Sonic Colors (game) (wii)

Note: My video game review are going to be structured differently then my movie reviews. I'm going the more traditional route and breaking it up into categories, if only because I do feel video games can be defined on more basic terms. I'm not saying that I won't be looking for depth it's just that I think games can be enjoyed on more simple levels

I also will use this space to say that I will never review a game I haven't beaten.

Anyways...

It has been so long since there was an actual good console Sonic game that I was beginning to think that it would never happen. As soon as Sonic stepped into 3D and tried to have "plot" it went downhill fast. The Dreamcast games were standable for their time, but became dated quickly. Every game that followed basically took all that was wrong with the Dreamcast games and went with it, somehow making those things worse. Unleashed was a step in the right direction but it might have been one of the most painful experiences I've ever had attempting to beat a game. So I had given up hope...then out of no where comes a Wii game with a name that's hard to take seriously and I am 10 years old again. I never thought this day would come but finally, a Sonic game that feels like a logical progression of the series.

Story:
One of the biggest mistakes Sonic games have made is how they've handled the story. There's nothing wrong with trying to give a plotless game a real story but the series has had such a an awful combination of anime nonsense, flat characters, fan service, furry subtext and just plain painful writing that it made every game a painful ordeal to sit through if you didn't skip the plot (which unfortunately just isn't an option for me).

The plot in Sonic Colors isn't great but it's what it should be. It's a silly little nothing. Eggman has an evil plan. You are trying to stop it. There are aliens and a theme park involved. You won't care what's going on, but that's okay because the game take it all very lightly. The plot never get's convoluted or strange or serious nor does it get in the way. It's all just there to move the game forward, which is fine.

The dialogue is actually above average, which is actually pretty surprising. All the characters just come across as downright likable. Sure they're all still pretty one-dimensional, but I actually don't want that much more from a Sonic game. While some of it falls flat, there are some okay jokes in the mix and this is the first Sonic game with an attempt at a plot where I didn't end up hating all the character. Yes this is weak praise but really this is the best plot a Sonic game has ever had.

Gameplay:
The gameplay in Sonic Colors is truly good. It is the best it has been since Sonic and Knuckles. I like the portable ones but they were their own style of game. This feels like a classic Sonic game. Not just that, it feels like a truly modern take on the classic Sonic gameplay. One of the false ideas most Sonic games have is that the series is only about speed. This has never actually been true. Sure speed has always been a major factor but so has platforming. Even in the early levels of the first Sonic game there were moments where you had to wait and bide your time. Sonic Colors is the first Sonic game in years to remember this.

Sure there's still speed (in fact there is lots of it) but there also moments of clever platforming that require you to be careful and think about what your doing. Many of these sections introduce ideas I hadn't really seen done before. For example there's an elevator segment where there are three buttons on the floor that cause it to rise. You have to basically navigate a maze of lasers switching from button to button to find the best route up. Is it fast? No, but it was interesting and showed some creativity.

These platforming sections are mainly in 2D. The 3D segments tend to be the fast ones. Sonic has had trouble with autorunning sections because you're just going so fast that it's hard to control. Sonic Colors solves this by making it more limited. When you're running fast you pretty much just move between preset lanes. It might sound constricting but it works so well and the other version of it were so bad that it's hard to complain. In the end it's not that much different then how it normally is anyways. There are still a few sections where you have complete control while free running, but these actually control pretty badly. However, for better or worse, these sections tend to not really have any consequences for doing them badly, so it doesn't matter.

It's odd that after Sonic failed in 3D so many times they finally get it right...by essentially making a 2D Sonic game. The section never have you controlling more than two plains. Sometimes the game looks 3D but it's an illusion. I don't have a problem with this, but it's funny that, as good good as this game is, they still haven't figured out this whole "making a 3D Sonic game" thing.

The level design and themes in general are kind of awesome and there seems to be a real sense of joy going on in them. I mean one level is a combination missile silo/cake factory. Another is a rollercoaster in an asteroid belt. There's just such purely fun ideas going on. I couldn't help but smile when I did something like run full speed over a collapsing bridge, right into a spring that launched me onto an already moving roller-coaster which then lead me to an asteroid field which I then navigated by bouncing from asteroid to asteroid until I found solid ground. How can anyone not just feel a little bit of joy at that?

The bosses are a mixed bag. On the one hand, they're all pretty fun, on the other, except for the boss of the game, they all repeat once. There is essentially three bosses in the game that later you fight a harder version of. It could be worse but it's hard to deny how lazy it is. I will say that the boss of the game is pretty awesome though.

There are also a bunch of abilities that Sonic can get and, for the most part, they're all fun to use. These abilities all turn you into an unstoppable force of some sort, ranging from a simple drill to a beast that devours all in it's path. There's even one which is Sonic at it's purest, which turns you into an ultra fast, wall clinging ball of death. They're not all winners (the rocket one, blah), but none are really that bad either.

The abilities are activated by shaking the Wii remote and thankfully that's the only Wii specific thing you have to do in the game. The game controls pretty well overall. Unlike previous Sonic games, deaths felt like they were my own fault most of the time. In general there was not much BS going on (aside from one part in a very late level). The controls were tight and thankfully can be used just as easily without a wii remote.

Graphics and Sound
This is a very pretty game, especially for the wii. Honestly, this was one of the rare times in playing a Wii game where the graphics didn't feel like a majot downgrade from whatever I was also playing on my PS3. It's all bright and colorful with some extremely creative and awesome things going on. There's one level in particular where you're racing across a light bridge through a giant battle armada which is just jaw dropping. The cut scenes are nice, but are honestly not as interesting as the levels.

As with all Sonic Games (except 4) the music is fantastic. I still really hate the cheesy rock anthems but as long as the song doesn't have lyrics, it is assured to be good. The voice acting isn't great, but it gets the job done and didn't get on my nerves. I will say that this is the best Tails has ever been voiced.

Conclusion
As I've mentioned, Sonic Colors is the Sonic game I've been waiting years for. It's not perfect but the things it does wrong are far outweighed by the things it does right. Maybe my standards have just been set to low after years of disappointment but I did find this to be a truly good game. If you used to like Sonic, you should give this one a try. It won't win over anyone that never even liked the originals, but it's the closest this series has come to greatness since the 16 bit days.

8.5/10