Sonic Colors
Game by SEGA
Reviewed by Philip Wesley
Save: battery
Released: 2010
Works with: Nintendo DS/Lite, Nintendo DSi/XL, Nintendo 3DS
ESRB Rated: E
Quick Opinion: Own... but only if you're a Sonic Fan.

****************************************************************************

Opening Snide Remarks: Sonic the Hedgehog is a staple of the video game
world and seems to have a new game or six every year. Sonic Colors is the
latest game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series and the third Nintendo DS Sonic
platform game. Sonic Colors follows up Sonic Rush, Sonic Rush adventure, and
that Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood RPG title.

Sonic Colors places Sonic inside of a great new amusement park in space.
Apparently, Dr. Robotnik (I am NOT calling him Eggman. Sorry.) decided to
mend his ways by building a giant amusement park in space. Sonic is a
prejudiced skeptic of this and decides to sneak into the park to find out
what horrible thing Robotnik is actually up to.

It turns out that Dr. Robotnik has trapped a few planets with "Wisps" on
them and is intending to use those Wisps to make a giant mind control gun.
The whole amusement park is meant to hide the mind control beam. Sonic can
let the Wisps enter him and use their various powers to remove obstacles or
pass through barriers.


****************************************************************************

Gameplay Description: One of the interesting distinctions of the original
Sonic games is that there was only a single goal: Get to the end as fast as
you can while collecting rings. The gameplay was a direct response to how
the Super Mario Bros. games on the Nintendo platforms were becoming more and
more complex.

Sonic Colors is about getting to the goal while utilizing several different
powers to get past obstacles or walls in the way. There are six areas with
two main levels in each area followed by a boss. You can unlock various
"missions" in each area that require you to beat time limits or accomplish
various collection tasks. There are several different powers that you can
utilize in each level that usually involve getting past some sort of
obstacle. Certain Wisps destroy certain blocks or go through certain walls.
The Wisps feel more like a tacked on gameplay element than an actual
improvement or innovation in Sonic gameplay. This may be because you can
not carry them to other levels. Sonic has some interesting powers as well.
Sonic can slide, wall jump on certain surfaces, perform a downward stomping
motion, and get penetrated by wisps. No really, there is a cut scene where
this happens and Sonic is like: "I can feel it inside me!" Gah.

The gameplay is actually quite short, each level is littered with horrible
traps and very few "Sonic style" speed parts. It's actually a chore to play
through some of the levels and the bosses are ridiculous. Positively, it is
pretty easy to gain extra lives in this game; which is good because you
will need them for the bosses.

There is also a racing VS mode, Time Attack mode, and -if you get at least
50 rings in a level- Bonus Stages. The bonus stages are from behind Sonic
and are a combination of the tunnel run stages in Sonic 2 and the orb
collection in Sonic 3. You control Sonic with the touch screen and I love
these stages a lot. Unlike some of the normal stages, these bonus stages
feel natural and are a lot of fun. They have an excellent sense of speed
and actually recapture that fun feeling I got in Sonic 2 and Sonic 3.

The missions artificially extend the gameplay time of the game and offer a
bit of interesting cameos from Sonic's "friends." Of course: Sally Acorn,
Bunny Rabbot, Antoine, Rotor, Scratch, Grounder, and Coconuts are nowhere
to be seen. Unfortunately, Shadow, Silver, Big the Cat, Amy Rose, Blaze
the Cat, Knuckles, Cream & Cheese, Espio, Vector, Charmy, and others are
prominent in those missions.

I should probably mention that the story pops up every now and again to
bother what should be a straight forward game. The map screens are an
interesting touch and push Sonic Colors closer to the Mario game formula.
The game feels like the developers wanted to cram it full of "interesting"
stuff and forgot that Sonic is really about simple action and platforming.

There are a few interesting powers, like the Drill and Void, that work
pretty well. The Drill is for passing through water or rock quickly and
the Void power grows to swallow up enemies, chunks of the levels, and
power-ups.

Sonic has some control over the activation of these powers but they do
not carry over to other levels. When you free a Wisp, break enemies,
or collect rings, you gain power in a meter on the side. That meter keeps
track of how much energy you have for boosts or using the powers that the
Wisps give you.

