this point, and even past it.
The gameplay speaks for itself: worse Adventure formula with about the same level of automation as SA2 (but not as bad as Shadow because that's impossible until Sonic 4). Its a shame too because I find myself having fun with Shadow, Blaze, and for the most part Sonic for the most part. Even Shadow's stupid vehicle gimmicks are fun despite how broken every section is. It never felt like I was working against the game's with the vehicles outside of White Acropolis. Tails and Omega are fine as well, and the treasure hunting duo are more jank versions of their past selves, but harmless aside from the occasional clipping to a wall. Silver just seems like an afterthought, mainly due to his speed because Jesus Christ why is he that SLOW? I like his psychokinesis too, but what was stopping them from just upping his speed sliders even a little? Amy sucks so I'm gonna ignore her, making for an unremarkable cast, only worse off with the level designs that just aren't built for them. It sucks too because the stages themselves are pretty good, and varied for the most part, which is good to see, its just that half of them don't play well, dependent on which character is being used for that section. For example Sonic is just unplayable in Wave Ocean, like seriously who thought that would work for him as a first stage? But Blaze on the other hand is perfect, kinda like she was the basis for Sonic's movement and arsenal and they just scrapped it midway through and gave it to her instead. Shes less slippery, and easily has the best air control in the entire cast, which is like, required for a platformer. Last but not least are the mach speed sections, and while these are cool in concept, they are waaaay too punishing for how unresponsive the controls are, which lead to the most undeserving deaths in any game I've ever played.
But despite all of that, despite the gimmicks, the automation, that damn ball puzzle, I still can't consider this the worst game in the series. Too many good concepts and enjoyable story beats with Shadow in particular for me to say it is deserving of that judgement. And besides I'd rather the story end with a complete reset here, as the character moments aren't meant to recontextualize the cast in any way, just make their personalities shine more, something I cannot say for Shadow (or most of the series honestly lol). So yeah, this game sucks. But despite that I cannot say my time was wasted. This is a game I can point and laugh at any given moment, and I never found myself bored, more angry or relieved when I got something time consuming done. With Shadow, it all felt hollow, like I was just wasting time because the game said so, aimlessly going stage to stage for an eventual boss encounter that was no different than the last 4 times I played it before. The difference here is that I can explain what went wrong, and that there IS worth in a lot of the problems at hand here, problems and mechanics that would be fully realized and released to the public a decade later with P-06. With Shadow, as much as I can laugh at that story, there isn't anything else I enjoyed or even thought worth salvaging, it truly was doomed from the jump.
What I'm trying to say is that its not THAT bad, but at the same time, it really is THAT bad, y'know?