not as bad as people say. its still not good, but its far from being one of the worst sonic games, when its not even the worst one on game gear. the levels can be annoying but you dont lose all your rings on hit and you have a double jump, so its also pretty forgiving. the bosses are solid enough, and some of them are pretty good actually (though the true final boss can go suck dick). the art style does suck tho. it's also annoying how special stages will only get you an emerald on act two, but finding the special stage ring isnt too hard and the stages themselves are mostly easy but may require a redo or two. but like most sonic game gear games, theres really not much to say. they're just more 2d sonic games that aren't as good as the console games.
at least its better than 3d blast