As of the time I've logged this, I'm fairly new to Backloggd, so I thought, hey, why not make my first review about my favourite game of all-time, right? And that game is none other than Sonic Colours DS.

I don't think many fans knew that a DS version of Sonic Colours even existed. And when they did, they only passed it off as okay or not worth noting, due to the Wii version being much more preferred by the fandom. But I personally feel like this version of the game is absolutely phenomenal in every conceivable aspect, and now I'm here to explain why I feel that's the case.

The gameplay is pretty much the same as Rush and Rush Adventure: boosting on a 2D plane as you speed through levels. As it stands, I believe that the Rush games have the best and most refined gameplay out of any Sonic game, with controls that feel incredibly tight, responsive and flowing, working wonderfully for both incredibly fast paced sections and the miscellaneous platforming challenges they throw at you. And Colours DS not only carries that over, but makes them even better with the additional moves you can pull off; Stomp, Slide and Wall Jump, all of which are utilised wonderfully throughout the levels and are really fun to make use of in their own right. It even makes the Homing Attack better (in spite of having a short delay between attacks) because while the one present in the Rush games was cool, it had one jarring issue: It could home in on enemies that you're not even facing, and there's a tendency to take damage if you're near the ground while the Homing Attack is ongoing. Colours DS fixes both of these problems with the addition of the reticle that you'd see in the 3D boost game, and there's zero chances of it ever backfiring on ground enemies, plus the fact that it's now mapped to the jump button instead of the R button, so people will actually know the Homing Attack exists (I did not know about the Homing Attack in Rush until, like, 2018). All of these additions and fixes really help make the gameplay a lot smoother as a result.

Although, tricking is no longer present, which I don't mind, since it still maintains the element of the Rush formula of making good use of the Boost while you still have some energy in your gauge, and the addition of the Wisps more than makes up for it imo They're beautifully implemented into the levels, as they can be used to find alternate pathways, make gameplay faster, or make use of some pretty cool gimmicks. And in some instances, they can be used to find hidden pathways or different ways to approach existing pathways, and doing both is incredibly satifactory to do. The fact that they have equal amounts of mandatory and optional uses makes them feel balanced without taking too much away from the core game. One thing about Colours DS as a whole that really makes it so replayable is the amount of experimentation you can do, and while I will go more in depth with that more with the level design, there's still a lot of that with the Wisps. It's already great how they can be used in the areas designated for them to reach branching pathways, but there are also several areas where a casual player wouldn't think to use a certain Wisp because it's not designated as one where it would be useful, yet it rewards you all the same for thinking outside the box. As for how each Wisp functions on their own...

Cyan Laser - You're sent flying in any given direction, but unlike the Wii version where you have all the time in the world to aim yourself, you're given 2 seconds before you're automatically sent flying in the aimed trajectory, or you can press any of the face buttons to shoot faster, and I prefer this approach way more because you really need to think fast about where you want to aim, and this ensures that the flow and fast pace of the levels is kept. Plus the Laser specific gimmicks in the DS version are a lot better utilised in the levels as they build onto the amazing exploration and experimentation that make Colours DS's levels and gameplay so amazing.

Yellow Drill - This turns you into a, well, drill that allows you to navigate diggable areas and traverse water faster. There's not much difference between this and the Wii version in terms of functionality, but I think this one has the advantage over the Wii's Drill because the physics are a lot more manageable to control at higher speeds, helped by the transition from normal speed to fast speed when holding down one of the face buttons feeling more natural. On top of this, there's a great sense of risk and reward with this WIsp. If you have the controls mastered, you can get through particularly challenging sections in a breeze or access new pathways. But if you accidentally bump into a wall, it can be a pace breaker and it's quite the challenge to gain back control quickly. In other words, utilising the Wisp in a fast but steady manner is immensely rewarding thanks to the way it controls in the DS version and the challenges designed around it.

