The game's presentation received mixed reactions from reviewers. "GameSpot" thought the visuals were well-produced and praised the brightly colored levels and character models, but noted frame rate drops and thought the environments looked "kind of drab and muddy" when the gameplay slowed down. "GameSpy" agreed and cited the graphics as one of the best parts of the game. "IGN" was more conflicted: they praised the graphical effects and backgrounds, but were critical of the blocky geometry and blurry textures and thought it was not as pretty as competing games. "Nintendo World Report" ("NWR") also called the graphics inconsistent. Of the game's music, "IGN" and "GameSpot" agreed it was just generic "Sonic" melodies, but "IGN" wrote the game had "a few surprisingly ambient and worldly tracks that ... better fit with the themes of the different locales." "NWR" called the soundtrack fitting.