The Greek tragedy of this game is that, even in the European version with its coveted extra letter, at least one of the Wisps' colors isn't represented in the title, as a the only member of the Wisps Protection and Petting Group, this is unacceptable and the game immediately gets a 0/10 on that alone... but oh well, might as well talk about the game itself.
You might be wondering why I would play Colors as my next Sonic game after Adventure, why instead of jumping into Adventure 2 or at the very least Unleashed, the game that started the so-called the ‘’Boost’’ formula, I skipped over all of them and went directly into the funny alien game, and the reason is quite simple really; I’ve talked about my hedgehog related experiences every time I’ve reviewed one of the game in the series, but one fact I negated to mention is that Colors was the first game I ever touched that had the cocky bastard in it (aside of Smash Bros Brawl, that is).
This blue motherfucker really has some special charm, because it captivated my small dumb kid brain when I saw it for the first time in a Sonic X episode (the best first impression I could have gotten to be honest ), and after that, I knew that I NEEDED to play one of his games, and lo and behold, turs out there’s a brand-new shiny game coming out a month before Christmas! The time was right, the stars had aligned and I just had to reach for them; I asked for the game as a present for the holiday and on 25th morning it was there, I opened the box, put the disc in my Wii, watched that beautiful cinematic that sparked my imagination and to this day I feel nostalgic about, at last I started playing and…AND… I sucked ass.
So, yeah, remember back in my Sonic 2 review when I said that I sucked at Sonic games? Well, that fact became pretty much apparent to me the very first time I even touched Colors, and alas, I never got past Sweet Mountain. And so, finally returning after so many years to it and finishing feels… weird, not because I’ve gotten better or anything like that, I’m still terrible and got many Game Overs because of my own stupidity, but because coming back, even if it brought back the memories of pure excitement from all those years ago and I actually got to fully appreciate aspects of the game I couldn’t consider until now, made me realize how deeply flawed Colors is from the very get goes, and how it’s a work with both incredible ideas as well as misguided ones.
But I do want to start things positively because the high points of Colors are indeed VERY high. The title doesn’t lie, it really does have some pretty colors, and even if I admit that while I playing I had the small thought of wishing there was some kind of HD version to play, the game moves around the Wii’s limitations incredibly well while not sacrificing any aspect of the visual spectacle. Eggman’s interplanetary theme park is probably the most creative and out-there idea that the series had until that point and it goes nuts with it, it feels like these worlds were either handcrafted by the mad doctor himself or deeply twisted by him, and the result is some incredibly varied worlds that manage to convey that idea of artificiality while still looking really good. Plantet Wisp and Asteroid Coaster are two fantastic examples for different reasons, and even if I wish the artificiality aspect backed off a little in the level design itself (we’ll get to that) I can’t deny in any way that Colors has an amazing setting that it uses to its fulles potential. And also… look, I think the only universally agreed thing about the series is that the music is consistently amazing, and that’s for a reason, but the music in Colors is just on another freacking level. No matter the act, no matter the world, each and every single song in the OST is an absolute banger, be it the fantastic main theme that is Reach for the Stars, the pure magic of Planet Wisp: Act 1, or every single of the boss fight themes specially both of the final boss themes. It also worth mentioning that the sound mixing and design is spectacular, it gives to every action a ton of feedback and when the music changes because of the boost or the Wisps not only it doesn’t feel jarring at all, but it adds a whole other layer to the experience, and speaking of which…
To my knowledge, the Wisps are a point of contention while talking about this game, and a lot of people actually really dislike them, citing that not only they gatekeep abilities that Sonic once had without needing then, but they also break the pace of the levels making you constantly stop just to use them, and here’s the thing, I do agree with both of those notions to a certain extent… but I still actually really like them! Even ignoring their fantastic and lovable designs, I really like what they add from a power-up perspective, each Wisp has its own way to interact with the level, and having one or not and using it correctly may be difference that decides if you get to see certain secrets or even beat bosses faster. I love that the White Wisp serves as an in-game universe explanation of the Boost mechanic, I love how the Cian Wisp can be used as an interesting fast travel tool, I love the sheer power and speed that both Nega Wisp and Yellow Wisp give and that grant the ability to reach places otherwise inaccessible… Even the Pink and Green Wisp, both who had abilities once normal to Sonic’s move-set, like the spin dash or the light dash, are still really fun to use because they open paths that use the abilities to their fullest potential and they have unique abilities of their own, like the spikes and the hovering. To be completely honest, the other one I didn’t like was… and it pains me to say this… the c u b e. I mean, LOOK AT THEM, I LOVE THEM, WHY DOES THEIR POWER HAVE TO SUCK SO BAD. However, even if I really like the Wisp and I am willing to sacrifice momentum in the levels for the sake of them giving more variety, I’ll be the fist to admit that I do not fully understand why they had to be unlockable and making red rings (the collectables in this game) unobtainable until you get them. It’s really odd to block the possibility of 100% completion until the final levels of the game, and makes it so a lot of the Acts have to played at least twice to get everything (not that they are very long either way, but still). I honestly don’t know what would have been better, if levels should have been designed with a normal progression like any other normal platformer, or if Wisps should have been permanent upgrades that you can use and change rather than be stationary power ups, tho I guess that last one would have broken a ton of levels and would have proven to be very difficult to implement considering the Wii Mote’s restrictions. But to be completely sincere, I wish that was the only problem that Colors had related to its levels and structure, because then this song and dance wouldn’t need to be as negative as is about to get.
