Sonic Colors

The Good
Sonic is back once again for another 3d installment in the sonic series originating on the Sega Genesis in the early 1990s. Quick history lesson for those of you unfamiliar with this series, sonic is a platformer/speed game where in you move sonic through levels at a fast pace while dodging obstacles such as spike pits, killer robot animals, and Mario style death holes.

Your objective in pretty much any sonic game in this long running series is to just make through level without dying while doing it fast and as stylish as possible.

The same applies to this game; you take control of sonic from an on rails 3D perspective as well as a more free open traditional 2D perspective. This provides a nice contrast because in most games 3D= freedom while 2D= linearity, it’s nice to sonic provide a different kind of balance that's not seen in most games that combine dimensions.

As far as the story Sonic once again is battling as evil nemesis and repeated animal rights abuser Dr.Eggman, who apparently gets off by capturing and then turning cute little animals into robots.

The story here is very silly and truly is childish and not in way that ignorant gamers like to throw that term around. This time Dr.Eggman has built an amusement park in space to lure alien animals there so he can...... pet them oh so gently I guess.

Some of the dialogue is so close to being witty and self aware but as I stated before the story is just to childish and cliché for even a lot of kids to take seriously let alone grown adults.

How about the controls? Well I'm glad you asked because they are actually quite good. Another if here but IF you have played older 3D sonic games you will know that sonic has a rough history with controls like a An alcoholic in a cheap liquor store. Sonic games tend to control a little bit clunky, unresponsive, and headache inducing. I'm happy to say that this sonic game controls quite well and every jump that I concentrated on and tried to make usually ended up the way I wanted it to, what I’m trying to say is that when I died in this game it felt like MY fault and not the game which is the case for a lot of other sonic games.

The level design is superb in my opinion, the game takes some design cues from super Mario galaxy but that’s mostly in the look of the game and less in the gameplay. The levels are bright, colorful and very imaginative because the takes place in an LSD funhouse space amusement park mind frakery.

The pacing is Goldilocks after eating the third bowl. The 3D on rail segments are fast and strict, while the 2D segments are slow and require you take your time and enjoy the fundamentals. Overall the pacing is jussstttt right.

The Bad
There isn't anything wrong with sonic colors. That doesn't mean the game is perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but like an angry old texas judge, sonic colors executes on all counts. The only problems in this game are the ones Sonic Team (makers of all the console sonic games) has layed down.

While the jumping is very precise, there is time where i felt like it was a little floaty when it did not mesh with the rest of the game.

The music is definitely a mixed bag.The opening song sounds like they lobotomized the Jonas brothers made them huff paint and perform in a Disney rave in 1992. The other progressive rock style tracks work really well with the art design and solidly stand on their own as some best music in a wii game, however other tracks fall flat and just downright annoyed me, which stopped me from completely liking the music and adding it as a plus.

The Bottom Line
Sonic Colors is an extremely good platformer that is a truly a challenge to young or old. The graphics and art design are well done and are not just good for a wii game their good for any game on any console. The story is likely to only be enjoyed by the young and naive but it could have been a lot worse. The music is this close to being great but it sounds like it was scored by two different teams. Sonic Colors is nearly perfect in everything it does some good but slippery controls and restrictive design leaves something to be desired.