True, but you could also say that's the intention. The first time is a bit of pain but as you play and replay you start to master the game, getting faster times, better scores, which gives you extra lives and continues. However if you are already that good at the game, the extra lives and continues become pretty useless... Maybe now with newer releases of the game (or community ports such as Sonic 3 AIR) which have widescreen support makes traversing its levels a bit easier.
Now 3D sonic on the other hand... Never played any so I can't make an informed opinion, except for Unleashed (PS2 version) and it's ok. Music's goated, Sonic missions are fine but the Werehog missions are hit or miss, a bit lenghty but not as long as the PS3/360 ones.
Back to topic, I suck at isometric/top-down RTSes.
I played AoE2 with friends but I go at my own pace and I get tilted easily when a Scout Cavalry starts killing everyone on my settlement. I got quite far in the main campaign but never finished it.
One time I tried playing League Of Legends at a gamer cybercafe and I felt overwhelmed by the ammount of stuff you can choose and equip for just one character. The fact that I didn't have a good pc at home to play it, and while I tried to play the tutorial the cybercafé's internet went down so I couldn't complete it factored in to never touch the game ever again. Thank god.
A friend of mine is a Starcraft fan and tried to introduce me to it. I tried to play the OG a bit but with these prior experiences I just never continued
And a game that never clicked with me: God of War (the original). Can't remember where I left it, it was entertaining but never completed it. I liked DMC more.