Sonic Colors (Wii) Review

Sonic Colors is the first entry in the Sonic series to build on the new gameplay style introduced in Sonic Unleashed two years earlier. It was also developed by what is often considered Sonic Team’s “B-Team” under director Morio Kishimoto which also later created another Nintendo console exclusive Sonic the Hedgehog game for the Wii U. This review will judge what many people consider to be the greatest modern Sonic game yet created.

 

Sonic Colors features the same Boost mechanic first introduced in Sonic Unleashed, but this time Sonic’s Werehog form is not featured. Instead, Sonic Color‘s main gimmick is Sonic using the various powers of the new Wisp characters. These Wisps give Sonic power-ups one would expect from a Mario game, and are in fact not too unlike many of Mario’s new power-ups in the 2007 game Mario Galaxy and 2010 game Mario Galaxy 2. Unlike Mario Galaxy, however, Sonic Colors‘s implementation of power-ups leaves much to be desired. Sonic seems to lack a great deal of control over these power-ups, or that is what the controls would make one assume, at least. This makes areas where you are expected to use Wisps frequently frustrating to get through, despite what seems to be the developers trying their best to make those areas as straightforward and easy as possible. Sonic himself doesn’t feel that great to control either, but he isn’t as slippery and clunky as in Sonic Generations the following year. The level design is also lacking similarly to Sonic Generations’, though Sonic Colors strangely never gets level design as well-crafted and engaging as the Sonic Colors themed stage in Sonic Generations. But to Sonic Colors‘s level design’s credit it does feature many alternate paths that allow for distinct experiences when playing the same level multiple times. Sonic Color‘s bosses also don’t impress, with most of them being incredibly similar to a few base boss concepts and none of them being particularly challenging, even up until the final boss. Thankfully Sonic Colors does provide fantastic controller support, with just about any controller one could ask for being supported, including the Gamecube Controller which is only usable on the early revisions of the Wii.

 

Although Sonic Colors doesn’t look quite as good as its counterparts on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, it is still rather impressive for a Wii game. The game runs at the resolution one would expect from a Wii at a somewhat disappointing 30 FPS, though it is rather obvious why this compromise had to be made. Sonic visits a large variety of environments with various rather high quality assets are constantly passing him by. The art style suits the Wii hardware and the Sonic Colors world well. Overall Sonic Colors is an impressive visual showcase on the Wii and features an art style that will likely make its appeal outlast its counterparts in times with vastly superior hardware.

 

The music in Sonic Colors certainly isn’t poor but it does fall somewhat flat compared to the Sonic the Hedgehog games released prior to the seventh generation of consoles. Crush 40, a band famous for many of the most iconic Sonic the Hedgehog songs ever, is nowhere to be found. The reviewer also didn’t find the instrumental music to quite live up to the standards of those earlier Sonic the Hedgehog games either. Though the soundtrack is somewhat disappointing compared to earlier Sonic the Hedgehog games, it holds up well on its own merits. The voice acting featured is also rather well executed for what the voice actors were given to work with.

 

As with any other Sonic the Hedgehog game, Sonic Colors‘s plot is certainly not its greatest feature. The rather short story plays out similar to a cartoon, and not a particularly good cartoon at that. It is hard to judge Sonic Colors for this though, as the plot is about as good as one could reasonably ask for in a platforming game about a very fast hedgehog.

 

Sonic Colors is not a particularly long game. One can easily make the credits roll in only part of an afternoon. However Sonic Colors does offer collectables, a ranking system, challenge stages, level design that allows for multiple paths, and a multiplayer mode. Sonic Colors does not very well justify paying full price, but it is not particularly difficult to find it at a heavily discounted price, which is worth the money.

 

Overall the reviewer would give the game a 7 out of 10.

 

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