Red guy did nothing there. The sonics took out those robots by passing through them. I dont see how swinging around them with a grappling hook contributed.
This reminds me a bit of when SEGA did the "rubber band" thing for Chaotix, which was a game-ruining new feature to an otherwise would-be decent Sonic game. It's all been downhill since then, save for what I've heard/seen of Sonic Mania. And not "downhill" in a good way, which you'd think would be what SEGA would be trying to do.
Never understood the wierd sonic fandom. I remember it being 2 fun platformers back in the 90s but somwhere it morphed into this wierd fandom obsession. I mean you dont see this crap with Mario
Things got weird after Sonic AM served up some grimdark to kids in the 90's. Then things got worse until you had Vegeta the Hedgehog with a machine gun and he's not even a fan character. Deary me...