 The alternate gameplay styles polarized many critics . Daniel Cairns of VideoGamer.com and Castle highlighted the level where Sonic becomes a giant snowball as " genuinely excellent " and " a cool riff on Monkey Ball " , whereas Turi and Ingenito described it as " atrocious " , " uncontrollabl [ e ] " and " the exact opposite of fun " . Turi " received multiple game overs during a mundane mandatory pinball sequence . " Walton felt that some of the Wisps were an " amusing aside , " while others suffered from " frustrating motion controls " . GameTrailers ' Justin Speer stated that the Wisps " don 't really feel like they belong " in the Wii U version . Totilo preferred how the Wisps were used in the 3DS version , but Towell stated that while they were " more integral " to the design , they tended to interrupt " the free @-@ form gameplay " with " clumsy mechanic [ s ] " . Towell described the 3DS version 's motion @-@ controlled Special Stages as " borderline unplayable " . Totilo and Castle criticized the Wii U version 's Jetpack Joyride @-@ style flying levels as " regrettable " and " horribly imprecise " . Turi and Totilo criticized the Wii U version 's balloon @-@ popping minigame as " mind @-@ numbing " and " awkward " . Turi called the Wii U version 's co @-@ op mode " useless " . Castle wrote that " Two @-@ player races would be a cool addition were it not for the horrible framerate issues . " 
