Just now beat the game, got all the Chaos Emeralds, etc.

And in my opinion, this game is the TRUE Sonic the Hedgehog 4!

I am sure you are aware of it already, but the SoR PC remake exists, and it is one of the best games I ever played. It literally improves everything that made SoR great!

...but yeah, maybe SEGA should remember that they own the SoR IP.

OT: Very impressive for Sonic. I will actually look into getting this at a sale someday, now.

Alright.
Sonic's playthrough is done.

Tails, you're up!

I think I know what my next purchase is going to be.

So is the PS4 and Xbox 1 version still not showing any signs of sales via appearing on a best sellers page the way the Switch version is?

Don't make this about console wars. Just enjoy the game. SEGA will let us know the sales values eventually.

With an average of 91.25, kind of strange metacritic puts that much importance to Game Informer lol (they supposedly reviewed the Switch version before release date, despite Sega only sending out PS4 & Xbox One codes). 

So this is my first Sonic game and I honestly don't get the appeal. The level design is a confusing mess. Sonic is supposed to be about speed, but the level design is a big hindrance to that... Sonic moves too fast for the type of platforming they require you to do and needing to "earn speed" isn't a very good argument. You can speed-run just about any game through trial and error (that is to say by learning the level lay-out), but no other platformer markets itself around the concept of speed. The mine kart levels in the Donkey Kong Country franchise do a far better job of fast platforming than Sonic ever has. And what's with all the loops and springs? What does that add to the gameplay?

I've also had a few deaths that were no fault of my own... Like in the train level Sonic just jumped off the plane and went through the train as if it didn't exist.

And what's up with the stupid life-system? Only 3 lives to complete two long levels with two bosses? I've had to replay multiple sections numerous times because I died at a boss. The whole ring system also seems incredibly dated to me. Just give me a normal health meter and get rid of lives, they serve no purpose other than to annoy you. And the level design obviously tries to encourage exploration, so why is there a 10 minute time limit? I didn't even know there was one at first and died... If you're going to have a time limit make the clock count down instead of up at least... I hate games with time limits, it's why I gave up on Luigi's Mansion on the 3DS in one of the final levels (the one with the invisible time limit they never bothered telling you about).

Sonic seems stuck in the arcade days where lives, time limits and one hit kills made sense. It's 2017 however and arcades have long been dead (outside of Japan). Sega should take inspiration from Nintendo, they got rid of all those things in Super Mario Odyssey (the time limit annoyed me a lot as well in Super Mario 3D World). 

If this is Sonic at his best than I'm surprised he was ever able to compete with Mario. Style over substance if you ask me.

Music and graphics are top notch though, and the gameplay isn't all bad, there's fun to be had. If only it had a better life system. That Puyo Puyo boss battle was also neat. 

Sonic isn't about speed for free. You don't get to run with nothing in the way for the entire level. Maybe you've heard too much about 3D sonic. 

Sonic is about momentum and physics, any speed you can get is in sections where you're allowed to for fun or for speed runs with memorization, but generally it's about platforming with physics and momentum, not running the entire level. 

A platformer where all you do do is run fast the whole time is like fast food. Maybe tasty but lacks hugely in substance. That's why OG Sonic games still put obstacles, because it'd suck otherwise. You're rewarded with speed for memory or taking the correct path, or using momentum in the right areas/times. It's not for free, because then it'd be cheap. 

Sonic Mania blows the old games out of the water. Every boss is something unique and interesting. Every level throws something new and completely different at you. It's as if the people that made Owlboy got to make a Sonic game.

Edit: I always thought that Sonic and Knuckles just let you play as Knuckles in Sonic 3. Sonic Mania sparked my interest in the history of the series, and I learned that Sonic 3 + Sonic and Knuckles combines all the levels from BOTH games.