>It's kind of funny how the internet hates these games now but not even half a decade ago they were extremely popular and even overrated
I wouldn't say they're hated, honestly. They're just not at the level of extreme popularity that they once were. Even though everyone used to gripe about sonic fans, I found the passion people had for these games long after they came out to be admirable.
The games themselves are pretty good, somewhat dated, even kinda timecapsule-y. It kind of reminds me of Death Note or The Exorcist in that you had to be there, man.