"I could turn Hau's character model around so he doesn't look mentally challenged, but eh.... I kinda wanna go to Lunch." ~ Game Freak, probably.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCA-pCDSJbk
I think at this point you've figured out that Sonic's levels mostly consist of using the Sky Gem to fly around the level, like it's a goddamn FPS, where Sonic himself is the bullet.
The only things to note here is that all three difficulties can be S Ranked with time and ring bonus alone. Fighting enemies is mostly unnecessary. The developers thought they were real smart using an invisible wall to prevent you from skipping Silver, but the Sky Gem answers to no man, not even the very men that created it.
Basically, go fast, don't get hit, finish with a good ring bonus, easy S Rank. Pretty simple compared to Silver's galaxy brained, physics abuse.
Normal: 0:00
Hard: 5:33
Very Hard: 11:08
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79tz7kCwnyI
Sonic the Hedgehog on the Game Gear is one of the only Game Gear Sonic games I've actually played all the way through, so I thought I'd decided to do a playthrough enjoy.
Today we take on Jungle Zone, this also starts off a long line of random deaths in this playthrough.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKMEVPdekJM