(My original review and 2 star rating of version 0.1 has been deleted.)
Well, I'll be damned. This has got to be one of the quickest and best comebacks I've seen from a fangame. Almost all the issues I had with V0.1 - and trust me, there were lots, have been entirely fixed with v0.2. That is absolute dedication and I applaud the devs for it to no end. With that said, let's get into the new stuff.
Aesthetics and Sound
The pretty awful mashup of Windmill Isle and Back 2 Back that played until about halfway in the stage is gone, replaced by the original Back 2 Back in all it's glory. THANK YOU! This has got to be one of the most noticeable changes, and combined with the increase in music volume across the board, makes the game feel less "empty husk which you boost through with quiet, poor music" and more "AWESOME HIGH PACED FRANTIC PLATFORMING ACTION!", which is what I wanted to see all along from this game. Furthermore, the ability to have bitcrushed music, like the DS game, is awesome and a nice touch. It would be lovely to have a bitcrush option for the sound effects too, though, which have themselves also thankfully recieved a HD upgrade to what I think is just the stock Unleashed sounds, which works very well here. The volume of the SAGE Logo on startup also seems like it's been lowered, but the main menu music still absolutely blasts you away on first boot, so watch out for that.
There's some noticeably more flashy camera angles sprinkled in, too, particularly in loops, which helps to make the entire thing feel so much more polished and high-tempo. Even little stuff, like the water around your feet during the Water Palace segment, and the fixing of the texture flickering during the final part of the level - it all adds up to giving a much higher air of quality.
As for what I'm not keen on, it's more just nitpicking than anything. I'm still not keen on Apotos as a setting in a Sonic Rush remake (I don't feel like it makes any sense, really), and the remix of Back 2 Back which plays once you pass the halfway point doesn't loop correctly and also seems really, really bassy. Like, far, far too bassy. That's it. Everything else is such a huge improvement, with maybe a few other jagged edges that can absolutely be looked past.
Controls
This is where the game really gets into its stride, though. Firstly, and I think most importantly, the trick system has been completely fixed. It now works like a sort of Generations and Rush hybrid, giving you boost for every trick you perform, and lots of boost for finishing the trick with RT or both bumpers pressed together. THANK YOU. One of my main complaints with v0.1 was how annoying it was to try and get full tension due to the punishing trick system, and the simple act of giving you boost per trick as opposed to at the end of the combo makes it so, so much better. My only complaint now is that I think the RT finisher should have the ability to damage enemies, being a sweeping kick thing and all, but that's a very minor thing. Now, boosting through levels feels far more exhilarating and fun, not having to worry about the rapidly depleting boost meter. Furthermore, the boost itself seems far, far more powerful thanks to both a louder, longer sound effect, and an afterimage of Sonic which displays when he's at full speed, which looks awesome and conveys to the player the true power of the boost, feeling so much nicer to handle.
The homing attack might just steal the show, however. For one, the airdash seemed to be far less unruly, only sending me to my death very, very rarely as opposed to previously. Most importantly, though, the homing attack locks onto things with much more reliability, and also seems to have an increased range. A truly brilliant change which just helps so much. My only real complaint here is the noticeable delay in being able to homing attack after you jump on a spring. I presume this is a bug, because it feels really, really weird and unfun.
Rail grinding also seemed to no longer fling me in a random direction for slightly holding in a direction on the analog stick, which seriously helps for playing with any controller with drift. I did encounter some significant issues with the Light Speed Dash flinging me in random directions, mainly with the trail of rings just before the loop with the cool camera angle in the Apotos section (coming out of the 2D part - which also itself felt much better to control thanks to the addition of actual proper 2D controls!), but that could just be something I alone encountered.
The new mechanic introduced this update is the Spin Dash. And, like the actual Sonic Rush...it's not really very useful. You'll be boosting too much to ever actually use it, and if you do happen to use it, you'll discover it's heavily nerfed compared to the likes of SA1 and SA2, only being able to be charged up once. I would love to see this function more like the SA1 spin dash, where you can spam the hell out of it to charge it up, but it's inclusion in the game is still nice regardless of it not being too helpful overall - making the game feel more authentic to the game it's based on. I still have issues with the slide being too unforgiving, though, and the lack of any way to crawl whatsoever only really made things worse.
Level Design, Bugs, Polish and Glitches
Huge improvements here across the board. For one, the removal of the softlock in the 2D water palace section was seriously needed, and I'm glad that there's now death planes there to kill you when you fall down. Secondly, the wave just after that which chases you allows you to get by without any boost, which is much better - although I still had issues with Sonic turning around to face the wave if I just held forward, which felt a bit odd. Most notably, though, the final section has been entirely revamped, with the boring enemy homing attack chain to spring to random run through some small paths being replaced with Rainbow Rings, a far more reliable spring, and an absolute motherlode of flying enemies - making it feel far more fun and fair alongside the improved homing attack.
Even the little things helped to make the game feel more fair consistently. You can't stomp and kill yourself now at the start of the stage. There's far more rings, especially after checkpoints, ensuring you don't die to random one hit kills you had no chance of avoiding. And, thankfully, there's more enemies and spikes all over the place, making sections feel far less barren and "hold X to win" than before - although some of the spike placement in the first 2D area you encounter felt somewhat cheap, but avoidable nonetheless.
There's still jank present, from the homing attack bug I mentioned prior, to being flung high in the sky from the hill near the end of one of the Apotos 2D segments, to being able to run up a mountain at the start of the level and jump over the top through the non-existent collision and into a death plane (see pics 1 and 2 attached), but it's overall still a huge improvement. Collision generally seemed smoother, and you no longer fall into the void after drowning, fortunately.
Finally, the added settings menu, button tutorial tips in game, and hint of a time trials mode (which currently doesn't actually work on the main menu, as selecting it does nothing - gonna assume this is just hinting at what's coming down the line) - it all makes the game much, much nicer to experience all around. This update improves so, so much on what was an already great idea, which just originally had some poor execution. Now, I'm confident in saying this is a good, maybe even great fangame with potential to be amazing with further expansion and polish. I'm keeping a keen eye on this project, because it can definitely go places. If the devs are reading this, thank you. And sorry if I sounded a tad harsh in my prior review :D
(Attached are some other pics with issues I encountered. 1/2 pertain to the broken collision up the hill at the start, 3 is about some of the somewhat unfair level design with the spike, 4 shows a trail of rings which, if light dashed on, often sends you back the wrong way, 5 shows how you can lock onto enemies/objects through walls, 6 is meant to show a glitch I encountered where drifting into a stunt ramp will freeze you in place and not allow you to actually get launched by the ramp, and 7 shows how the hill in the 2D Apotos section can still easily fling you high above the level itself, without actually jumping.)
