Sonic: Lost World was among the more popular demos at Nintendo's booth on the first day. And while the controls at times seem somewhat elusive even to this Sonic veteran, the imaginative level designs hold a great deal of promise.

The E3 demo contains three levels that showcase the variety in level design. The first level, reminiscent of Green Hill or Emerald Hill from the Genesis games, has been compared by many to Super Mario Galaxy, and with good reason. Sonic travels amongst planetoid-like objects, grabbing rings, bouncing off springs, and attacking robotic baddies to save the innocent, fluffy critters captured within. Controlling Sonic is quite satisfying in this level, as there are few places where Sonic can fall off. Instead, there are branching paths on several planetoids, depending on whether you go up or down, left or right, etc. This level also featured the laser attack from Sonic Colors, in which you aim with the touch screen and flick to initiate. I found the touch screen controls to be finicky, but to be fair no one else in front of me in line seemed to have any trouble.

The second level is a 2D side-scrolling scene similar to those found in Sonic Colors (down to a sweet tooth motif similar to the one found in the Wii game). I was not able to get hands-on time with this level, but like the first it includes secret branching paths and old-school references such as the blast cannons from Oil Ocean in Sonic 2.

In the third level on display Sonic continually runs forward, and the challenge comes from navigating the tunnels and pathways, moving left and right and jumping to avoid falling off. These sequences are interspersed with sections in which Sonic free-falls, and you must avoid baddies, grab rings, and control the speed of your fall (pushing R as desired to fall more quickly). This level was fun, but I fell off a few times, once because of a homing attack placed me someplace I had not anticipated and once because of what seemed like an overly sensitive analog stick.

As with other 3D Sonic games, the combat mechanics felt a bit obtuse. For example, Sonic can perform a kick attack by jumping with A and then pressing X—but only if there is actually a nearby enemy—so it is difficult to practice. Meanwhile, Jumping and pressing X can also cause Sonic to bounce not unlike when Sonic has a water shield in Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Pushing A while in mid-air triggers Sonic's familiar homing attack, which is very generous with locking onto the enemies and springs.

Overall I'm still interested in Sonic: Lost World—the levels are cleverly designed and are visually appealing with bright colors. However, I remain apprehensive about the game's controls. I suspect some of my troubles were user error—I’m fairly poor at Sonic Colors, after all—but after playing the demo I fully expect this 3D Sonic game to wrestle with the same control challenges as prior entries.