Playing Jazz Jackrabbit 2 feels so much like if you made a Sonic game with semi-metroidvania level design and guns. They even gave the characters a (useless) Super Peelout maneuver for shits and giggles.

It works. It's actually good but man does it need more polish. Makes the 3ds Sonic Boom games look like shit in comparison tho.

The final level is Hell btw. Literal hell cause for some reason, that's where the turtle terrorist, Devan Shell, went to. Any other games where you have to follow the villain to Hell to kick his ass?

How well would Sonic gameplay work as a metroidvania? The only examples that come to mind are Jazz Jackrabbit 2 (decent) and the 3ds Sonic Boom games (haven't played them).