Eggman turning planets into Amusement Parks of Doom might seem a little bit random, but remembering Sonic Unleashed's Eggmanland, it makes perfect sense as an extension of his goals.
Also, SA-55 Orbot (the robot nicknamed "Ergo" by fans), in the final cutscene that had Eggman in Sonic Unleashed, suggested that Eggman simply begin his plans anew. Bringing planets together is basically the opposite of what Eggman did in Sonic Unleashed by cracking the Earth into pieces, so maybe Eggman decided to use the same plan but backwards...and in space?
Some people are calling bull on Sonic not being able to outrun the black hole in Terminal Velocity Act 2. However, it should be noted that nothing--not even light--escapes a black hole when sucked in. Thus, not even the fastest thing alive, who can only break the sound barrier, would be able to resist its pull.
This line from Doctor Eggman's PA announcements: "Note the lovely planet above you, soon to be the property of Eggman Enterprises." Now consider that this is meant to be heard in one of the first levels, taking place in the central resort area -- which is right on the underside of the hub... and which planet would be "above" you there? Eggman is openly admitting that he intends, by whatever means, to take over Earth and add it to his amusement park.
The level clear music from the Sonic Simulator sounds sort of out of place at first, as it sounds evil and catastrophic rather than triumphant. Then you realize that Eggman built the Sonic Simulator, so of course he would make it play negative music when Sonic wins.
That would explain why getting three Eggmans on the slot machines gives you the largest amount of rings.
Why do Orbot and Cubot have personalities that Eggman finds annoying, when he could just reprogram them to be helpful? Answer: He can't. He's an engineer, not a programmer. He can figure out how to assemble a machine run by AI, but after his machines reach a certain level of complexity (complex enough to have, say, individual personalities), he's exceeded even his own level of competence.
Well, that explains why he didn't just reprogram E-123 Omega after he went rogue. Not to mention Metal Sonic after he became Sonic destruction-obsessed.
At first I felt that the heavy use of autotune and voice alteration in "Speak with Your Heart" was off-putting. Then I beat the game on the Wii. As I was destroying the credits it suddenly hit me why the vocals for the song were more robotic. Tails had finally got his translator working 100% by the time the Wisps had to depart, right? It's his translator singing the song. Well played, Sega and Cash cash!
I've heard people complain that the controls are a bit floaty, and it suddenly hit me why: this is an Amusement Park IN SPACE! Of course the controls would be floaty, the gravity is lower.
Ok, the theme song is "Reach for the stars". You do it literally by going to the space and wtv, BUT at the credits you can sometimes gain rings. The thing is that one of the patterns they come is the one of a star. You did "reach for the stars".
The subplot concerning Cubot's voice chip is a commentary by the developers on the Unpleasable Fanbase regarding the voice acting in the series. No matter what they try, Cubot's voice just gets more annoying, eventually leading to him having the most irritating voice ever.
When the theme song reaches Eggman, the lyrics are "Not looking back, not giving up, not letting go, I'll keep on running.", which seems like an odd choice at first... Until you realize it's outright referencing that Eggman doesn't intend to repeat his mistakes, give up, and he's just going to keep trying.
Ok, so Sonic defeated Eggman and made a black hole happen...on the ONLY WAY OFF the theme park...leaving the people on the theme park left to drown in space...
Sonic and Tails snuck in the day before it opened, at least on the Wii version, so there were no people there.
Sonic first encounters Eggman right before the first boss battle, at the end of Tropical Resort. Eggman appears to be unpleasantly surprised ("SONIC?!"), as if he wasn't expecting his mortal enemy to show up so soon... so why, five stages before, did we hear him making that lying PA announcement asking Sonic to come to the office? Does he give out fake PA's calling for Sonic every third day or so and hope he gets lucky?
He knew Sonic was at the park. He just wasn't expecting to encounter him face-to-face so soon. Either that, or he was Crazy Prepared, knowing Sonic would turn up at some point, just not expecting it to be so soon.
What exactly was the Starlight Carnival's generator actually doing there? It wasn't even attached to anything. There's the Sweet Mountain planet, Planet Wisp, the Aquarium Park planet, and the Asteroid Coaster planetoid area, but nothing attached to Starlight Carnival.
Additionally, what happened to those THOUSANDS of starships you zoom by during the level? Were they deactivated along with the generator, or is that colossal space fleet still floating around?