Gamespot, are you crazy? This game does NOT deserve a worse score then Sonic Next Gen.
This game doesn't suck, it's not perfect, but it doesn't suck and as a critic myself, I need to explain people why they should ignore the Gamespot score here.
STORY:
It's not a perfect story, but then again no Sonic game has really had one. But there's been worse, the story here is at least passible to entertain and give you a feeling of a few things. But for the most part it's a pretty standard video game story so it's not the important thing here. The idea of Sonic being a werehog is just akward, but does it ruin the game? Nope. I also want to note that this is the second time ever that Super Sonic has been shown in the opening of a Sonic game which we haven't seen since Sonic 3 & Knuckles.
GAMEPLAY:
Here's where we get to the important stuff. For one thing, the level design is bad, there are times there are a few flaws, but they are manageable so it's not worth being a whiner about I think. They get easier to over come as you play the level over again which is the point like in the old days, level memorization so you can speed right through. And the controls are fine, the levels are designed for them so they can work. You can't expect to be an expert in a game right away. The Werehog stages, now these are not the best type of combat stages in the world I believe, but play the Wii version then this and you will know how much better the beat em up gameplay is in this game. I like it and I think it was more well refined in this version then the Wii version. Also another thing, the hedgehog and werehog are more well balanced in this. Of course there is a chance you will fall of a pit sometimes, but in this game, this time for the most part it's because of your own trial and error, where as is Sonic Next Gen it was just error of the game. One thing I got to ask to the fans is why hate the Tails shooting? It's a speed test game of focusing, something the Sonic series is supposed to be about, it's not a bad thing. Games are supposed to be challenging and hard, I hate the ones that are too easy and boring.
GRAPHICS:
The Hedgehog Engine does well, showing lighting and stuff coming in at fast speeds, I hope to see that in later games. But the lighting is a major important thing. There are times it can get in the way visually, but it's a thing that is also adaptable once you get used to it. And best of all, the characters are cartoony as they should be in comparison to the realistic look in Sonic Next Gen which sickens me greatly. Sega is finally putting how Sonic should be on track it seems.
MUSIC:
FINALLY, Sonic has good music again, after Sonic Next Gen (which despite my passionate hate for, I can admit it has awesome music) all Sonic games had bad music (save for Sonic Rush Adventure) but Sega got that fixed and put the good music back into the series.
VOCAL PERFORMANCES:
I got good and bad points I need to make on this. Personally near all Sonic games (since they gained voice acting) have had bad voice acting, with one cast picked purely by Sega to the current one picked by both Sega and 4Kids. Here's the positives. I have to say that the voice of Sonic, Jason Griffith actually did a pretty good job in this game. It's the first time he sounded realistic where in past games the performances from him were fake sounding. While I am not a fan of the vocal tone he has for the character (which I am not sure he can help or not, but episode 1 of Sonic X shows MAYBE he can) his acting alone was great and he found a way to make his own voice for the character work in it's own way most of the time in the cutscenes and I think he was also pretty good as the werehog, though I also at those points, there was a decline in performance abilities and just increase in tone abilities so it's a mixed bag, but none the less, Jason was actually the best actor in the game I feel, so I applaud him for the first time ever in a Sonic game. The other main voices were good too, Mike Pollock as Eggman, Lisa Ortiz as Amy, Amy Palant as Tails, Dan Green as Prof. Pickle. All pretty enjoyable, but there was one english voice that never should have been, the English voice of Chip. What were Sega and 4Kids thinking when they hired the actor for the role? They should have hired Kerry Williams as she has an awesome voice for those kinds of characters. If not Kerry then Lisa Ortiz with her Tony Tony Chopper voice from the 4Kids version of One Piece, after all, Lisa voices in the game as Amy. All the extras in the game sounded horrible so they are not worth mentioning. It bothers me actually, Sega has a wide selection of actors who work at 4Kids Entertainment and instead they just seem to be cheap by using the same actors over and over again. Though if English bothers you, you can always switch to the Japanese voices though in a personal opinion, I think Eggman sounds better in English then he does Japanese so with Japanese, that's my gripe there I guess.
OVERALL:
This game is not getting the praise it deserves, and Gamespot has shamed the Sonic community by being bias about it as I see it, infact it's the most biasedly hateful review I have ever seen from them. I was hoping for a decent or good review from them but instead we get this bias hateful one on a game that doesn't deserve it. I've been known for being harsh on Sonic games I hated, but I don't hate this one, I like it and I want others to like it as well. Give it a try, it may surprise you.