Sonic Colors - Nintendo Wii

Bought it for my son, he loves it.

Son loves it

Its hard to believe that I was a wee young lad of eleven years when Sonic Adventure was released for the Dreamcast to all the hype and excitement Sega could muster. At that age, I really did not care to slow down and notice the bugs, glitches, and terrible design choices that riddled the game - I was too busy running fast and standing in awe of what might have been the most impressive graphics of the day. However, the game certainly has not aged well. Enter sequel after sequel of bad 3D hedgehog platformers that required the patience of Mother Theresa to play. Does Colors follow the trend, or set Sonic back on his speedy path? The latter, to a certain extent. Colors is definitely a step in the right direction, and the game very much reminds me of those moments in the Sonic Adventure games when they fired on all cylinders and gave us healthy doses of speed. Thankfully, many of the issues that plagued the earlier games are fixed here. Lets start with the story. Well, lets call it a premise, since theres very little plot development here (a good thing). Dr. Robotn - excuse me, Eggman - has built a giant multi-planet amusement park under the guise of being sorry for his past misdeeds. Sonic pays a visit and finds a bunch of aliens called Wisps being enslaved by Eggman for the purpose of powering a gigantic death ray. Thats it. No deathly serious tales of anthropomorphic hedgehogs and humans sharing disturbing emotional attachments. No amnesiac biological experiments serving under demonic alien masters. No overweight felines searching for pet frogs. Colors is all lighthearted - and self-aware - Saturday morning cartoon fare, and while its rather kiddie in its approach, the delivery is more than passable. Sonic is more of a lovable idiot than a gnarly 80s snowboarder with serious tude, Tails sounds like a boy for once, and Dr. Eggman is, well, Dr. Eggman. Animations are smooth, and cutscenes are (mostly) well-scripted. The graphics on display here are great. Even at 4:3 and 480i, colors are vibrant, textures are smooth, and the environments look great. However, I have encountered one area in Sweet Mountain where, upon using the drill power, the frame-rate took a significant hit, to the tune of around 10-20 frames per second. Some occasional slow-down is acceptable, but in this case, it altered the playability of the game. Likewise, the sound effects are good. Everything sounds about how a Sonic game should be expected to sound. The music here has been dialed back from the pseudo-speed-metal of previous entries, favoring a fast-paced pop-rock soundtrack. Preference is key here, as the soundtrack is decidedly fitting, but I actually somewhat miss the cheese factor of the music from previous games. Gameplay is primarily where the game stumbles. I have a high tolerance for gameplay issues (after all, I actually enjoyed the admittedly terrible Shadow the Hedgehog), but when the gameplay is so polished in much of Colors, the rougher portions stick out like a sore thumb. Sonic controls very tightly, as long as he stays on the ground (or under it, for that matter). Rail-grinding, a staple of 3D Sonic games since Adventure 2, is simplified to the point of becoming superfluous. The fully 3D parts of the game are handled well for the most part, but they often lose their momentum by virtually playing themselves (almost half of the impressive-looking Starlight Carnival, Act 1 plays completely free of player input). I recognize that much of the Adventure games had similar sections, but they are not as numerous and as long-lasting as those in Colors. What little gameplay is here is actually excellent, and causes me to wonder why these sections of true 3D gameplay are so few and far between. Instead, Colors ends up being a side-scroller with 3D sections allowing the player a break from the action. Perhaps Sega was, for once, being a bit too conservative in their design choices here. Fortunately, transitions between the two perspectives are smooth. Jumping, on the other hand, is a different story. The control is passable, but it is far from tight. I found simple 2D platforming action to be a chore, and some environmental challenges such as the candy swings in Sweet Mountain were downright frustrating. The frustrations are few and far between, though, and Sonics controls are improved tenfold from previous games. Thankfully, the camera shoots the action from appropriate angles and rarely, if ever, gets stuck or blocks something important from view. Environment design is fantastic, but level design is a different story. Its not bad, its just not great. The introduction of multiple pathways utilizing the different Wisp abilities is certainly welcome, but nothing here is particularly memorable. In the Adventure series, Sonic escaped a killer whale that demolished the very bridge he ran along, ran straight down the side of a building while dodging obstacles, snowboarded down a steep city street, and boarded a rocket launching towards space. While everything else in Colors is much more polished, it seems to lack any true Wow moments (at least, until halfway through the game, where I am now). Design is just a little boring and a little generic. Likewise, level length is woefully unbalanced, with one mission taking a full six or seven minutes to complete on an initial run-through, and the next taking fewer than forty-five seconds. Much to the games benefit, however, there are numerous routes and secrets through levels, and the speed-and-ring-count ranks are back (from best to worst: S, A, B, C, D, E). There are also forty-four stages, each with 5 red rings to locate, so there is plenty of game here to keep the player busy. Some aspects of exploration simply feel a bit forced, and trimming the fat could provide opportunity for adding a more cinematic quality to the game. Maybe Im being a bit harsh on Colors, but after so much disappointment, I have to compare Colors to the blue hedgehogs troubled past. The results are promising but not altogether convincing. This is no Super Mario Galaxy 2, nor is it a Shadow the Hedgehog. But as a gaming icon, Sonics future looks much brighter with Colors, and, when it comes down to it, the game rarely stops being fun. I fear that previous disappointment, as well as the games silly story and cartoon-like presentation, will land Sonics appeal squarely in a much younger demographic. However, Sega obviously realizes that older fans such as myself have had their patience tested and their nerves tried for a decade now. Perhaps the focus toward ten- and twelve-year-olds could salvage the beaten mascots image for a new generation of gamers. Still, there is quite a bit of depth here worth the cash, even if blood, guts, and guns is your thing. Wholeheartedly recommended to families, and cautiously recommended to older gamers. Just dont let me convince you to purchase this platformer if you have not bought any of Nintendos chubby, red-hatted plumbers Wii titles, especially Super Mario Galaxy 2. Ten-point scale: 7/10 - Good Pros: Sense of speed, excellent graphics, decent sound and voice acting, simplicity of control, multiple paths and secrets encourage exploration, replay value, Sonic The Hedgehog 2 style 2-player mode. Cons: Somewhat boring level design, unbalanced level length, mid-air control is slippery, too little genuine 3D action, plays itself entirely too often.