Orange Rocket - This sends you flying upwards at high speeds before free falling after the gauge runs out, and it's the one Wisp shared with the Wii version that has the most technical differences between them. Compared to the slow build-up, and slow free falling that you can't break out of at all and have no horizontal control when trying to speed it up of the Wii version, the DS version has the Rocket take a single second to start shooting up at high speeds, enhanced by a really nice looking squash and stretch animation. And free falling is the biggest upgrade here because you have much better horizontal movement, and you can break out of it any time by either stomping or jump dashing, plus the falling speed is more akin to Unleashed, which makes it feel a lot faster.

Red Burst - This turns you into a red fiery ball that allows you to bounce anywhere in the air until the gauge runs out, and the amount of aerial control you have with your bursts is what makes this such a blast to use. You can either choose to do small bursts by pressing any of the face buttons once or charge them up a slight bit to get a faster and longer distance one. Not only does it feel great to pull both of these off, but you can utilise both burst speed and distances to your advantage in a level when properly utilised, and at absolute best, you can find a lot of new hidden pathways or even create your own with it. And the massive flame shockwave you can pull off by fully charging up a burst makes it even better as while you're charging it up, your falling speed slows, but your horizontal speed is maintained and when the shockwave is released, it clears out every enemy and obstacle in you current vicinity, and there's a lot of satisfaction to be found with using both of these elements to get through the levels faster.

Violet Void - This turns you into, well, a huge void that can suck in everything within your current radius, and while there's a lot of appeal and fun to be gained from that alone, there's more to this Colour Power on a substantial that makes it fantastic to make use of. The size of the void dictates your speed, so there's a lot of satisfaction with building up more speed as you suck in more objects. It also dictates the range of which things are sucked in, meaning that you can also suck in enemies and Wisp capsules that are inaccessible otherwise, the latter being really useful to finding additional pathways. But my favourite thing about it is how it controls. You can move it in any direction, but once you tap said direction, it will not stop for anything, meaning that moving it in a different direction is no easy task. However, it's not a case of having worse controls, it's a case of it being a Colour Power that's not the easiest to get a proper grasp of since it's using the negative energy of the Wisps, much like the Purple Frenzy in the Wii version. Mastering the Wisp and using it to find hidden paths and get through platforming challenges effectively is a lot more fun than it should be.


Complimenting this amazing gameplay is the fantastic level design. The main things I want to see in a Sonic game is to see a nice balance of speed and platforming, with some little touches of exploration. And Colours DS handles all of these elements perfectly. Whether you're looking for the Red Rings or finding alternative pathways through your own skill or the Wisps, there's plenty of worthwhile and satisfactory exploration in this game. And adding onto the experimentation element I talked about earlier, the way it ties into the level design is playing around with the "highest pathway = fastest pathway" philosophy present in several other Sonic games. This philosophy did work well enough in previous games, and definitely worked well in the other two Rush games, but it's taken a step further in Colours DS because the fastest pathway isn't always the highest one you can take, incentivizing you to explore every inch of any given level to get the best time, and, in turn, the best rank. Although, speaking of the ranking system, this is another thing that's perfectly carried over from the Rush games. In those games, you had to take advantage of every single element of the gameplay to rack up enough points for them, including holding onto as many Rings and pulling off as many tricks as possible, while also getting the fastest time on a level to obtain that juicy S rank. Colours DS carries this same philosophy, having to hold onto Rings and utilise Wisps in the best way possible to get points for both of those categories, with the "getting the fastest time" element enhanced with the experimentation present in the level design. It's definitely no walk in the park if you're a casual player, and I love that. It makes getting an S rank for the first time in a stage super satisfying. And if you get good enough, you won't even need a lot of Rings to get an S rank.

Plus, the platforming is overall really creative, with stage assets that fit perfectly into the levels they're in without sacrificing any sense of speed and offering some really fun challenges that get better and better the further you get into the game without ever feeling cheap. What's really impressive about the platforming challenges in this game is that this is made by a studio who has become quite infamous for throwing cheap bullshit at certain points or at every turn with their Sonic games, particularly the Advance trilogy and 4 Episode 1, which are filled with plenty of needless bottomless pits and enemy/hazard placements that you'd never be able to account for. Even the previous two Rush games aren't safe from some of these caveats. But Colours DS is completely devoid of any baffling moments like this, to the point where bottomless pits are almost non-existent throughout the entire game. All the challenges the game throws at you are things you can fully account for and are intricately designed around everything the game allows you to do, and mastering these challenges to the best of your ability to keep up the flow of the levels is always a blast. As for my thoughts on each individual world in the game...

