This game perfects the "gotta-go-fast" platformer better than anything SEGA has ever put out, including the original Sonic games. The physics feel much more satisfying than sonic games, but they have that "Genesis/MegaDrive" feel of momentum and speed. This game's mechanics really feel like they were meant to combat the common frustrations of 2D sonic games.

1. Sonic games use momentum so the player can run fast, but this makes platforming finicky at slow speeds. Freedom Planet gives you a meter that builds up so you can instantly run your full speed; because it is easy to get to top speed, the designers can make the platforming physics and momentum feel better.

2. Sonic games use homing attack to let the player extend their jump, but this leads to easy deaths if you miss. Freedom Planet uses a cyclone attack as your second jump, letting you float in the air for long enough to land safely.

3. Sonic games bind many functions to one button: spin dash, jump, homing attack all use one button. This leads to whiffed attacks. Freedom Planet uses three buttons: one for punches, one for jumps, one for the speed dash. Even though each one of these buttons is bound to many different punches, jumps, and dashes, this compartmentalization really helps to keep the controls intuitive and fun.

4. Sonic games use a rings system to gauge extra lives and health. This means that an unlucky series of two hits can always kill you, regardless of how many rings you have. This makes death frequent and often surprising. In a fast paced game like this, quick deaths feel cheap and unfair, making the game unfun. Freedom Planet uses a leaves system where each attack takes away about one leaf from a total of 7. This makes the game feel fair because you always have about 15-20 seconds of warning when you're about to die when your leaf count drops. It also has a gems system that carries across levels. 150-ish gems for an extra life and the 1up music is excellent.

5. Sonic games train you to go right and up all the time, making the rare exploration segment feel slow and making the main segments feel like "hold right to win" as if the game is playing itself. If you ever miss the upper path, you are almost encouraged to backtrack to get back on the upper path. Freedom Planet is all about exploring and non-linear platforming and never lets you feel too lost.

6. Sonic games always feature unfun water sections, with an unclear breath meter and slower movement. Freedom Planet keeps your movement speed fast in water, and the amount of air you have is listed in a bar.

This developer put a lot of time into fixing Sonic. They succeeded. The game has an Adventure mode and a Classic Mode. Adventure mode inserts story cutscenes between levels; even though the voice actors are a bit amateurish, the voices manage to sound endearing instead of cringe-worthy like most 3D Sonic games. "I'LL TAKE IT BY FORCE, THE HARD WAY."

Definitely worth it.