Sonic Colors

Sonic, the worlds faster-than-lightning hedgehog is back in an all new adventure, trying to stop the evil schemes of Doctor Eggman. As promised, Sega delivered Sonic Colors for the Wii console, bringing an all new experience to what controlling Sonic used to be all about.

With new characters, that you'll soon learn more about, and the help of his faithful buddy Tails, Sega recaptures the spirit of the blue hedgehog and transforms it into an even more dynamic and action packed experience than ever before.

The Story Basically, you can trim down the plot is just a couple of lines. On one hand you have the evil villain from all of Sonic's adventures, Doctor Eggman, and on the other hand you have Sonic trying to stop yet another evil plot and rescue some innocent wisps (creatures that possess a distinct Color Power) in the process.

The story revolves around an amusement park created by Dr. Eggman for the so called redemption for his mistakes over the years. Apparently, Sonic is the only one that doesn't buy his story and he sets out to investigate the Interstellar Amusement Park before anyone might get hurt.

The Gameplay If you're expecting to simply go from one level to another with simply collecting gold rings here and there and smashing through some enemy robots, you're in for a surprise. Not only that you get to do all those things, but this time around you can have a little fun in the process as well.

For instance, that are a lot of new and cool powerups that you can use. Granted, that you need to collect the right colored wisp so that you can activate the special ability, but once your gauge fills up, it's a lot of fun to sit back and watch. With a simple shake of the nunchuck you can transform into either a drill so that you can borrow through the ground or you can perform a laser-like faster-than-light speed run through a small area on the map.

These fast paced combos combined with Sonic's natural ability to warp into high speed can get you dizzy at times so I recommend that you sit down and strap on to your chair. It's obvious that the level design has been completely thought over and now the camera shifts from third person view to an arcade like side scrolling platformer, just like in the good days of Sonic.

From what I've noticed, there are two types of gameplay levels. One of them involves making use of Sonic's speed warping ability (third person view) and simply running through your enemies and various obstacles, without catching your breath and the other is all about your skills of maneuvering Sonic in a Mario style perspective(2D view). I mean, you get to jump from one moving platform to another, perform wall jumps (kinda reminded me of Pince of Persia in a strange way) and even taking your time in doing some backstrokes in what seems to be an underwater world.

All and all, this Interstellar Amusement Park is a pretty good cover up for Sega to experiment with all sort of level designs and settings, not to mention that the replay value of the game has been greatly increased. Don't be fooled by what seems to be a straightforward level, because you can always choose a different path when you decide to do it all over again. It all lies in your ability to control Sonic and make use of his powerups. The more you get use to the controls, the more interesting combinations of abilities you'll be able to pull off.

To be completely honest, the gameplay gives me little to pick on. Sonic Colors simply offers all that fans expect and even more. Sure, you might argue that it doesn't come with a difficulty setting, but I see no point in this. It's not like you have to be a rocket scientist to collect gold rings and perform rail grinding. The difficulty lies in your ability to master the nunchuck and paying attention to your environment.

In two player mode, you will get to play with two (yes, you heard me) Sonic characters. Sounds exciting at first, but you'll soon discover that it's not all that's cracked up to be. There are only a handfull of levels that you can play in co-op and the fact that both characters share the same screen can be confusing at times. Trying to figure out which is which, takes the fun out of the game sometimes.

Probably, the best part about the game is that it always keeps you on your toes and you never have time to get bored of anything. I've personally spent about threeWii hours, like I was under hypnosis and what snapped me back to reality was my joystick thumb begging for a time out.

Video and Audio The graphics part is pretty awesome for a Sonic game and even more so for a Wii game. I don't remember seeing anything with so many bright and vivid colors that have been blended together so well. It's like a double or even triple rainbow (excuse the pun) of all Sonic games. It's fantastic to look at and even more breathtaking when you're actually taking Sonic out for a spin.

This time around, even Sonic sounds better than ever before. Granted that the dialogues are still corny but at least you don't feel the urge to skip through conversations altogether. The in-game sound effects and background music have also been polished. You still have the same ring-ring sound when you collect the gold circles (oh the memories) and you don't feel at all irritated by the soundtrack. If something, you definitely get a kick out of listening to the music when you're warping at high speeds.

Conclusion To wrap it all up, Sonic is back and badder than ever. Amazing colors, carefully planned level designs, tons of powerups and combos, robots over robots, and the speed run that we've all grown so accustomed to. The Wii experience makes Sonic truly accessible to everyone, regardless their age and allows you to explore a new path each time you play it.

I've thought long and hard about what's missing in Sonic Colors and the only think I could come up with is that it could have used a split screen feature when playing in two payers mode. Having two Sonics on the same screen is more than a challenge for both players. Also, I think that boss fights could have been a bit tougher. If you've pinned down the right moves with your nunchucks, in just a couple of minutes the fight is over.

Still, the replay value is great and Sonic Colors is definitely and experience that you and your kids will surely enjoy. Two thumbs up for Sega for bringing what could be the best Wii Sonic game yet.

Sonic Colors

key review info