Tropical Resort - An amazing starter stage that introduces plenty of its design philosophies in the best way imaginable by giving you a lot of branching pathways and a lot of ways to approach them, having simple, but engaging platforming, and establishing the sense of speed to familiarize you with how fast it's gonna be, all before you even get the boost ability. And when you do, all of these aspects are amplified as more pathways are opened up in Act 1, and there are plenty of them to go around in Act 2. Not even mentioning just how much you have to experiment with once you unlock the Red Burst.

Sweet Mountain - The way the level specific gimmicks like the gummy rocket and the hot air balloon that you can send upwards if you're in Burst form, incredibly creative platforming built around food themed assets, and the utilisation of the Red Burst in general make this level an absolute blast.


Starlight Carnival - The exploration and experimentation are two of the best things Colours DS has going for it, and Starlight Carnival has these at their absolute peak because it is by far the most open ended level in the game, enhanced by the gimmick of grind rails being activated with enough speed when going through switches, as they open up even more pathways that add to the already fantastic experimentation. Although if I had to lodge even a slight criticism with this game as a whole, it's the fact that there's an autoscrolling ship section near the end of Act 2 that takes up an entire minute

Planet Wisp - Undoubtedly the best level in the entire game, and definitely my favourite level in the entire Sonic series. It encapsulates everything that makes a Sonic level great, having the best platforming challenges out of every other level in the game, particularly clever Wisp capsule placement, tripling down on the phenomenal Wisp utilisation by incentivizing you to hold onto an Orange Rocket before you find a specific place to use it at several points, and even having two branched out Wisp sections in some areas, topped off with fantastically designed Yellow Drill sections (especially the ones at the end of both Acts).

Aquarium Park - Imagine Water Palace from Rush, or Coral Cave from Rush Adventure, but with Colours DS's platforming challenges and Wisp utilization all over it. That's pretty much this level as it also offers a lot of fast paced and fun platforming both in and out of the water, enhanced by how you can use both the Yellow Drill and especially the Cyan Laser throughout the stage


Asteroid Coaster - Despite being the most linear level in the game, it still manages to be on par with the levels prior to it by ramping up the difficulty of the platforming challenges to provide a perfect test of the skills you've been learning throughout the game, almost giving Planet Wisp a run for its money with how immaculately designed said challenges are, and the little exploration and experimentation present being some of the best in the entire game.

Terminal Velocity - A highly challenging, but rewarding final level that perfectly encapsulates the intensity of the current situation within the story. The amusement park is now crumbling to pieces and yet in spite of all that, Eggman’s still out to get you, which the latter further adds to the intensity because if you slow down for too long, the snake head of one of the Nega Wisp Armor’s arms is gonna come for you, so you need to keep a consistent speed while not using up all your boost energy and avoiding all the other obstacles your way. Doing all this is no easy task, but it’s also incredibly fair with how you can see what’s coming from the bottom screen due to the top down perspective, and it is incredibly satisfying to be able to get through the entire thing without taking any sort of damage.

I think I've made it clear that the base game is amazing, but the content beyond just the main levels is also top tier. Starting with the Special Stages. They're a lot similar to Rush where you're on a halfpipe and you use touch screen controls. They were a lot of fun in Rush due to how much precision you were given for the overall design of them, and they're based in Colours DS for the same reason. Although nowhere near as demanding as Rush's stages, there's still a fair amount of challenge here to keep players on their toes, as you still have to use the Touch Screen's ultra precise controls to your advantage. And unlike Mania's special stages, the difficulty progression here is actually consistent. Plus, I love the approach they take with them here. Going for a 3 lap structure to collect different coloured orbs while going through the stage faster with each one is a blast. And with the added challenge of ensuring you don't collect certain coloured orbs before you need to collect that colour, it's insanely satisfying to end up getting all the orbs I need to move on and get the Chaos Emerald, especially when it feels like I'm just barely gonna get enough of them.