They really tried to reach for the stars, only to get lost floating in space; six full-blown words with 6 unique acts and a boss each (plus the final zone and boss and some extra modes and goodies) becomes a much less impressive prospect when not only so much level design is almost completely recycled from past acts and when the quality of the levels themselves is so over the place. I have to ask if the team maybe wanted to implement some kind of remix levels, backed off, and ended up using what they had as normal levels to give the base game more content, because as it stands I couldn’t scratch off the feeling of Déjà Vu when playing a lot of these levels, like I’m merely repeating actions I just did on a past Act beat by beat, and honestly I don’t know why I’m complaining because that it’s at least better than the FUCKING SPRING LEVELS GAAAAAAAAAAH- sorry, I just had a bit of PTSD there. Look, there are a ton of fantastic Acts here, the first one in every world tends to be fantastic and then there are always some others that rival it in quality on the same world, and the 3D sections are consistently tolerable, but… will you cut it out with the 2D sections man?! It’s become a meme at this point that Colors is a 2D game as much as it is a 3D one, and honestly, I personally wouldn’t have had any problem with it, but it is in those sections where the pacing truly halts to a crawl, where the game wants to turn into a slower more precise platformer when this Sonic isn’t just designed for that; jumps feels floaty and trying to control this fucking mammal while he is on the air has brought a lot of pain to my poor feeble mind, in fact is these sections that make the Blue Wisp my least favorite, the idea of the power-up is fine, it’s just that every time I use it I have to put up with controls that make me want to break my own spine. The key word, I think, is ‘’limitation’’, there are a ton of limits of what you can and can’t do, levels ask you to beat them in a particular way, and that’s a problem when that particular way is so slow, unfun and infuriating. Even when I take into account all of the deaths that happened because I suck so bad, I just can’t think of a ton of levels that feel particularly amazingly designed or are that fun, and most of them (once again, specially on the 2D sections) sharing what I can only describe like a ‘’level-editor feeling’’ doesn’t help matters either. Some sections feel solely as obstacle courses, and when those obstacle courses don’t have many different paths and clash so hard with the 3D more natural parts, it becomes so jarring and made already unfun parts even more repetitive and dreadful to go through.
It's like that, despite having really good ideas in both concept and execution, the team really didn’t care for certain sections of aspects, like they tried stuff out because they wanted to without really considering if it would be fun overall, like if some of the stuff was a joke… like the stORY WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-
Listen, listen, I adore of a more simplistic Sonic story with Saturday morning cartoon comedy and feeling, I really do, I think it can be a fantastic idea and can be a ton of fun… to bad here is goddam atrocious. I wanted to enjoy this story so hard, but when the cinematics are so weirdly paced and animated, when the dialogue makes me want to tape the characters mouths, when some of the jokes are so close at being funny but the timing just screws up everything, when others are just so painfully unfunny, and when everything is just filled with goofy a$$ sounds that undermined key story moments, I just have to ask… did they wanted me to care? Again, if they didn’t then fine, but there are actual stakes here, and the final boss and end are too grand for a story that just doesn’t deserve it, and unlike Toodee and Topdee where something similar happened, I can’t say that the poor story is a great parallel of the poor gameplay, because I really meant, Sonic Colors as flawed as it is, it’s far from terrible, hell it isn’t even bad, but it left me really, REALLY confused.
