(Originally published to Glitchwave on 6/4/2025)
[Image from glitchwave.com]
Sonic Colors
Developer: Sonic Team
Publisher: Sega
Genre(s): 3D Platformer
Platforms: Wii
Release Date: November 12, 2010
Sonic Colors achieves the fleeting feeling of yesteryear's adulation by dialing a few things back a bit. One aspect of Sonic’s 3D titles that I always found unsavory was writing a grandiose, hyperdramatic story to support and give context to a game’s sequence of levels. The impetus of elevating the scale of a Sonic story is to both expand the narrative potential of a Sonic adventure and match the nuanced, multidimensional range of cinematic space that 3D ushered into the medium. While attempting to grow the series and adapt to the heightened gaming climate brought about by the third dimension, stories revolving around cerebral and or profound themes of time travel, love, and the impending apocalyptic falter in execution when they’re all being driven by a cast of quippy, anthropomorphic characters whose animated designs alone compromise the intended sincerity the story is intended to evoke. One exception the series has produced that does effectively tell a more thought-provoking, emotionally resonating tale is E-102 Gamma’s story from the first Sonic Adventure, only because the robot’s arc was almost completely removed from the game's base plot involving Sonic. After shooting for the moon of cinematic spectacle and failing miserably too many times for comfort, Sonic has returned to the familiar ground of stopping Robotnik/Eggman from committing heinous acts of animal cruelty in the form of self-aggrandized industrialization. Eggman’s scheme as of late is the creation of an interstellar amusement park, another entrepreneurial venture for the awkwardly-shaped mechanical madman. Besides the fact that it continues the trend of Eggman’s properties being eccentric eyesores, the problematic portion of this establishment that obliges Sonic to intervene as always is that it’s actually a front meant to distract Sonic from his actual ambitions: a gigantic mind-control laser pointed at Earth for diabolical reasons one can probably infer for themselves. The power of this laser is being generated by an alien species referred to as “wisps,” and Sonic must liberate these colorful creatures from indentured servitude. Even if the creatures in question are fictional and intergalactic, the premise of Sonic Colors sees Sonic defending an ecosystem of small, helpless lifeforms against the torturous grasp of Eggman, similarly to his glory days on Mobius.
I adore the 3D interpretation of Sonic’s classic conundrum with Eggman (with Tails on the sidelines as the only Sonic friend to accompany him as a sign of great restraint), but several Sonic fans express feelings of dissatisfaction in regards to Sonic rekindling his roots. Specifically, they comment that the concept is beneath the blue blur now, equating Sonic Colors to the impactless, mindless thirty-minute entertainment burst of a Saturday morning cartoon. The denial dealer who sells to the collective Sonic fandom should definitely get pinched, for the dope he’s peddling is too potent for human consumption. Admittedly, Sonic has shown to be an adequate cinematic property only in recent years, far after the release of Sonic Colors. Up until that point and in the years that followed, how many incarnations of a Sonic cartoon series have there been? I rest my case. It’s more than evident that a blue hedgehog stopping the plans of an evil genius is suited for an episodic, early-weekend morning timeslot on television. Playing devil’s advocate for a bit, I can at least sympathize with their complaints that Sonic Colors perhaps lays on the wacky lightheartedness associated with a children’s cartoon series a little too thick. Sonic is more obnoxious than ever, uttering an eye-rolling line of levity intended to be a clever joke at every waking moment. He’s intended to be charmingly witty and confident, but in reality, he’s a loathsome dork. The “baldy nosehair” descriptor of Eggman from the mistranslated words of Sonic and Tails’ wisp friend, Yacker, lives in infamy as an appallingly awful “comedic” line from this game, and the person who wrote this line thinking it would be as funny as Sonic did should be brought to swift and merciless justice. Eggman also has two diminutive, incompetent robot cronies following him around, just like in the first Sonic cartoon series, who are also not as mirthful as their writers seem to think. One moment of genuine amusement from this game came from a Taxi Driver reference, quoting his famous line of isolation because his malfunctioning voice chip was set to “New Yorker.” The constant stream of sophomoric kookiness can grate on the nerves of any player over a single-digit age range. Still, one has to admit that this sort of atmosphere is more appropriate for Sonic than one of epic melodrama.