There are 3 side missions in each world that you can tackle if you want more to do. The fact that these missions have little cutscenes including pretty solid interactions between Sonic and his friends, depending on who he meets in the locations he's in, makes this game stand out from the Wii version in terms of the story, and I'll elaborate more on that later. Plus, these missions are a lot of fun, ranging from collecting a lot of Rings, to beating stages in a small amount of time while using time boxes to your advantage, to defeating a lot of enemies before the time runs out. Not only do they have creative uses of the game's based level design, but some of these missions, you really gotta up your game with how fast and skillful you can be if you want the highest rank. And they have 2 Red Star Rings each if you like exploring the levels for them. I love how much replay value these missions give to the game. Speaking of the Red Star Rings, you don't unlock Super Sonic by collecting them like you do in the Wii version. Instead, you unlock music for the sound test, cutscene events and concept art for the game, something that would carry over to Generations, and much like that game, I'd say they're pretty worthwhile rewards for exploring the levels, and there’s even a worthwhile reward for getting all of them which I won’t mention here.

Then there are the bosses. Pretty much all of them offer a fun challenge for the casual player, having a lot of creativity with their designs and attacks. And the Wisp utilisation for all of them is especially fantastic. But the best thing about them is If you have the correct speed and timing in regards to attacking the bosses and then using the Wisps, you can skillfully take them out within seconds, adding a sense that you're taking these fuckers out at the same speed that Sonic would in real time. And I love how this still holds true for the one boss that actually requires the Yellow Drill to beat it, the Drillinator, which is defo my favourite main boss in the game with how you can utilise the Yellow Drill to beat it faster.

And the two final bosses are just incredible. Nega Wisp Armor utilises every single Wisp you've ever used in the game into attacks that can be harder to dodge than any other obstacle the previous bosses have thrown at you. And it has you utilising what you've learnt with taking out the previous bosses because you need to actively save the Wisps by boosting into the boss every time it stops attacking, which is also how you had to obtain the Wisps for the other bosses. And the best part is that the amazing skillful timing element that was present with the prior bosses still applies here. And it's all topped off with an amazing final blow where you gotta mash the boost button with the massive Rainbow Boost powered by all the Wisps you just saved, and plowing straight through it to save the remaining ones that Eggman trapped in his machine.Then you have Nega Mother Wisp, which ups the intensity by a lot. Having to avoid attacks that either limit your movement or just bring you to a stop while needing to aim your own attacks to send asteroids flying at her arms is intensely challenging, and it's even more so when you get to a section where you gotta avoid said attacks as you're flying towards her weak spot, because there's a lot of pressure in doing that and making sure you lock onto said weak spot! And having to do this 3 times has me on edge every time I replay it. It's easily my favourite final boss in the series for all these reasons!

Now, I want to talk about the versus mode, the game's solution to a multiplayer mode in the vein of the Wii version's Sonic Simulator levels. Except you play through actual game levels here instead of just block levels with a LEGO theme. In this mode, you fight against an opponent that’s shown on the bottom screen and use items to hold them back as you try to reach the goal before them. I love the intensity that comes as a result of the items as you and your opponent are constantly at odds trying to screw the other over while trying to make itn through the platforming challenges that the levels themselves bring forth. Speaking of, I really like the fact that it has some levels that are exclusive to this mode in particular, all of which offer the aforementioned plaforming challenges that could easily pass off as main levels because they're just as well designed here. It would have been easy to just use the main levels because nobody would have cared, but they took the extra mile and it paid off wonderfully to further enhance this mode.