Here we have a game that tried to pull out all of the stops while seemingly being to coward to fully embrace itself, a game that feels grand but it has a ton of re-used material, a game that stives to experiment while leaving so much of its ideas not half baked, but just broken or without consideration if they would fit with the other pieces. Colors has fantastic moments and I had my fun with it, it stressed me to hell and back and I think the word part about it is that I simply can’t left it with a nice conclusion that ties it all up. Is not as much of a mess as other games, but it is a mess in its own special way, and while I perhaps dislike it more than others would and do, the positives do look so bright and feel so right…
Also, I’m accepting signs and newcomers for the Wisps Protection and Petting Group, you can send you applications to [REDACTED] and you’ll be in petting Wisp duty in no time!... except petting the blue one. I’m only allowed to pet those. No, I will not be accepting protests.
You might be wondering why I would play Colors as my next Sonic game after Adventure, why instead of jumping into Adventure 2 or at the very least Unleashed, the game that started the so-called the ‘’Boost’’ formula, I skipped over all of them and went directly into the funny alien game, and the reason is quite simple really; I’ve talked about my hedgehog related experiences every time I’ve reviewed one of the game in the series, but one fact I negated to mention is that Colors was the first game I ever touched that had the cocky bastard in it (aside of Smash Bros Brawl, that is).
This blue motherfucker really has some special charm, because it captivated my small dumb kid brain when I saw it for the first time in a Sonic X episode (the best first impression I could have gotten to be honest ), and after that, I knew that I NEEDED to play one of his games, and lo and behold, turs out there’s a brand-new shiny game coming out a month before Christmas! The time was right, the stars had aligned and I just had to reach for them; I asked for the game as a present for the holiday and on 25th morning it was there, I opened the box, put the disc in my Wii, watched that beautiful cinematic that sparked my imagination and to this day I feel nostalgic about, at last I started playing and…AND… I sucked ass.
So, yeah, remember back in my Sonic 2 review when I said that I sucked at Sonic games? Well, that fact became pretty much apparent to me the very first time I even touched Colors, and alas, I never got past Sweet Mountain. And so, finally returning after so many years to it and finishing feels… weird, not because I’ve gotten better or anything like that, I’m still terrible and got many Game Overs because of my own stupidity, but because coming back, even if it brought back the memories of pure excitement from all those years ago and I actually got to fully appreciate aspects of the game I couldn’t consider until now, made me realize how deeply flawed Colors is from the very get goes, and how it’s a work with both incredible ideas as well as misguided ones.
But I do want to start things positively because the high points of Colors are indeed VERY high. The title doesn’t lie, it really does have some pretty colors, and even if I admit that while I playing I had the small thought of wishing there was some kind of HD version to play, the game moves around the Wii’s limitations incredibly well while not sacrificing any aspect of the visual spectacle. Eggman’s interplanetary theme park is probably the most creative and out-there idea that the series had until that point and it goes nuts with it, it feels like these worlds were either handcrafted by the mad doctor himself or deeply twisted by him, and the result is some incredibly varied worlds that manage to convey that idea of artificiality while still looking really good. Plantet Wisp and Asteroid Coaster are two fantastic examples for different reasons, and even if I wish the artificiality aspect backed off a little in the level design itself (we’ll get to that) I can’t deny in any way that Colors has an amazing setting that it uses to its fulles potential. And also… look, I think the only universally agreed thing about the series is that the music is consistently amazing, and that’s for a reason, but the music in Colors is just on another freacking level. No matter the act, no matter the world, each and every single song in the OST is an absolute banger, be it the fantastic main theme that is Reach for the Stars, the pure magic of Planet Wisp: Act 1, or every single of the boss fight themes specially both of the final boss themes. It also worth mentioning that the sound mixing and design is spectacular, it gives to every action a ton of feedback and when the music changes because of the boost or the Wisps not only it doesn’t feel jarring at all, but it adds a whole other layer to the experience, and speaking of which…
