MooMew64
sometimes here, sometimes there
This is my exact take on the game: It's just really dang fun. It's easily the peak of 2D Sonic. It's 100% joining both Adventure games and Generations as a Sonic game I'll constantly return to for mods and just the game itself.Having beaten it 10+ times, I still don't have any levels that I dislike, and the special stages are really fun once you figure out the optimal ways of completing them. Plus the soundtrack is ****ing fire, based Tee Lopes.
It's just the most consistently great Sonic game IMO.