I respect your opinion, and totally disagree with it. I replay Chaotix pretty much every year and have a blast, it is one of my favorite games in the franchise. Usually people who don't like Chaotix are intolerant to change, and are the same that dislike Sonic 3D or even Sonic CD. Because Sonic 1, 2, 3 and Knuckles was not enough copy-pasted formula, we needed even more games with the exact same formula...
Chaotix offers something new. Its stages are maze-like, you have many characters to choose from, and the physics are actually a lot of fun once mastered. Game has gorgeous visuals with changing palettes depending on the time of day, soundtrack is a highlight as well. And the bonus stages are the best seen in Sonic games back then. The 32X actually received a proper, great 2D Sonic game with Chaotix, while the Saturn did not have any. But it did have a great port of Sonic 3D, so at least there's that.
By the way, I am one of these people who actually bought a 32X back then. Even though the console was short lived and considered a failure, it was an awesome introduction to 3D and I still own this console today, with the best games that were released on it.