What's a Sonic game that you looked at for years and thought was really cool, and then you eventually played it and didn't like it?

For me it's CD. I had Mega Collection Plus as a kid and CD wasn't on there. Found out about it later online, fell in love with the animated intro and a lot of the cool animations that weren't in the other games. Played it years later in the 2010s and didn't like the level design.

There's also Secret Rings. I didn't own a Wii, but I downloaded gameplay clips and used to watch them over and over. Thought the levels looked so cool and cinematic. Didn't even know the game runs for you, or how bad the motion controls were until I played it in 2017.

Last one is Riders Zero Gravity. I grew up on the original and LOVED it. As far as I was concerned the whole "zero gravity" thing just made the sequel so much cooler in videos. Tried to emulate it, but back then PS2/Wii emulation was new and barely playable, like LITERALLY 2fps.

Even then playing it as a fucking powerpoint presentation felt cool, moreso because emulating a PS2 in the 2000s was still a crazy concept lol. Finally played it properly in the 2010s and I HATED how they dumbed down the mechanics from the original Riders, and I never went back.