Beyond the surface that is admittedly hard to stomach at times, most of the remaining elements of Sonic Colors are delightful. Firstly, for a place whose purpose is to deceive Sonic and probably a few major Earth nation governments, Eggman has created quite the vibrant and eclectic theme park. Its eclecticism stems from the fact that the tethered coalition of six planets isn’t limited to collectively recreate Six Flags in space. Each planet that functions as Sonic Colors’ worlds exhibits its own distinct theme based on a recreational establishment that requires a sum of money to attend. The first world that the player is propelled into at the start is a tropical resort, evoking the laidback aura that compels people to drink their weight in pina coladas. “Sweet Mountain” is literally the Land of Chocolate from The Simpsons that Dream Land from the Kirby series has often taken visual inspiration from, and “Aquarium Park” is a series of fairly competent water levels with a wondrous aquatic zoo as their consistent foreground. Combining “Starlight Carnival” and “Asteroid Coaster” would result in the faithful, typical representation of an amusement park, but since they are separated, the former is a vivid display of neon lights and fireworks, while the latter is a bodacious rollercoaster that operates through an oozing array of space rocks. Eat your heart out, Twinkle Park. Planet Wisp, the arboreal home of Eggman’s energy source, is the only world that doesn’t clearly fit the theme, unless someone wants to argue that camping or hiking elicits as much merriment as the themes of the other worlds. Still, “Planet Wisp” is a highlight that contrasts the otherworldly, organic glow of the environment with the ugly, mechanical adulteration of Eggman’s operations superbly. While the diversity between the worlds is outstanding and their respective aesthetics are captivating, the individual levels that comprise these worlds are unfortunately not created equal. The levels are constructed in a linear thread similar to the Super Mario Bros. 3 template, with the world’s boss leading Sonic to a climactic dead end. Each world features approximately six levels before Sonic fights one of Eggman’s robotic contraptions to cap it off, but the issue is that some of these levels are reasonably lengthy, and some are short excursions tied down by a single platforming gimmick like the moving spring pad. It’s reminiscent of how Sonic Unleashed’s worlds pronounced the enormity of the first level while featuring more only as secondary larks, but the first levels of that game were long and arduous enough to span the length of an entire world in Sonic Colors. When Sonic Colors follows the same pattern, there is a disappointing sense of unevenness.
When comparing Sonic Colors to Unleashed, the fact that Colors is a Wii exclusive presents a giant, Egg-Carrier-sized elephant in the room. It’s common knowledge that there was another version of Unleashed on the Wii that was forced to cut much of the content from its HD equivalent, resulting in a radically different product that most people consider to be less-than-definitive. While decreasing the visual fidelity to a modest standard definition and streamlining the hubs for the Wii version of Unleashed may present an argument that Sonic should stray away from Nintendo’s motion-controlled money maker (the dreadful storybook games also adding evidence to this), some feel that a silver lining to subduing Unleashed was that the game was not as marred by the HD version’s ambitions. Sonic Colors is a game marked by restraint, but not compromise. Surprisingly, Sonic Colors managed to continue Unleashed’s modern template for Sonic’s gameplay even on a technically inferior system. Unleashed’s ultimate stride in Sonic innovation with its boost feature persists in Colors, and the nature of manually scraping the sound barrier as Sonic has been streamlined, so the player isn’t punished nearly as often for using this calamitous mechanic. Drifting through curved bends on the tracks is made far more manageable here because Colors offers a break option that slightly interrupts momentum for smoother turning. All the while, reducing the breakneck blast that the boost feature facilitates never feels jaggedly minimized to ensure that the player doesn’t haphazardly kill the blue blur at any point they use this mechanic. Colors also reworks the implementation of Unleashed’s in-level collectibles, swapping for red rings in lieu of contrasting sun and moon medals no longer having any thematic relevance. Besides the shift in color, their significance has also been altered to being completely optional to collect, negating the tedious, pace-breaking slog of having to gather up an inordinate amount of them to progress through the game. Still, it’s recommended that the player make a modicum of effort to collect these rings, for they are in plain sight of the medals from Unleashed and lead the player towards alternate paths in the levels that likely wouldn’t have been discovered otherwise. Overall, the changes that Colors makes to Unleashed’s gameplay formula aren’t the result of having to dilute the high-definition elements of its predecessor due to an inhibited console. Having these alterations here in Colors shows that these quality-of-life enhancements are a product of deep developer consideration that could’ve been implemented on any piece of hardware. On the subject, the quick-time events that plagued Unleashed have been altered entirely into a simple few presses of a single button when Sonic zooms off a ramp. Halle-fucking-lujah.