Okay, now that I’ve covered everything I wanted to with the gameplay, I want to talk about the story. The premise is the same as the Wii version, with Sonic and Tails entering Eggman’s newly built amusement park in space and discovering that he’s using it as a base to hold Wisps captive to power up his mind control beam, but as someone who actually has some appreciation for how the story is written in the Wii version, I cannot deny how amazingly the DS version writes the story. It gets straight to the point with how it goes through the plot without dragging things out with jokes that are either too childish for most people to laugh out or just break the tone of a certain scene, with the comedy that is here being legitimately effective. And the main element I liked about Wii’s story, the interactions between Sonic and Tails, are still present in the DS version, potentially even more so here, and it’s always entertaining to see how they play off each other. Plus, when going to a planet for the first time, you get to see Sonic and Tails actually interacting with each Wisp that you’ll get to use in said planets. They’re not major, but it adds a lot of charm to the story as we get to see Sonic actually connecting with these Wisps to some degree, and it’s definitely a step above them only interacting with Yacker in the Wii version.

One major problem I had with the Wii version’s story is that Eggman’s amusement park is established as something that would be impossible to miss, yet absolutely no-one but Sonic and Tails bothered to come here, and it’s hard to buy that only they would be interested in this huge ass amusement park in space that just got built. And the DS version actually fixes that problem through the game’s side missions, because you get to encounter a few of Sonic’s friends that were intrigued by the park. This not only helps the amusement park feel more lively with the amount of characters you come across, but it also leads to a lot of entertaining interactions between the cast, and it helps that they all have really great characterization across the board. Another element that makes their inclusions so great is that in almost every side mission, the characters are coming across what they describe as intriguing rides that they want Sonic to check out, and this furthers adds to the feeling of being in a theme park because Sonic actually tries out these "rides" in the side missions, as opposed to just speeding through every single inch of what Eggman built. And in Shadow and Omega’s case, their contributions actually add a lot to the story, because the side missions in Asteroid Coaster build up to Sonic and Tails breaking into Eggman’s headquarters and finding the database for the Nega Mother Wisp that actually does come into fruition if you’ve gotten all the Chaos Emeralds.

Some other improvements I found over the Wii version include Orbot and Cubot actually being competent and somewhat of a threat when they’re the ones to instigate challenges within the side missions, Sonic wanting to find Yacker before they leave the amusement park, Tails wanting to fight with Sonic when Eggman comes with the Nega Wisp Armor instead of lacking any confidence in beating him, and Tails making a remark that Sonic’s always super charged when he mentions how he felt a rush of energy from getting power from the White Wisps instead of the stupid scene where Tails doesn’t believe the idea of Sonic getting some strange powers from the Cyan Wisp. And the additional climax of Sonic facing off the Nega Mother Wisp is absolutely amazing with adding the sentiment that all the Wisps have a mother that has raised them, and wrapping the story up in the best way possible by having all the planets disappear after she’s been freed from the Nega energy. So, in all, Colours DS’s story may be a simple one, but the way it’s written is absolutely incredible on all fronts, giving us an engaging plot, fun character interactions, improving on the shortcoming that came with the Wii version’s story, adding so much to the writing that gives it a lot of charm, and all of it paying off in the best of ways.

And I guess I’ll cap this review off by covering the superficial elements, starting with the visuals. Definitely a hot take, but I prefer the visual style of this game over the Wii version. Not to say that the visuals in the Wii version didn’t look great, especially given what console it was on, but I could also make the same case for the DS version. I;ve always loved the visual style that the Rush games went for, and Colours DS carries that over in the best of ways. The sprite work for the map screen is fantastic, and amazingly captures the vibes of each planet. And it gets even better when you actually enter a level, and the amount of colour present in each level is incredibly appealing, on top of being able to balance out which parts are natural for the planet and which parts Eggman tampered with, offering a perfect visual balance between the natural parts of the respective world and the machinery that communicate the themes which were present all the way back in the 16-bit games. And the visual style for the bosses is just so fucking great with how it’s all 3D rendered, with said rendering being on point for a DS game. I totally get why they capped the frame rate to 30fps for the bosses and it doesn’t feel jarring in the slightest.