Would be five stars if it had more levels. Has great graphics and cool power ups.

When I heard that Sonic Colors was Segas best Sonic game in the last 10 years, I was skeptical. After playing it, I still dont think its the best game, but trust me, it makes it up there. The gameplay is just so fun and inventive, and the stages...well, Ill just say that the writers didnt name this game Sonic Colors for nothing! The plot involves Sonic and his buddy Tails having to stop an evil doctor from kidnapping a bunch of aliens called Wisps. With the help of an alien called Yacker, Sonic races to the aliens rescue. Using the wisps in gameplay, you can utilixe these really cool powers. Also, the script can be pretty witty. A great game overall!

Positive: The game graphics are pretty good. Its Sonic. Negative: Sonic characters does not need vain dialogues with adult voice acts. Stage selection graphic is at PS1 level. Because game play boundary is unclear, I dont feel like to replay this game to discover different routes. The special color abilities make the game less Sonic like. Some stages are long while some other stages are very short. The control has become more complex and limited. In some game plays, you have no control of Sonic, and actually Sonic runs automatically. Overall: I picked up this game after reading IGN review describing it as The best new generation Sonic game. Honestly, I was disappointed. Sonic needs to go back to the origin by simplifying the control, getting rid of horrible dialogs, and setting clear in-game play boundaries.

My son said best sonic game ever he loves it and it works great!

I was skeptical about this when I bought it when it came out. There hadnt been a good sonic game since Adventure 2, but each game showed some promise (I.e. the running parts of Sonic Unleashed). Sonic Colors took all of those promising aspects and turned this into a great game. It is a high speed platformer most of the time, but changing gears every now and then to keep things interesting, which is more than welcome. The graphics are gorgeous, but with a name like Colors they better be. The alien wisps you can use for powers are a nice change for the series, allowing all sorts of new types of gameplay, but they are not overused to the point where they are annoying. A solid game and probably the second best 3D Sonic. Adventure 2 is still better

This is a really solid modern sonic game it features fun and inventive level design, killer music and really bright beautiful colors (pun definitely intended?). My only real gripe with sonic colors is that like MOST of modern Sonic outings it can at times feel more like an on rails theme-park ride and less like a 3d platformer that wants to challenge the player for more than 3 seconds. That said, I did enjoy my time with Sonic Colors and it has found a nice place in my collection. If you are a fan of titles such as Sonic Adventure or Sonic Generations then I would say this one is definitely worth a pick-up just dont expect anything ground breaking.

A very interesting new Sonic game to play. Fun to play alone or with a friend. Good price as well