as a sequel to this post about spark 1 i would like to try to sell you on spark the electric jester 2 now!!
so what you can immediately tell from the trailer is that this game really wants to be sonic adventure 2. the kirby elements from the first game are much more subdued and we've switched to a 3D, blazing fast, butt rocking, homing attacking, boss fighting, edgy-as-hell e10 extravaganza.
what might be less immediately clear is that, once again, this is actually 50% a dragon ball z game, tonally. to kind of a ridiculous degree! frieza freon is back! there are these little animation touches in the cutscenes that make you feel like you're playing an amv! any time two characters meet they have to fight to the death for no reason! it's so trashy and so, so delicious.
gameplay-wise, a couple things set it apart from the sonic adventure 2 style. for one, it's sonic stages only, so to speak. the later game level design skews a lot more racing game than sa2 ever is, to the point where the challenge in a lot of sections is just staying on the track (two of the stages in particular are just straight up f-zero GX tracks). i really like that and think it's a great type of skill to test in a 3d sonic-like, but ymmv.
it's also got my favorite feature in a speed platformer of all time: you parry stage hazards while you're running through them. this is a genius way to demand a little more of your attention without actually asking you to slow down at all! it's a genius way to throw more complicated, dense, and difficult looking terrain at the player without actually making it slower! i genuinely like this so much that i think it should be a standard inclusion in all or most speed platformers going forward (if that speed platformer wants to introduce some difficulty, that is. so, not mine :p )
also also, it's got my second favorite 3d sonic-like level of all time. it's got songs like this. basically what i'm saying is, this game's got some serious peaks. if any of that piques your interest, it's really worth a look