To my knowledge, the Wisps are a point of contention while talking about this game, and a lot of people actually really dislike them, citing that not only they gatekeep abilities that Sonic once had without needing then, but they also break the pace of the levels making you constantly stop just to use them, and here’s the thing, I do agree with both of those notions to a certain extent… but I still actually really like them! Even ignoring their fantastic and lovable designs, I really like what they add from a power-up perspective, each Wisp has its own way to interact with the level, and having one or not and using it correctly may be difference that decides if you get to see certain secrets or even beat bosses faster. I love that the White Wisp serves as an in-game universe explanation of the Boost mechanic, I love how the Cian Wisp can be used as an interesting fast travel tool, I love the sheer power and speed that both Nega Wisp and Yellow Wisp give and that grant the ability to reach places otherwise inaccessible… Even the Pink and Green Wisp, both who had abilities once normal to Sonic’s move-set, like the spin dash or the light dash, are still really fun to use because they open paths that use the abilities to their fullest potential and they have unique abilities of their own, like the spikes and the hovering. To be completely honest, the other one I didn’t like was… and it pains me to say this… the c u b e. I mean, LOOK AT THEM, I LOVE THEM, WHY DOES THEIR POWER HAVE TO SUCK SO BAD. However, even if I really like the Wisp and I am willing to sacrifice momentum in the levels for the sake of them giving more variety, I’ll be the fist to admit that I do not fully understand why they had to be unlockable and making red rings (the collectables in this game) unobtainable until you get them. It’s really odd to block the possibility of 100% completion until the final levels of the game, and makes it so a lot of the Acts have to played at least twice to get everything (not that they are very long either way, but still). I honestly don’t know what would have been better, if levels should have been designed with a normal progression like any other normal platformer, or if Wisps should have been permanent upgrades that you can use and change rather than be stationary power ups, tho I guess that last one would have broken a ton of levels and would have proven to be very difficult to implement considering the Wii Mote’s restrictions. But to be completely sincere, I wish that was the only problem that Colors had related to its levels and structure, because then this song and dance wouldn’t need to be as negative as is about to get.
They really tried to reach for the stars, only to get lost floating in space; six full-blown words with 6 unique acts and a boss each (plus the final zone and boss and some extra modes and goodies) becomes a much less impressive prospect when not only so much level design is almost completely recycled from past acts and when the quality of the levels themselves is so over the place. I have to ask if the team maybe wanted to implement some kind of remix levels, backed off, and ended up using what they had as normal levels to give the base game more content, because as it stands I couldn’t scratch off the feeling of Déjà Vu when playing a lot of these levels, like I’m merely repeating actions I just did on a past Act beat by beat, and honestly I don’t know why I’m complaining because that it’s at least better than the FUCKING SPRING LEVELS GAAAAAAAAAAH- sorry, I just had a bit of PTSD there. Look, there are a ton of fantastic Acts here, the first one in every world tends to be fantastic and then there are always some others that rival it in quality on the same world, and the 3D sections are consistently tolerable, but… will you cut it out with the 2D sections man?! It’s become a meme at this point that Colors is a 2D game as much as it is a 3D one, and honestly, I personally wouldn’t have had any problem with it, but it is in those sections where the pacing truly halts to a crawl, where the game wants to turn into a slower more precise platformer when this Sonic isn’t just designed for that; jumps feels floaty and trying to control this fucking mammal while he is on the air has brought a lot of pain to my poor feeble mind, in fact is these sections that make the Blue Wisp my least favorite, the idea of the power-up is fine, it’s just that every time I use it I have to put up with controls that make me want to break my own spine. The key word, I think, is ‘’limitation’’, there are a ton of limits of what you can and can’t do, levels ask you to beat them in a particular way, and that’s a problem when that particular way is so slow, unfun and infuriating. Even when I take into account all of the deaths that happened because I suck so bad, I just can’t think of a ton of levels that feel particularly amazingly designed or are that fun, and most of them (once again, specially on the 2D sections) sharing what I can only describe like a ‘’level-editor feeling’’ doesn’t help matters either. Some sections feel solely as obstacle courses, and when those obstacle courses don’t have many different paths and clash so hard with the 3D more natural parts, it becomes so jarring and made already unfun parts even more repetitive and dreadful to go through.
