In Sonic 3D, players must complete a task in every level. Gone are the days when Sonic would blaze through a level, leaving nothing behind but a blue streak. The 3-D hedgehog must beat five enemies (and there are only five enemies in each section, so Sonic's main chore is finding these little guys). A defeated enemy reverts into a little bird, called a Flicky. (Score yourself an extra five points if you remember the ultra-obscure Genesis game Flicky, where these crazy birds were born.) Sonic must carry these Flickies to the giant ring at the end of the level and see them through it. Only when the task is complete can you and Sonic move on.

I was a little disappointed here; this is a port of the Genesis version. Why this isn't a DLC version of the old PC version (which was a port of the SEGA Saturn version basically, so better music, intro and bonus stages), I'll never know.

That being said, Sonic 3D is a fine game on whatever system you get it for. I don't know why so many people rail against this, because its pretty fun. Its definitely more of an arcadey experience than a proper Sonic game, but it's a pretty damn good arcade title. Levels can go on for a tad long, and the perspective can cause some problems (whenever there's platforming, for instance), but its just fun to explore the levels and collect the flickies.

Traveller's Tales did a fantastic job with the soundtrack - this is Richard Jaques at work here, so its rather excellent. He also did the music for Sonic R, so its just wonderfully melodic in that 90's synth kinda way. So I personally don't see how you could mind the levels' length; you get to listen to the music for longer, so that's great.

It's pretty, fun and sounds great. It even provides a decent challenge. But it IS very much an experimental/side story type of Sonic game. Don't judge it against what its not, and enjoy it for what it is. Totally worth it for a measly 5 bucks.