I originally played this game in 2014-2015 and it kind of blows my mind that more time has passed between my first playthrough and my second than the time between the game's release circa 2010-2011 and my first playthrough. It's a fun love letter to older games, particularly 2D Zeldas. I think the game is mostly carried by the novelty of creating your own character and having a ridiculously large sword, but the underlying game is still solid. I think it would have been better with more quality of life features though like being able to scroll and zoom in on a map, a compass to show item locations, a checklist and tracker for items and quests, the ability to drop pins and markers, and less tedious level design. The amount of time sensitive events is ridiculous too. It's way too easy to miss things especially in a blind playthrough. I actually ended up getting the bad ending during my first playthrough because of this. Overall, it's probably my favorite 2D Zelda that isn't actually Zelda, although it's not like I've played very many of those.

This is probably my favorite Arkham game. It looks a lot better and runs really smoothly on PC for the most part. Combat feels even more streamlined. Wasn't super into the story, but it's neat seeing so many characters from the Batman universe in one game. The heavy emphasis on the Batmobile takes some getting used to, but it's fun once you do. My biggest complaint is probably the collectibles. The Riddler challenges are super tedious because of the sheer volume, the minimal reward, and the fact that you are locked out until you make story progress or get a certain item. I'm glad I didn't pay for the DLC because they don't really add a new experience gameplay-wise and their plots are too short to really get engrossed in them.

The first 2D Sonic game I beat (I used save states). I played this on the "Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection" on PS3 just in case it isn't a faithful experience to the original.

It seems like the kind of game I would've probably loved as a kid when new games were few and far between, so I played the same game for months. I played for a casual game to beat, rather than a game where I really wanted to learn the levels to find optimal routes, so that probably lessened my experience a bit. The big levels are cool conceptually because you can explore and have different experiences each time you play, but I prefer more linear levels. Sonic did not feel good to control, he felt slow and clunky. He's surprisingly very vulnerable because he only has hit boxes when he jumps, so that means when he's running, falling, or jumping on a spring he's vulnerable. I wasn't a fan of the enemy designs, I don't think they did a good job at illustrating if and where you are able to damage them. I struggled going through what seemed like scripted sequences like running through loops and jumping off of slides. There were times where I ran faster while I wasn't touching the controller, which was odd to me. Collecting the Chaos Emeralds felt like a slap in the face. The bonus levels are so hard, I still don't understand how the rotating works. In the end, your reward for collecting all of the emeralds is an ending that is extremely similar to the normal ending. For a character that is known for his speed, Sonic doesn't have a lot of options to build up speed in this game.

Even though I didn't like the game, I'm still glad I finished it. I am still looking forward to the later games because I think they will at least address some of the issues I had with this one.

Edit: I forgot to mention that there were odd performance issues where the game was chugging at points. And I usually don't mind underwater levels, but they're atrocious in this game. I think it's because you can't stay underwater indefinitely like you can in Mario. It didn't help that the big air bubbles seem to spawn at random intervals even while you're waiting at their spawn points. Also, these levels were not very memorable. I literally thought I must have failed at one point because the level I was playing was so similar to the level I had just beaten.

Edit 2: The invincibility frames are way too short. Way too easy to get hit with a 1-2 and lose. This issue is even worse when you consider how hard it is to recover your rings.

I played the Steam version of this.

I love the animations and the music. This game has my favorite music in the classic games that I've played so far. This game is also the easiest to pick up and play casually. You can speed through levels pretty quickly and easily even on a first playthrough. Although there was one level that was the exception to that. I think the Steam version adds Tails as a playable character and he's way better than he was in Sonic 2. He actually gets to fly, so he isn't just a worse version of Sonic. It's a shame that they didn't include multiplayer though. Another neat feature is the time travel mechanic. There are basically 3 different levels of each act that adds replay value for those that like to see everything a game has to offer.

Now for the things I didn't like. The art is pretty bland. It makes a strong first impression with the vibrant colors in the first level, but as you progress through the game, the colors become a lot more muted and dull. I also don't think the theme of each zone was very diverse. In Sonic 2, each zone was distinct in aesthetics and mechanics. Sonic CD falls flat in that area. Another thing I did not enjoy was the special stages. In classic Sonic tradition, they're hard. Sonic 2's and Sonic CD's special stages in particular felt more like they were made to be technically impressive rather than being fun to play. Another thing I didn't like was that it feels like this game really encourages playing through each act in each time period to really get the full experience. With the labyrinthian level design, this feels pretty tedious. Again, I like linear levels more than open-ended ones. My last complain is a spoiler. Amy Rose and Metal Sonic appear so infrequently in this game. I think they appear twice total. Maybe I did something wrong and there are more opportunities to engage with both of them, but I was expecting the debut of two classic characters to have more of an impact.

Overall, I think Sonic CD is the easiest classic game to just jump in and play. Not sure how much of that has to do with the version of the game I played though. Next up is Sonic 3 (no Knuckles).

More fun than I thought it'd be, but it doesn't really explain itself well. There's a lot of loading and I think it'd be nice if there a few more QoL improvements like better explanations, the ability to access the shop and use items whenever, being able to cancel a race if you entered on accident, and more on-screen elements to convey info during a race. It definitely feels like a 3DS game ported to the Switch with its UI too. I don't regret spending money on it, but I felt like I saw the bulk of what the game has to offer within 10 minutes.