It's like that, despite having really good ideas in both concept and execution, the team really didn’t care for certain sections of aspects, like they tried stuff out because they wanted to without really considering if it would be fun overall, like if some of the stuff was a joke… like the stORY WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-
Listen, listen, I adore of a more simplistic Sonic story with Saturday morning cartoon comedy and feeling, I really do, I think it can be a fantastic idea and can be a ton of fun… to bad here is goddam atrocious. I wanted to enjoy this story so hard, but when the cinematics are so weirdly paced and animated, when the dialogue makes me want to tape the characters mouths, when some of the jokes are so close at being funny but the timing just screws up everything, when others are just so painfully unfunny, and when everything is just filled with goofy a$$ sounds that undermined key story moments, I just have to ask… did they wanted me to care? Again, if they didn’t then fine, but there are actual stakes here, and the final boss and end are too grand for a story that just doesn’t deserve it, and unlike Toodee and Topdee where something similar happened, I can’t say that the poor story is a great parallel of the poor gameplay, because I really meant, Sonic Colors as flawed as it is, it’s far from terrible, hell it isn’t even bad, but it left me really, REALLY confused.
Here we have a game that tried to pull out all of the stops while seemingly being to coward to fully embrace itself, a game that feels grand but it has a ton of re-used material, a game that stives to experiment while leaving so much of its ideas not half baked, but just broken or without consideration if they would fit with the other pieces. Colors has fantastic moments and I had my fun with it, it stressed me to hell and back and I think the word part about it is that I simply can’t left it with a nice conclusion that ties it all up. Is not as much of a mess as other games, but it is a mess in its own special way, and while I perhaps dislike it more than others would and do, the positives do look so bright and feel so right…
Also, I’m accepting signs and newcomers for the Wisps Protection and Petting Group, you can send you applications to [REDACTED] and you’ll be in petting Wisp duty in no time!... except petting the blue one. I’m only allowed to pet those. No, I will not be accepting protests.
4 Comments
@BlazingWaters It sure is a conundrum, I honestly think that the best 'course of action would have been to just follow a similar design philosophy as the 2D games and being able to get everything out the get go and the Wisp acting as designated power-ups rather than unlockable, but at the same that messes with what they wanted to do with them, so it's no easy task to find a solution.
And I honestly preferred the copyright law joke when I only saw it in memes, 'cause in-game the funniness is lost when the timing just feels so... odd.
Anyway yeah, level design weird, writing kind of insufferable for me, music absolutely fantastic. Now if you excuse, I've been reminded of Reach for the Stars, which means I've got to listen to it again...god, such a good song...
And I honestly preferred the copyright law joke when I only saw it in memes, 'cause in-game the funniness is lost when the timing just feels so... odd.
Anyway yeah, level design weird, writing kind of insufferable for me, music absolutely fantastic. Now if you excuse, I've been reminded of Reach for the Stars, which means I've got to listen to it again...god, such a good song...
Colors is the only mainline sonic game i ever played as a kid and i was too mesmerized by the visuals of the game to notice much else. The only other thing i know about it is the switch/ps4 ports and the seizure inducing gliches that came with them. Cool review ^_^
@moschidae It's a visual spectacle, nou doubt about that. It's flashy in the best way possible, and that plus the imagination of the setting and the amazing world maps make it a game that's simply beautiful to look at... I just wished it was also beautiful to play most of the time xD. Also yeah, haven't played Ultimate but... yeah, I can say for sure that it's a really bad por on the basis is a real danger to some people.
Thank you for the kind words! :D
Thank you for the kind words! :D
BlazingWaters
8 months ago
so, the funny thing about the Wisps is that they seem like the attempt to do what most Sonic titles do, and perk people's interest in replayability and secret hunting. It's just that the way the powerups are handled are in a manner where it'll take a good while for the designated Wisp that'll unlock a new path in a level way earlier. Not really sure what they could really do here, if I must be honest; damned if you do, damned if you don't.
anyway I'm at the point where I can't enjoy the copyright law joke because of how much it was spammed onto shitposts so I'm blaming the Happy Tree Friends people for that, even if I'm quite lax to this game's writing compared to later entries.