Long, long ago...
I was searching for the Sonic game "Neo Sonic Universe" on the internet. The site where I found it also featured SRB2.
The first SRB2 version I ever played was - i think - Final Demo 1.01. There was a fourth (alien?!) character called "Zim" avaiable in multiplayer mode (he was removed later) and there were extremely intelligent homing rings.
These homing rings were able to fly around corners and you even didn't have to aim because they simply flew in the direction of the nearest enemy! :o
The bomb rings were funny in this version: The "explosion" was a mass of red rings, flying across the map!
Also, the multiplayer game hosting was funny: Instead of having to select the gametype, you simply selected the level. "Secret" levels were shown, too (even if not unlocked)!
The level select was like this:
...
Greenflower Zone 1 (SCR)
...
Zero Ring Zone (MTA)
...
(Yes, the third "A" at Zero Ring Zone is for "Chaos mode". :D)
My favourite level was
Block Factory Zone .
Some months later I found the official SRB2 website and downloaded the newest versions. The homing rings were nerfed a
lot (no backwards shooting / shooting around corners anymore) and the explosion-red-ring-range was dramatically reduced. Multithok was removed (i think).
Also, the maximum of rings was reduced to poor 999 (I really tried this out; I did not know any cheats and I really collected 999 rings to see that there was a new limit - and I even didn't thought it was boring! :D ).
Then, later, 1.09 was released. I
HATED it.
My favourite levels were removed, including Block Factory Zone. :o
I still love this level! It reminds me of the early days where I started playing SRB2! Really, if somebody "reanimates" Block Factory Zone, it still will be my favourite level!
So many things changed and I did not like most of those changes. I loved my good old SRB2 1.01! :D
Even later, 2.0 was released. Again, I hated some of the changes. Well,
now I am happy that these changes were made and I am happily awaiting the next SRB2 version. =P
EDIT: Maybe you do not understand why I love Block Factory Zone. To understand this, you have to know that I was playing this map 1v1. It is a great 1v1 / 1v2 / 1v1v1 map, but maybe it is bad if you play with 4 or more players.