"Sonic Colors gets rid of the stuff nobody asked for in the first place."

If you went back in time and asked me if I’d rather play yet another 3D Sonic or a new 2D Sonic on an HD console, I would have definitely chosen the latter. But here we are at the tail end of 2010. Both Sonic 4 and Sonic Colors have released and it’s the 3D entry I’ll be looking back on more fondly.

The premise is simple enough. Dr. Robotnik claims to have changed his ways and has created an amusement park in space to make up for his misdeeds. Of course, Robotnik is still evil afterall (even the characters themselves make light of his predictability) and it’s up to Sonic (with a little support on the sidelines from Tails) to put a stop to his diabolical plan.

The cutscenes definitely have a cheesy, Saturday morning cartoon vibe meant for a younger audience. Occasionally, there will be a mildly amusing line, but most of the dialogue is filled with groaners. In fact, one of the “gags” is literally based around the fact that one of the characters is annoying.

But Sonic Colors doesn’t force its story down your throat. In fact, the moment you select New Game, you will be playing the first stage without seeing so much as a single cutscene. And when the cutscenes do show up (which are very reasonable in both their frequency and length), you can easily skip them if you want.

Getting straight to the point is a common theme in Colors. There’s no hub world to wade through. Instead you’ll have an easily navigable map screen. You also won’t have the hassle of dealing with the crazy ideas nobody asked for. There are no werehogs or swords. Instead, you have speedy, but explorable stages… and lots of ‘em!

That isn’t to say Sonic Colors is devoid of gimmicks. That role is filled by the aliens known as “wisps” that temporarily grant Sonic special powers. The key difference is that the wisps actually serve to enhance the gameplay rather than get in the way of it.

Wisps range in both function and fun. The needle wisp, which allows you to stick to walls and perform dash rolls, as well as the surprisingly fast digging ability granted by the drill wisp, give you a very satisfying sense of freedom and speed. Not all abilities are as thrilling, though. For example, shooting into the sky with a rocket wisp can be useful for getting to high areas, but doesn’t exactly generate the same kind of excitement. Still, the wisps are enjoyable more often than not.

But you won’t have access to every wisp type right away. While playing stages, you’ll see empty slots floating where a wisp would be, had you unlocked it; a method of teasing the player, reminiscent of the colored exclamation blocks found in Super Mario World. Unlocking wisps requires no special effort on your part, though. Simply progressing through the game will do the trick.

At first, you’ll really feel like you’re missing out on experiencing all that each stage has to offer. Scattered throughout each stage is five red rings needed for unlocking extra optional stages. Your first time through the game, particularly in the earlier stages, you just won’t have the necessary wisps required to access some of them. While it definitely gives you a reason to come back to stages, it results in them being significantly less interesting the first time around. Of course, as you progress and unlock more wisps, this problem shrinks until it disappears completely.

Stages are made up of a balanced (for the most part) mix of 2D platforming, free-roam 3D running, and 3D “Quick Step” running. There are also rare moments where, after hitting a large jump, you’ll need to keep tapping a button for Sonic to perform tricks while the announcer shouts positive reinforcement at you. It doesn’t come up often, but every time it did I couldn’t help but wonder, “Why is this here?” as it doesn’t add anything useful and just interrupts the flow of the experience for a bit. It’s far from being a deal breaker, but it’s an odd design choice none the less.

I found my enjoyment of Sonic Colors fluctuating as I jumped from level to level. Frankly, some stages are just better designed than others; striking that perfect balance between the slower, more precise 2D platforming segments and lightning fast 3D sections. Others rely too heavily on one or the other, even occasionally making use of a cheap death or two.

The boss design tends to be on the underwhelming side, especially when the game starts churning out slight variations on bosses you already fought. By a stark contrast, I found the final showdown very engaging. I only wish the other bosses came closer to that level of quality.

The controls take some getting use to. Sonic’s jump can feel pretty hesitant in the slower sections. You have a double jump when there aren’t enemies to home in on, but it’s more about adding horizontal distance as the extra altitude it provides is pretty negligible. Sonic can also perform a wall jump, but it has to be one of the most rigid wall jumps I’ve ever experienced and is rather unpleasant to use as a result. Fortunately, after playing for awhile, these gripes become fairly easy to forgive, especially when Sonic gets up to speed.

But while the controls feel like they could use an extra layer of polish, the aesthetics are far from lacking. Seeing Sonic Colors for the first time at PAX actually made me forget it wasn’t on one of the HD consoles. The stage themes are no slouch either. Most of them are suitably catchy and have high production values.

There are two ways to look at Sonic Colors. Compared to other modern Sonic games, it’s simply fantastic and definitely one of the best 3D Sonic games out there (if not the best). But when compared to its contemporaries in the genre like Super Mario Galaxy 2, its weaker areas such as uneven controls and level design quality start to become more apparent. Even still, Sonic Colors is a big step in the right direction and is certainly an enjoyable platformer if you can forgive its shortcomings. It displays a winning formula that just needs a little more polish in its execution before attaining that “Must Have” status.

This review is based on a copy of the Wii version of Sonic Colors provided to us by SEGA.

Tags: 3D Platformer, Sega, Sonic, Sonic Colors, Sonic Team, Sonic The Hedgehog, Wii

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 9th, 2010 at 5:00 am and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.