One might ask if the Wii’s patented motion controls are implemented into Colors in any capacity, and if they are, to what extent does their irritation stem from too much involvement? Fortunately, Colors limits the central gimmick of its hardware to one shake to summon each of the wisp powers. When Sonic runs into a capsule on the track, the wisp inside will grant him their respective powers that add to the depth and variety of Colors’ gameplay. A cyan-color wisp will allow Sonic to dart around a level at immeasurable speeds like a fired laser, stopping the gameplay momentarily so the player can methodically aim its trajectory. A yellow wisp introduced in “Sweet Mountain” allows Sonic to drill through the flaky crust underneath his feet, while an orange rocket propels Sonic vertically into the air in a matter of seconds. Platforming complications can be rectified by either a pink wisp that allows Sonic to climb up walls (like Knuckles) and over spikes (not like Knuckles) or melt the solid foundation of blue blocks into collectible coins with the pink and blue wisps, respectively. The green wisp that transforms Sonic, which allows Sonic to hover at a manageable pace, is quite awkward for its booger-shaped blobbery and how it bounces when it hits an object, and assigning it as the only way Sonic can execute the ring dash, a 3D Sonic requisite, is inexcusable. While the “hover wisp” is the least satisfactory of the bunch, the sinisterly purple “frenzy” wisp is my favorite for its allowance for Sonic to become a rabid animal and expand in size with every object and enemy it chomps on. Somehow, the power of this “corrupt” wisp feels more dangerous and wild than Sonic’s werewolf persona. I appreciate the variety of powers that each wisp offers, and am grateful that these delicate little space buggers are returning the favor to Sonic after he frees them from captivity. Still, using the wisp powers practically feels entirely incidental to certain moments in the level, unlike the boost feature, which can be used on a whim to skillfully augment the standard rate of Sonic’s trajectory. Maybe the wisps feel somewhat gimmicky because they tend to be the dominant mechanic for some of the briefer levels, highlighting the claim of their incidental nature even further.
Perhaps the wisps would feel like a stronger, more clever inclusion into Sonic Colors if they were a prominent key to defeating the bosses, like an item gained in a Zelda dungeon. Really, anything would’ve been appreciated in sprucing up the paltry selection of bosses that Colors displays. In essence, Colors features three boss battles, a robotic eye in a hamster wheel arena, a ship captain, and a flying frigate that Sonic chases and dismantles piece by piece. These three are repeated once more for the later worlds with marginal differences in difficulty and arena conditions. Not only does the repetition grate on the player, but the general ease of these bosses compounds the lukewarm feelings to total apathy. Some of the wisps are included in these bouts, but why would I use them when Sonic’s base moveset will prove to be just as effective, and quicker, I might add, in dispatching them? The only admirable boss fight in Colors is the climactic one with Eggman’s Nega-Wisp, who uses the powers of the wisps to combat Sonic as opposed to the inverse scenario. While this lengthy duel against Eggman is more substantial than the bosses leading up to it, as a final boss should ideally be, chasing it while avoiding its firepower reminds me of many bosses from Unleashed. Dare I say, but I’ve realized that the ones from the previous game proved to be more exhilarating and offered a heftier challenge. When an aspect from Unleashed proves to be better, it should embarrass Colors even more to have neglected the one factor, considering how many of Unleashed’s attributes it improves upon.
I’ve come to the realization after exploring Sonic’s gameography (is this a real term?) that it's a series that exemplifies the career arc of a rockstar more than any other series in gaming. It reveled in the excess that came with success in its prime period, and crashed mighty hard when its label (Sega’s console market) dropped them. Games like its 2006 self-titled and Sonic Unleashed were a period where tabloids took a humiliating snapshot of Sonic’s burnt-out malaise, which concerned former fans who remembered his former glory. After hitting rock bottom, meditating on the source of his problems, and going to rehab to halt his ego-trip, Sonic Colors is the product of the blue hedgehog’s newfound sobriety. Admittedly, it exhibits aspects that I find either underwhelming or unsavory, but the high notes of Sonic Colors more than match any of the best moments from the series’ glory days. Hopefully, Sonic won’t relapse into its tendencies for broken, unfeasible ambitions again and continue this unexpected instance of high quality into a streak that will save the hedgehog from continuing to dig the grave it almost fell into *ahem.*
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