

Whether this may be rolling around in a snowball, having to remain hidden from an owl, scale up a linear set of platforms, etc., it withdraws from the essence of Sonic's initial outings in place of something mediocre at best.

The second category, however, withdraws almost all of these aspects in place of gimmicky and linear level design that lacks the depth of the multi-route levels. Multiple routes to grind and tons of ingeniously tricky spots make these levels almost, if not as enjoyable, as the sorts of levels listed above. Grinding Levels are also welcome to this edition, as their depth has risen drastically. Sonic Lost World rekindles this fire incredibly strong in these sorts of levels. This emergence of depth in level design was shown to an extent with Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations, but has not been shown with as much depth since Sonic's initial outings.

One category places an emphasis on speed, and balances it out with plentiful of platforming and many alternate hidden paths and exits. In terms of this balance, the levels are associated with two different categories. Specifically, Sonic Lost World is a balance between levels whose philosophy in design reflects his initial outings, and levels whose philosophy in design is questionable at best. However, for its wrongdoings, one can only question why SEGA did not overlook these wrongdoings, as they become apparent so easily. For what Sonic Lost World does right, it really hits home, reflecting on the multiple archetypes Sonic's initial outings in terms of its level structure. Sonic Lost World, in a way, is almost like having a bipolar disorder at one moment, the game almost perfectly captures the essence of a good Sonic Lost World, in a way, is almost like having a bipolar disorder at one moment, the game almost perfectly captures the essence of a good Sonic game, while at others, becomes an incredibly infuriating and frustrating platformer that tries to put Sonic in situations where he does not excel in.
