i wouldnt say its exactly like T1, there are so many nuances that are different - less gravity, thrust power differences between horizontal and vertical, smooth skiing, less powerful jump, lower cap on fall speed, less fall damage, etc etc etc
and i still find holding W more punishing in midair at high speeds - you can hold W in T1 anytime ur not thrusting because it makes no difference, same as midair but there were definitely uber-fast routes like the IceRidge back to front that you had to hold W+Jet to gain and maintain your speed, whereas similar routes in midair feel like you should let off W and just tap upwards jet occasionally to maintain your height
so when people keep saying 'its exactly like t1' i find it a bit frustrating and really gives people the wrong kind of expectation that they can do everything exactly like they did in T1
its not exactly like T1 if you can list 5 to 10 differences. its similar.
if it was exactly the same then, if somehow they were able to make say, a copy of stonehenge, the routes would take the same amount of time, you'd jet and use vectored controls exactly the same, and you'd use the same amount of jet power. but for some reason, i think it would play out differently... cuz its not exactly the same.
not saying its bad, its far easier than T1 aside from picking up those little nuances - its just a little different