From the Vault — originally published November 12, 2010. Some links, videos or prices may be out of date.
Sonic Colors Is the best Sonic the Hedgehog game I have played in a very long time. Lets just get that out of the way. The game is very fun to play. Its one of the most forward thinking and creative Sonic games to date. Yes, some may say it was a bit creative to turn Sonic into a ware-hog in the previous Sonic Unleashed game but few would agree that it was good. Sonic Colors is Produced by Takashi Iizuka who was lead designer for Nights into Dreams and also directed and headed as lead design for Sonic Adventure.
Sonic Colors lives up to its name in the detailed graphical presentation and art style. In terms of graphics its right up there with Super Mario Galaxy. It certainly is one of the best looking Wii games I have ever seen. It’s vibrant and all of Sonic’s animations are smooth and very well done. Sonic has never looked better from a character design standpoint. Whn I play Wii game I typically qualify them with “for a Wii game this looks okay” but sonic Colors is just a great looking game period. The backgrounds and foregrounds are all well detailed and well textured. It’s presentation and style surprisingly good.
The game has a mixture of 2D and 3D perspectives. As you play the game transitions from 3D to 2D pretty seamlessly. Typically its during a speedy run the camera shift perspectives and you resume control after the perspective shift. From a look at videos of the game in action you would expect the side scrolling levels to be the only sections you will enjoy but the 3D sections do shine often and are very fun. The skidding controls in the 3D sections could have been tighter but overall it works. The mixture of perspectives keeps things interesting.
They nailed the speed and pace of movement in the game and the better you are the faster you can run through levels. The levels themselves are well designed and the most abrupt stops will come from your lack of skill, or lack of timing and is typically less about unfamiliarity than in previos games. The game moves fast as it should and outside of the 3D to 2D transitions there are more fast moments where you are in control than in previous games. This is a huge accomplishment and it translates to more fun for the player.
As you play you will get better and you will notice that there are sections of levels that you may have missed. There are tons of places you can get to with enough skill. Sections of levels may be missed if you do not boost in the right place or if a speed pad or jump is missed and such.
There are levels that can be played in different ways via different sections and that discovery gives the game tons of replay value. Each Act in each level is graded depending on your finish time, score, and rings and there are bonus and secret stages that can be unlocked. Sonic Colors has tons of replay value.
The controls are pretty good and sonic feels very responsive. Momentum and speed is very well done. Jumps feel right and not floaty though the button placement for some of the secondary moves such as boost and slide can take a while to get used to. Luckily there are numerous control options. You can use the Classic Controller, Wiimote sideways, Gamecube Controller or Wiimote and Nunchuck.
The music can be summed up as mostly in the very good category with a few very memorable tracks. Not since Sonic 2 have a heard tracks this good in a Sonic game and as a matter of fact I have had the song from Planet Wisp in my head all day.
Sonic Colors borrows heavily at times from Super Mario Galaxy. Matter of fact the 2D and 3D mix was totally a huge part of Super Mario Galaxy two years ago. The secondary or special abilities in Sonic Colors is akin to the special powers in Super Mario Galaxy’s bee flying, drill, ice and other powers. In Sonic Colors you can grab the alien “Wisps” that give you different ability’s. Wisps are the neon octopus like creatures on the game box art. Some ‘Wisp powers” work really well and others are clunky and could have used more refinement. The boost give you speed boosts which is great, the rocket wisp shoots you high into the air and you can float down grabbing hidden items on your way. The hover wisp is what it is, and the Pink spikes is great as it allows you to cling onto surfaces and spin dash upside down and destroy blocks.
The Drill is just like the drill in Mario Galaxy and so is the Blue Cube which is like an “exclamation switch block” in Super Mario Bros games. It turns blue cubes into blocks or blocks into collectibles. The Laser and Purple Frenzy both seem like they could have used more work. Both are clunky. Purple frenzy turns Sonic into a berserker that chomps through anything in its path. The laser turns Sonic into a laser which can bounce off surfaces and travel through power lines. The laser wisp may sound good but I had trouble aiming.
There is also the Sonic Simulator mode which is a very creative addition to the game. It has co-op play and you can unlock chaos emeralds.
The story is bad but I never played any Sonic games for the story. You will find yourself skipping cut scenes unless you were a fan of the Sonic cartoons. The cut-scenes are written just like them. The boss battles also could have been much much better. I found them all easy but again Sonic has never been about epic boss battles those were always forgettable.
Sonic Colors is a great game and a must for any Sonic fan. Its one of the best Wii games to be released this year and a superb framework that should be refined in future Sonic games. I looked forward to playing it and I have not felt that way about a Wii game in ages. I would love to see more Sonic games using this formula in the upcoming future. Hopefully in HD.
Though its far from perfect, its fun, full of content and I totally recommend Sonic Colors at full price.