Izzy's Quest for the Olympic Rings (Sega Mega Drive) Complete Playthrough

The Olympics are here at last, so to celebrate I decided to play this fun little Olympic-themed platformer starring Izzy, the mascot for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta! (I would like to add that I think Izzy is unfairly reviled, I actually find him rather charming)
In this platformer, Izzy must collect all 5 Olympic Rings in order to open an exit to Atlanta and light the flame to start the Olympics. There are 3 worlds, and at the end of each one, you get one of the rings. If you're thinking " But you're 2 rings short!", then yes, merely playing through each world to get the rings is not enough to earn the game's true ending.
You have to earn the other 2 rings by beating both the Rocket Ride and Space Walk bonus stages at least once, which are unlocked by obtaining gold, silver, or bronze at the end of each level, depending on how fast you beat the level. However, unless you are extremely slow, you needn't worry about whether or not you'll unlock the bonus stages. If you don't get all 5 rings, the game will end after Exit to Atlanta I, you will not be able to play the final level.
Izzy can also collect medals to restore health and earn points, a bit like Sonic's rings, and this helps keep the frustration down. Indeed, this game has a fairly low difficulty despite a few tricky parts like the lengthy javelin and skateboarding segments and the Exit to Atlanta levels.
Though it's technically a bit rough with lots of slowdown and a few glitches I've noticed on previous playthrough attempts such as the music cutting out and a section in Lava Dome I where you can potentially get permanently stuck, I did overall enjoy this pleasant little platformer that provides some nice Olympic fun with some nice Olympic-themed transformations for Izzy.
A few other curious things: there was also an animated TV special starring Izzy called Izzy's Quest for Olympic Gold which after the 1996 Olympics was not seen again until it was posted online in 2020, and Izzy also starred in another game called Izzy's Adventure, a PC edutainment game. The aptly-named US Gold would also release an official 1996 Olympics video game offering a variety of proper Olympic events.