And finally, we have the music, which easily could have just been compressed versions of the Wii’s already amazing musc, but aside from the map screen theme, every single song in this game has been remixed to fit with the DS’s soundchip, and they all go just as hard as they did in the Wii version. In fact, much like the visuals, I somewhat prefer the music in the DS version with how amazing these melodies have been translated to fit the soundchip, especially Planet Wisp, Nega Wisp Armor Phase 1, and Terminal Velocity. And to top it off, there’s one song exclusive to this version that is one of my favourite tracks in the entire franchise: the Special Stage music. I do not have the words to describe how hard this song goes, please listen to that banger if you haven't already.

Overall, I’d say that Sonic Colours DS is not only my favourite Sonic game, but also my favourite video game in general. It’s got everything I could ever want in a franchise that I’ve been attached to for over 10 years with its masterful level design, tight gameplay, brilliantly handled game elements and gimmicks, fantastic bosses, perfectly balanced ranking system, a really charming story, great visuals and banger music, but it also has a lot of replay value with all its side content and unlockables, on top of the levels being so fun to play that they never get old, and I’ve probably played all of them over 300 times at this point. I’ve seen so many people who haven’t even heard of this version of Colours, so for those people who haven’t played, please check this out. It means the world to me and I'd love to get others to be able to experience this masterpiece in one way or another.

Doesn't really feel like this game got the love it needed in development; has the good framework of the previous rush games but removes tricks and adds wisps, and I hate wisps (not really, but I do think they hurt the flow of the levels). The whole game is just kinda boring; the dialogue is uninteresting and lethargic (does every character really need to be in this game), the special stages are too long, super sonic transformation is just a few pngs moving around. It's hard to think of anything I think this game did exceptionally well. The worst of the rush trilogy, but hearing color's ost remade for the ds was entertaining.

I like this game, it's fun. It's more of a Sonic game than the Wii version, it's actually fast paced. While the Wii version focuses on blocky platforming and exploration, this game focuses more on speedrunning and memorisation like Rush. Even the Wisps are done well to compliment the speed, they don't hinder the pace that much unlike the block wisp or float wisp. Do I think this is better than the Wii version though? No, I do think the exploration is really fun in the Wii version, and it has more levels and WAY better boss fights. This game is a fun time though, it can be beaten under 3 hours, a fun romp.

Gotta hand it to Dimps for this one. While both Rush and Adventure suffer from lots of things that dilute the experience, Colors DS feels like a genuinely phenomnal Sonic game without any bullshit hampering it. Just pure bliss from beginning to end with excellent level design and gimmicks that feel designed for the levels they're in. If I had any issue its how short the game is but the ranking system and amount of side content makes up for this somewhat. One of the best Sonic games no questions asked.

9/10

-english-
my favorite 2D sonic game, the wisps feels organic in the gameplay, improved controls of the rush series and pretty awesome bosses

-spanish-
Juegazo, mi wisp favorito es cyan laser :3

A far cry from the Wii version, this basically is a Sonic Rush style game without the mechanics that made the Rush games (well, more so Rush Adventure, I still don't like Rush) interesting. Gone is the trick system which allowed for great and seamless movement abilities and quick traversal across stages, instead what's replaced it is a mediocre rendition of Sonic's modern boost moveset. The homing attack now has a targeting reticle and for some reason is super slow with tons of endlag (This is genuinely one of the worst homing attacks in the entire series), the stomp sucks for platforming unlike Wii's godlike stomp and has this really unnecessary shockwave attack that doesn't really add anything, wall jump is once again contextual and feels worse to use than on Wii, slide only exists for the game to blindside you with slide based obstacles that you will NEVER see coming without strict memorization of the stage, and then we have the Color powers. Laser is watered down from Wii, Drill controls like garbage and is locked to 4 directions, burst is an uncontrollable mess, Void is frenzy but somehow even worse considering the game actually expects you to maneuver around instakill hazards, and rocket is the only one I would consider a step up from Wii.

