Blue Spheres was always annoying to me as a kid, I still really struggle with it on replays as an adult. Maybe I should learn to love it more.
All of the Special Stages in 2D sonic games suck so hard. Even Sonic Mania’s aren’t great, though approaching okay.
Lies. Slander. Sonic 2’s halfpipe ring collectathons were pretty cool. Sonic 3’s bonus stages were varied and interesting for what they are (a gimmick to get some more rings or an extra life). Sonic Spinball’s rigged mini-pinball tables were dope as hell. It is pretty much just Blue Sphere which is a steaming turd, and I guess 3D Blast’s ring collectathons which were derivative and worse than Sonic 2’s in every way.
The half-pipe is almost playable in Sonic Origins where they made it slower but smoother and lowered the ring requirements, but it’s still not good. And also another thing is that the requirements to get to the Special Stages (not the bonus stages) and the limited number of attempts really ruins whatever appeal they have as a side thing to do.
Also, other than the Mania’s pinball Bonus Stage, none of them have any mechanics that mesh with the regular gameplay. At least the pinball shares some mechanics with Sonic rolling in ball form.
I found a YouTube link in your post. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
