I was going to do this review around Christmas, but I've been hearing/reading alot of controversy regardings this game, so I decided to bump up my schedule and do it now.
Sonic Colors is the 4th game with Sonic's name on it to come out this year, the second game to use the Hedgehog game engine, and the first 3D adventure since last years Sonic Unleashed. Now in recent years 3D and Sonic has never been a good mix, however this time I have to say the two mix great this time.
Now lets start with my favorite part of any game, the story. In past Sonic games, its been the same: The Doctor, I call him that to avoid the whole Eggman/Robotnik debate, attempts to collect the 7 chaos emerald in enact a plan to, you guessed it, take over the world, (Of Course). This time to my surprise, thats not the case, kinda. The emerald aren't even mentioned this time around and instead the Doctor is capturing little aliens to use as a fuel source. Kinda the same idea, and kinda simple, but I've heard alot worse.
Now the biggest issue I've heard people complain about are the controls. Some have said the control are clunky and broken. After playing and finishing the game using the Wiimote and chuck, I have to say who ever said that had no skill. I only encounterd one time where the controls caused me any trouble, and its was minor. My biggest gripe with the controls however is the jump precision. When your trying to land on a narrow platform, it can be rather hard to aim but thankfully this kind of situation happens about 3 times in the entire game.
The gameplay is set between a side view 2D and a straight view 3D aspect. Switching between the two is very seamless. Now some people have said Sonic has been about nothing but speed, I disagree but in this case your getting plenty of it. Every level is very fast paced and full of action, with very few points where you have to slow down or stop. But in order to keep Colors from being a straight running game, this time little creature are put in as powerups. When ever you collect one your granted a quicky use of a special power. These range from speed dash to drilling through the ground, to my personal favorite shooting across the stage in a laser beam. But I have to address the bosses of the game. They are far to easy to be called bosses. In all the bosses I faced, only one gave me any trouble because I took to long learning the patterns and this wasn't the final boss either.
Speaking of difficulty, Sonic Colors is not a gmae you will shoot through on your first try. You will die a few times, you might even see the "Game Over" screen once or twice. Thats called a challenge and there is nothing wrong with that. But to keep it from being too hard, special pop up icons have been put in to give you at least some kind of warning of whats ahead of you.
Moving on to the sound. The only time you hear any kind of vocals in the music is during the credits, both sets. Other then that, Sonic Colors goes back to stage focused instrumental music, and it fits just fine. I caught myself bobbing my head to a few tunes, but sadly nothing really stuck. Also I need to add, that this is the first Sonic game in a few years that my ears don't bleed when Sonic, or Tails talks. Sega has dumped the group known as the 4Kids team and recast every character, except for the Doctor. And of the three characters I've heard, I'm not complaining one bit.
Believe it or not, there are plenty of reason to keep coming back to Sonic Colors as well. Completionist will find several branching paths in every level, and hidden red rings that unlock various things as collected. There is also a multi player mode that lets up to two players play through several specially designed levels. Finally there is also a challenge mode where you attempt to beat scores on your levels.
Sonic has faced some hard times over the years and has a long road to go if Sega ever wants to get Sonic back in the spotlight. But I have to say Sonic Colors is the best 3D Sonic game I have ever played. Is it perfect? No, but its everything fans have been looking for in a 3D Sonic game, Earning a final verdict of a 8 out of 10. Go buy this, you wont regret it.
See you on the next posting of GameFawx.
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