I first played this when I was 16... and it was my first real sonic game. As a complacent enjoyer of b movies, it's entirely on brand that I love this cheesy "b movie" of a game. It doesn't exactly stand up to what Mario and other franchises were doing at the time, but regardless it boasts a fun (at times, very broken) and unique gameplay structure, introduces iconic characters, and has one of the best video game soundtracks ever. There's tons to do in this game after beating the main stories, too.

Nothing deserves a full-fledged remake quite like SA1 & 2 do.