Well, I've downloaded the game and played through everything except the final boss, so here's my review:
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*Sonic controls much better than in Episode 1, although he accelerates a bit too rapidly. It's also a bit difficult to slow down if you're moving very fast. Precise platorming feels pretty good, though.
*The physics are about halfway between Episode 1's and the classics'. Sonic does have momentum and doesn't come to a halt immediately if you stop pressing a direction, but rolling down slopes doesn't give you enough speed and the rebound that you get from bouncing off enemies and monitors doesn't have enough force behind it. Also, for whatever reason, your rings fly farther the more you get hit per stage, which I really detest.
*Using Tails to fly isn't as overpowered as it might seem, especially since Tails tires out so quickly, and swimming with him controls well and isn't overpowered either. However, the "69-attack" is significantly more powerful than it should be. It lets you ignore spikes, fire, and enemies completely, and you almost have to try to get forced out of it. However, the facts that it can't slow down or change direction and that you can't use other combo moves while it's active mean that it gets less and less useful as the game goes on. I'll elaborate on the specifics of the game in the zone descriptions below:
Sylvania Castle is a pretty darn good starting zone, certainly an improvement over Splash Hill. Act 1 makes for a good general introduction stage and gives you some well-needed practice at flying with Tails, something you'll be doing a lot of in the other four zones. Act 2 works well as an introduction to water and swimming with Tails, and Act 3 does a good job of showing you how platforming handles in this game. The boss is about as challenging as a first boss should be, but for all the wrong reasons. Its attacks are much too easy to dodge, but you need to fly up and hit him with Tails in order to damage him, which would be fine if jumping off of Tails in mid-flight wasn't so awkward. My only real gripes with this zone are the boss and the fact that you can't use Tails' abilities until the game shows them to you. Other than that, it works pretty well as an introduction zone.
White Park just might be my favorite zone in the game. Act 1 is one of the best individual levels, with an enjoyable mix of speed, platforming, and plenty of alternate paths. I also like the digging-through-snow-with-Tails gimmick that it features. Act 2 doesn't have much in the way of platforming, but it's fun nonetheless. Some of the crushing tracks just come out of nowhere, though. Act 3 is the opposite of Act 2: unnecessarily slow, but with lots of thoughtfully laid-out platforming and interesting gimmicks. The swimming section at the end also taught me that you can accelerate horizontally with the jump button while swimming, which would have been useful information if that wasn't the last time water was used in the entire game. I have no qualms with the boss. Once again, a great zone with a wide variety of act types.
Oil Desert is fun in general, but not very interesting. Act 1 is a decent level, but lacking in intriguing gimmicks, with the exception of the blowing wind. Act 2 is stupidly short and can be made even shorter by spamming the 69-attack. Act 3 is probably the best of the group, with alternating outside speedy sections and interesting platforming challenges involving rising sand. The boss is probably the best in the game, and certainly the most unique, although it doesn't really make sense how you can jump on top of the main body and damage it when it's in the background. Overall, a decent zone, but nothing special.
Sky Fortress would be the best zone in the game if not for the god-awful Act 1, a miserable attempt at replicating the magnificence of Sky Chase. While it is somewhat fun to be controlling the Tornado again, the level in general is plagued by the two worst gimmicks that could ever be inserted into a 2D game: overabundant bottomless pits and automatic movement. There is nothing more frustrating than falling thousands of feet to your death because your homing attack refused to target that Turtloid or getting smooshed against the left side of the screen because the Tornado was auto-flying too fast for you to see that wall of destructible crates approaching. Bottomless pits and auto-running are fine in 3D games because of the enhanced movement and camera position, but in 2D games they're just NO GOOD. Sky Fortress Act 1 is proof of that.
Anyway, now that I'm done with that long rant, let's move on to the other 3/4 of the zone. Act 2 is pretty good, and the amount of bottomless pits in it is more bearable. It still has a few of those automatic movement sections, but the punishment for screwing them up isn't instant death, which I was thankful for. Act 3 is probably my favorite single level in the game, with a phenomenal blend of speed, platforming, exploration, interesting gimmicks, and creative uses of Tails' abilities. Sky Fortress' boss is certainly unique, and the auto-movement section at the end is a lot less maddening than the ones in Act 1. In conclusion, the airship itself is the best environment in the game IMO, but Act 1 drags the zone as a whole way, way down.
Death Egg mk.II was an okay final level, but a lot of its potential was wasted. It would have been great if the first Metal Sonic boss was removed from Act 1 and replaced with more interesting and creative uses of the upside-down, sideways, and diagonal gravity gimmicks. The race with Metal at the end was a welcome addition to the zone, but it is kind of annoying how the only way to beat him (as far as I know) is by spamming the 69-attack. I haven't beaten the final boss yet, as mentioned above, but it is creative and fun to battle, judging by what I've experienced of it so far.
*All of the zones are excellent aesthetically, with expansive backgrounds and realistically detailed foregrounds. I especially like the sunset effects seen in Sky Fortress's third act and boss, as well as the general look and feel of Sylvania Castle Act 3. Sonic and Tails themselves look great as well, especially Sonic, who looks much less like he's made of plastic than in Episode 1.
*The badniks, both old and new, are well-designed and interesting to battle, although their placement is sometimes a bit cheap.
*Finally, the special stages are well-done in general, although Sonic's jump in them feels a bit off. I'm not really sure why. I can't discuss the stages' difficulty, though, since I only bothered to get 50 rings in one act, and therefore have only played and beaten one stage. Special Stage 1 is easy as always, so no issues there so far.
In conclusion, Sonic 4: Episode 2 is a solid Sonic game and a singificant improvement over Episode 1 in almost every way. However, the physics and general gameplay don't really capture the feel of the classics, which is fine with me. In my opinion, Sonic games don't have to follow the classic formula to be good, and that relates to why I see Episode 2 as rather unusual. It tries and fails to be what the Genesis games were, but its blunders in that department shape it into a unique and generally worth-the-15-dollars-or-however-much-it-is-in-your-country experience. The hit-and-miss bosses, sometimes-cheap hazard placement, Oil Desert, and F***ING SKY FORTRESS ACT 1 prevent it from being a fantastic game, but it's still better than a lot of the 3D games and, in my opinion, well worth your money.
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So, what do other people have to say about the second installment in the Sonic 4 saga?