A short ramble about speedy platformers.
Sonic doesn't need to run fast. He really doesn't.
I know it's not very original to be critiquing Sonic Team's design decisions, but I just have this thought every time I play Sonic or a [better] platformer.
I like going fast in platformers. I'm not a speedrunner, but if a game has a built-in time trial system, I like playing a favorite level over and over again to win a better medal and beat my personal best. In doing so, something becomes very obvious to me.
You don't need your character to actually go fast for the game to feel fast.
Speed in a game has nothing to do with the actual miles-per-hour or meters-per-second or whatever that your character is moving through the virtual space.
Speed in a game, to me, is the feeling of adrenaline that you get when you have a strict time limit, are entering a flow state, and are trying to optimize your movement to trim a few seconds down and avoid making any mistakes.