The 3DS version of Sonic: Lost World runs off in a different direction than its divisive Wii U counterpart, and provided me with enough momentum to fluidly speed through seven worlds in a roughly eight-hour platforming campaign. The better levels felt like competently made race tracks full of alternate pathways and occasional secrets to discover. But unfortunately not all levels in this platformer are created equal.

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In taking some risks with level design, Sonic: Lost World stumbles into some bad ideas. Naturally, there's tinge of Super Mario Galaxy influence injected into each level, but most of it misses the point. Galaxy largely gives us freedom to explore and platform through carefully constructed levels at our own pace; by comparison, the idea of firing a hedgehog out of a slingshot as he tries to navigate fragmented terrain at high speeds feels misguided. To Lost World's credit, a few stages manage to achieve this tall order, but the majority fail to capture that Mario magic.

Even with these stumbles, the sense of speed is amply conveyed through colorful stylized graphics that look impressive on small screens. Early levels feel fun and easygoing, maintaining a catchy gameplay rhythm that fits with the fast-paced orchestral music. I was constantly rewarded with extra lives and blazing speed. And, thankfully, the developers do well to carve out early areas where I could test out Sonic’s new abilities.

As a whole, these new additions gave me a greater sense of handling over Sonic compared to his previous 3D games, and they made steering the blue hedgehog much easier. Smart use of the R-button (as the means to switch speeds) made it easy to keep forward momentum going. Loading

When all the wheels lined up properly, I felt completely capable of any last-second maneuvers needed to avoid oncoming bumps. And Sonic's new parkour ability turned most obstructions into minor hurdles that can be bounded up and over with relative ease. I couldn't run up onto every surface in Lost World, which doesn’t make a lot of sense, but the 90% of those that I could felt great. With so many positive changes, I can't fathom how intrusive motion-controlled segments found their way into this game.

At one point Sonic gleefully rides a rocket, but the only way to steer him out of harm’s way requires awkwardly tilting and turning your Nintendo handheld. Worse, some power-ups are tied to movement, and thus feel unnecessarily cumbersome – especially the one that automatically propelled Sonic forward and right off a platform because I couldn't control it.

Motion controls are a major part of gameplay in the special stages, too, and the awkward way I often I had to turn my body in place in order to aim the flying hedgehog at floating bubbles means they aren’t fit for play in public spaces. In fact, half of the time I wished these unlockable areas would’ve just stayed secret.

Stages in Sonic: Lost World come in one of three varieties, and the constant change of pace is welcome. Classic 2D stages mimic the old school Sega Genesis games. 3D stages, where you race to the finish on a multi-tiered path, felt a lot like race tracks. Both worked well and overcame tenuous camera issues with a helpful perspective.

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But while the other two manage to work within the boundaries of a portable screen, the poorly framed third-person camera makes navigating slower-paced 3D stages incredibly frustrating. Sometimes, no matter how often I tried, I couldn’t see the right path or platform because of the closely cropped viewing angle. Only after some trial and error and occasional tooltip hints would a solution eventually present itself.