Predictably, many of the reviews are rating the game lower because of the Werehog, but considering they've actually only lowered the score to an above average/good level despite being so dead-set against the werehog actually comes as quite a bit of surprise. IGN in particular said that the Werehog wasn't bad, it just broke up the speed formula much more than they liked, which was pretty much what the melodramatic article I commented on above had to say.
Here's the huge thing though, Sonic fans are split down the middle several times, and the most recent is the split between arcade style on-rails pseudo-race gameplay, and free-roaming traditional platforming gameplay. The Werehog makes up for the latter, and so far, two reviews have admitted that it is not that bad despite how much they hate the idea.
However, I'm not quite sure I like the fact that they had less obstacles than Secret Rings. I'm sure there are other ways to cause an awful lot of speed replayability, but being able to get better at Secret Rings until you actually could blaze through a level without bumping into anything was really fun. As long as that isn't dumbed down too much, I'll be pleased.