Liked: The special stages, ridiculously challenging boss battles later on.

Hated: The level design is actually pretty non-conducive to speed and powers
can not be carried to other levels.

****************************************************************************

Graphics Description: Sonic's 2D DS and Game Boy Advance games usually look
quite good and this game is no slouch in the graphics department as well.
The bosses are rather large and the areas are reasonably detailed. The
levels are themed in Grass, Candy, Scary, Water-y, Carnival-y, and other
motifs. Sometimes it is a bit difficult to distinguish where Sonic is due
to the extremely busy nature of the levels. The enemies you see are -for
the most part- not altered to match the themes of the levels. This is an
unfortunate lapse of style on the part of the graphics designers. The
Genesis Sonic games had themed enemies in each level. The same types of
robots will show up in different areas without any distinction.

The 3D bonus stages are simple and sweet looking. I really wish there were
more areas like those bonus stages. The cut scenes use character profiles
and the translation is fine. Everything looks appropriate in those
sequences. There are also a few video scenes in the game. Sonic himself is
a 3D rendered model whereas the stages are sprite based.

Liked: The bosses and 3D stages.

Hated: The busy nature of the actual levels is made worse by the busy
GRAPHICS of the actual levels.

****************************************************************************

Sound/Music Description: The music in this game is more power pop than rock
and roll. There are a few vocal pieces that over use Auto-Tune and sound
like Postal Service and Owl City wannabes. There are also a few voice clips
in the game that are limited to "Hey!" and "Woah!" remarks. The music is
reasonably good but not very memorable.

Liked: That main theme reminds me a lot of Mario Galaxy for some reason.
Oh, and "Reach For The Stars" reminds me of Sonic Adventure and I am okay
with that.

Hated: "Hey!" "WHOA!" "WHAT" "HUH! Seriously, those cut-scenes and the
voices associated with them are tedious. Oh, the music with vocals is as
dismal as songs come. Seriously! "Speak With Your Heart" is pretty awful
and that is before you get into criticism of the lyrics. "Reach For The
Stars" is pretty decieving as I was expecting a lot of the background music
to be that kind of power pop instead of the sadly generic music in the
levels.

****************************************************************************

Play Control/Game Design: Some of Sonic's powers are easier to control than
others and it feels like Sonic has uneven momentum when he is in motion.
The touch control in the bonus stages is perfectly suited to the action on
screen. None of the powers are difficult to understand and the game does a
lot to tell you how to use them.

The problem is that most of the powers do similar things: They all remove a
specialized barrier. It feels like the developers wanted to cram all sorts
of content in the game that they forgot why the Sonic games on the Genesis
were considered fun. The Genesis Sonic games combined distinct levels with
a sense of speed and action. This game is bogged down by too many cameos,
and too many obstacles. Sometimes, you just want to go from point A to point
B ridiculously fast. There are no levels in the game that really offer the
ability to do that. The new powers would be fine if they did not grind the
gameplay to a screeching halt whenever they were used.

Liked: Easy to control!

Hated: The only new power that respects a sense of speed is the Drill and
even that one tends to break up the game play speed. The levels feel like
they were designed for Mega Man to be shooting through them, not Sonic.

****************************************************************************

Improve: Sonic is about speed, action, and simplicity. Please remember to
put that into a game with levels and abilities that are compliant toward
those concepts.

RIYL: If you are STARVING for a new Sonic game, you should probably give
this one a look. It has some good points to it and the bonus stages are
pretty great.

****************************************************************************

Final Words: Part of the reason I bought Sonic Colors was because of the
pre-order Sonic Hat that was offered by GameStop. That hat is pretty cool
and rather well made. The game, however, has some sloppy points to it and
feels like it was Sonic RUSHED to market. Sonic fans should still check it
out as it has some interesting fan service for those who like Sonic and his
many friends.

****************************************************************************
Score
Gameplay: ***
Graphics: ****
Sound/Music: ***
Play Control/Game Design: **
Value: ***

Star Total: 45%

Personal Opinion Merit: 18%

Final Score: 63%

Letter Grade: C

****************************************************************************