The act structure is something I often hear people who prefer Colors DS claim is an improvement from Wii's over-bloated six acts per stage, but I couldn't disagree more. Sure, 6 acts per stage was arguably too much, but only 2 per zone make it way too easy to breeze through these stages considering how super short they are. And it isn't even a Sonic Generations factor where I can say that the stages were decent length and have fantastic level design and replay value to soften the whole "2 acts per zone" deal, because I don't think that's the case at all. The game takes the other acts and makes them optional side missions, which sounds good on paper until you realize that these optional missions are the definition of uninspired and draining. How would you like to bumble around a giant maze in drill or void form looking for 5 Wisps in that area in order to beat it? I certainly wouldn't.

The game's levels also have an assortment of level gimmicks, and surprise surprise they're all bad. The Jellybean rocket in Sweet Mountain is ripped straight from Sonic Rush's Dead Line rocket, and I've already stated I don't like it, plus you have bouncy jelly pads which, since they removed the trick system are not really fun or interesting and are often just a hinderance as you need to jump on them multiple times just to clear sections. You have Starlight Carnival's "mash A to progress" cannons and a...forced autoscrolling section (seriously what is it with these Rush games and forcing in autoscrolling sections? Nobody likes them, stop putting them in). You have the constant Drill sections in Planet Wisp. After you've beaten a stage with 100 rings you can play a special stage, and if you've been catching my attitude throughout this review, I don't think these are very good either. These work similarly to the Sonic Rush special stages (which I admittedly found fairly decent) except these are way too easy and just drag on for an eternity since you need to loop through and grab different colored orbs 3 times just to beat the stage, it's a slog. The music is also horrible, courtesy of the composers trying and miserably failing to recreate the Wii's grand feeling orchestra, jazz and techno through midi, bitcrushing them to hell and back and shoving them back into the DS. Honestly it would've been better if they had just made original tracks instead of trying to recreate the Wii's music. It's not Sonic Chronicles bad, but considering Rush and Rush Adventure are both on the same system, there is NO excuse as to why it sounds this bad.

Overall I ranted on for a long deal, but I don't think this game is godawful. Just painfully mediocre. Wii version is far better in so many areas.

I'm kind of unsure how I feel about this one.

At it's core, I do think it is a good game - being the de facto third "Rush" game - but I feel like in comparison to both the previous Rush games and it's Wii counterpart, there's something... lacking about it. Sonic's movement doesn't feel quite as fluid or mechanically interesting, especially with the "trick" system from the other Rush games being removed. The Wisps are definitely not as good as in the Wii version, with most of the ones it shares feeling pretty watered down (especially in the case of the Drill wisp, which is only locked to four directions). There are a couple new ones, but the Burst with feels hard to control and the Void is just a more sluggish version of Frenzy.

The levels can be pretty fun, but despite having their share of alternate pathways and whatnot, I still can't help but feel like they're pretty empty and I find little motivation to replay them, especially since some of gimmicks that kind of slow down the pacing. The bosses especially are pretty lame, all having similar issues with the first Rush games where I just end up feeling like I'm waiting to attack. The Special Stages too also feel too easy and drawn out.

Overall, it's a fine game, but I can't say I enjoy it as much as Colors Wii or even the previous Rush games.

This game is way better than the console version of Colors, the level design is really fun and does not suffer the downsides of a lot of the other Dimps Sonic games suffer from as well as not having the awful filler levels the console version has, though there are extra missions that feel similar to them but the best part about them is that they're optional! The wisps feel very well executed here unlike the console version where they can feel like a slog, here they're always trying to keep the speed going and it's great. The music features some really nice renditions of the console music and I have to say they're really nice to listen to. The boss fights in this game follow 3 of the same basic patterns, normally you could consider this lazy but I think the bosses in this game are executed incredibly well because they're never huge pace-breakers. Having the Chaos Emeralds actually have some relevance to the plot in the story this time which is great, it's a shame Super Sonic isn't available in normal play. The extended cast being present is also a very good way of fleshing out the amusement park due to it feeling very barren in the console version. For a game that'll take you around 2 hours if you're only going for all the Chaos Emeralds, this game rocks!

i love nostalgia

MY TOP 5 IS

PLANET WISP

PLANET WISP

PLANET WISP

PLANET WISP

PLANET WISP