Only ever played Sonic Battle (quite a bit, back then). I haven't played it in a while, but even if I had, and I personally enjoyed it just as much as I did all those years ago, I don't think I could recommend the game to people. It's such a strange fighting game. I've seen people swear against it because of its story mode; not how the story itself is written, mind you (it is admittedly a bit iffy, just as writing in these games typically are), but the way fights are handled all around to advance the plot. I'm sure you can watch a review or two on YouTube that would better explain my point.
The game in general, from my memory, wasn't balanced all that well, either. Some characters being objectively better than others (i.e. have faster, more powerful attacks, being able to juse spam special moves, a green meter that when fills up, causes said special moves to be one-hit kills).
Emerl, I found, was a great concept, but just how was he executed? I remember having to grind for Sonic's skills so I can have Emerl be just as effective as Sonic, because he already had a severely nerfef version the titular character's moveset, and Sonic's easily the best fighter in the game because of the way he controls.
I'd be remiss if I didn't cite the sprite work of the game as being a positive. The whole game looked good, really, and it had an art style that was (and still is) distinguishable from the rest of the Sonic games, even the Advance trilogy. And I loved how characters were animated in the game. There was personality and mannerisms detailed in how they ran, dashed, took hits, and attacked. A far cry from Sonic: The Fighters.
The soundtrack was good for what it was, but that's not surprising; it's Sonic.
I should probably play the game myself at some point; see if it holds up to my standards, now. Maybe my answer will change.
Also, I still have my cartridge, and the system to play it on, so no emulator for me! Puyo and Digimon don't interested me, though, so I'm gonna have to give them a pass.
