I finished playing the last story. The game has issues, but its not as bad as the critics say it is.
-Pros: * Good story.
* Awesome level music.
* Sweet enemies and bosses.
*Some of the best level designs in a while.
*Sonic (when not in mach speed or on a snowboard), Silver, Blaze, Shadow (when not on a vehicle except the hang glider, note that I always play on foot except when nessecary) and to a lesser extent Omega are quite fun to play.
*Camera is better than previous games (especially SA2).
*Decent voice acting (except Silver, Omega, and towns folk). Special props to Mephilies for sounding like a good villian.
-Meh.
*The gameplay of Tails and Amy.
-Cons: *The snow boarding and mach speed sections are a nightmare to deal with. The former because the jumps and rails are inconsistent in terms of executing right. The later because the controls suck (especially since you can't change direction mid air).
*The camera is still bad, primarily when attempting some short cuts and during boss fights.
*The vehicles suck.
*The gameplay of Knuckles and Rouge. Rouge's gameplay sucks more than Knuckles' gameplay does because you have to go through treasure hunting hell without ANY radar.
*Load times, load times, load times.
-Overall: A mixed bag overall. Still, with X-Box Live around, there is still hope. Most of the problems with the game could be fixed with a good patch (improve Sonic's acceleration, Shadows acceleration/top speed, Silver's top speed, fix load times, give treasure hunting sections a good radar). a 6.5-7/10.