>>39970
>more alive than any hubworld outisde of Unleashed.
Disagree. There isn't actually much to do. There are missions, which is good in theory, but the load times make them unbearable, and so few of the missions are actually fun in any way. Maybe if they had more dev time they'd have been better, but they didn't. The NPCs also don't have their own storylines like they do in Sonic Adventure. Some of them are certainly memorable, like Sonicman or Pele The Beloved Dog, but in the end I don't end up caring as much about them as I do about the Burger Shop couple or that dude outside Twinkle Park that is cheating on two bitches. Those characters have stories that you actually watch progress through a non-linear narrative. Also, Sonic Adventure does a better job at using NPC dialogue to justify gameplay elements, like the train workers expressing dissatisfaction before eventually going on strike (and thus blocking you from the Mystic Ruins), or the gambling-addicted mother's storyline being tied in to Twinkle Park's changing operating schedule, making it seem more like a story element rather than just a progression gate.
>>39973
>I had the same experience with Sonic R, I had only heard horrible things about it going in only for it to wind up being one of the more enjoyable 3D Sonic games.
People who actively dislike Sonic R are often just playing it wrong. They try to play it like a platformer instead of a racing game. Play it like a racing game and it's pretty good. As good as Mario Kart 64? No. As good as Crash Team Racing? Hell no. But the way that it does have light platforming elements, and more exploration than other racing games, does give it something that other games don't have. Its biggest problem is merely that it is so lacking in content. Having so few stages in a racing game is a total ripoff. But Balloon Mode does add a bit more content than you'd otherwise have.
Sonic '06 also isn't as bad as everyone says, and many of the memesters say it's bad for the wrong reasons. But ultimately the load times are ridiculous and the Town Stages are too half baked to be anything but boring, even though I love the idea of them, and I love the hub worlds in other Sonic games. Also, the Action Stages, while tolerable, suck compared to Sonic Adventure 2. I don't know if I'd say they're much worse than Heroes or Shadow, though. Maybe a bit worse, but not that much.