"Sonic World" was praised for its range of content, though its graphics gathered mixed responses.

[23] Naka thought Sonic Team needed a period to "recharge our batteries" and had new ideas.

Pocket Gamer described it as "so far removed from the original releases that the game practically qualifies as an all-new Sonic adventure", criticizing the motion blur, looping music and collision detection.

[29] Glenn Rubenstein from GameSpot, however, was not impressed, feeling it did not look as smooth as Super Mario 64 or Crash Bandicoot.

Rubenstein praised the unlockable content, in particular the ability to view Japanese versions of Sonic the Hedgehog cartoons and adverts.

[9] Electronic Gaming Monthly described the 3D world as innovative and fun, but too small to serve as anything more than a preview.

The lead reviewer called it "the best Game Select screen ever created" and emphasized that no one should buy the compilation for the 3D world alone.

[8] Colin Williamson of AllGame said the 3D presentation was "gorgeous", but felt the overall experience was not as fun compared to Super Mario 64 and Crash Bandicoot.

[30] Steve O'Learly from Hyper praised the detailed graphics of "Sonic World", saying that it showed the Saturn did perform well if programmed correctly, although he thought that it did not appear as polished as Super Mario 64.

Nutter acknowledged that the compilation "may not be everyone's cup of tea" and recommended that Sonic Jam was not worth purchasing if the player already owned the included games, although he praised its value for money.

[28] Although Williamson noted that there was a lot of exploring for the player to do in Sonic Jam, he expressed skepticism that the majority of the game was from "yesterday" and there were not enough new innovations.

[5] O'Learly praised the faithful and accurate replication of the original games, though he felt they were "dated".