Ok, got to drop a bit of a review here since i finally just finished it:
I mean, if there is such a thing as a love letter to Sonic, or maybe even Sonic Team design in general, this would be it.
So, the story isn't super important, but for what its worth, basically their are 3 kingdoms vying over an energy source called the Kingdom Stone. One nation is being influenced by our main baddie, Lord Brevon. How our characters Lilac and Carol get involved is by the crash landing of a dude named Torque who is shot down by one of these armies, and obviously has some stuff he isn't saying. Blah blah blah.
I'll give it this much, its certainly a more entertaining story and cast of characters then what has come out of the Sonic stable recently. Its nothing ground-shattering, but the story works, the voice acting is actually alright for a small indie game, and if you can get over the super cuteness of the it all, its fun.
However, you can play the game without any of the story, and just enjoy the game. So really, if you dislike that part, you can just ignore it completely.
As for the game-play, do not let the exterior fool you. Well the game certainly takes a page out of Sonic, if Shovel Knight is the amalgamation of everything NES, then this is the amalgamation of everything Genesis. There is plenty of excellent platforming in this game, and it is certainly not all about speed like Sonic, so if you are expecting Sonic 2, you might come up a bit empty-handed. However, there are some great sequences of running and jumping and smacking down enemies all at once that is 100% satisfying. The boss battles though, are pretty much all out of the Treasure Handbook of bosses. No boss battle really feels the same, their are plenty of mid-bosses, and some of the bosses go crazy with the graphical effects. If you've played a Treasure game, you'll feel right at home.
Aesthetically, it has a lot in common with NiGHTS, Sonic, and some more obscure stuff like Astal for the Saturn or Ristar. The music also calls back to a lot of the best Sega Genesis tunes, ones that don't sound like farts or Yuzo Koshiro techno beats. So if you are a fan of soundtracks like Ristar, Dynamite Headdy, Sonic, or Rocket Knight Adventures, you'll dig it.
The game is also pretty packed with content. There are 3 playable characters, that do play in very different manners, and similar stages and bosses, but each has unique content, as the story does branch off at different parts that incentives you to try all 3, especially if you enjoy the story enough to want to see how all the pieces fit together.
They are also still actively working on the game, and plan more content for the future, and it will all be free, so that nice too.
Of course, the game also has plenty of collectibles to unlock, and time trials for those that like to speed-run.
So, if you grew up a Sega kid, or just enjoy yourself a classic 16-bit plat-former with all the trimmings, you need to check this out.
If that isn't enough convincing, the game has a demo! So you can check that out and see for yourself!