Day 21: Sonic Colors
You know what they say, 'Reach for the Stars!'
Sonic: No copyright law in the universe is going to stop me!
Ah, yes, what many people consider to be the first legitimately good Sonic game in a long time: Sonic Colors. A bit of personal information, but this is actually the first Sonic game I've ever played and boy, this is one hell of a game to start with…I mean that in a good way of course.
When Sonic and Tails hear that Eggman has reformed by opening up 'Eggman's Incredible Interstellar Amusement Park,' they decide to visit it to see if Eggman really has turned a new leaf. Sometime later, and the two discover that Eggman has enslaved a race of aliens known as the Wisps, and he plans on using their energy to create a mind control lazer which will finally allow him to take over the world. Now Sonic and Tails must venture through the amusement park and the five planets/attractions surrounding it to put a stop to Eggman's plans yet again.
Now that we have the story out of the way, let's talk about the graphics because holy shit they are amazing! Every level is so colorful (No pun intended) and pops out in the best possible way. They all just have so much life put into them and even darker levels like Asteroid Coaster feel alive with everything going on around Sonic here. No joke this is probably one of the best looking Wii games ever made and I can easily understand if someone mistakes it for a PS3 or 360 game.
On the subject of the levels I believe that these are some of the best Sonic levels we've had in the whole franchise, and that's mainly because it tries to cater to both 3D and 2D Sonic fans by having 3D and 2D segments in each level. All of them are very fun to go through. As for the levels themselves, my favorites have to be Tropical Resort for being a fun intro stage that teaches you about the gameplay, especially the return boost mechanic from Unleashed, Starlight Carnival simply for the environment and the cool auto-run sections that have you running along paths of light, and Aquarium Park for being an actual good water level in the Sonic series. By double jumping, Sonic can swim and if he has enough boost power he can make like Jesus Christ himself and run along the water surface.
Another reason why I believe people like this game is because no other Sonic characters are present beyond Sonic, Tails, and Eggman and his robot assistants, Orbot and Cubot. I personally don't mind the franchise's other characters, but if you're someone who does then, cool, this is the Sonic game for you.
Another interesting thing about this game is that the final boss isn't fought with Super Sonic. I mean, it's a fun fight and there is a Super Sonic form, you just have to collect them from this sort of minigame area called Game Land. If you collect enough Red Rings in the main game, that'll open up more levels and beating them will give you the Chaos Emeralds. These challenges are very fun to go through and they even allow multiplayer.
Lastly, I want to talk about the main gameplay mechanic: the wisps! These colorful little aliens are here to aid Sonic on his journey and they are all very fun to use.
White wisps give Sonic more boost power to run fast.
Cyan wisps turn Sonic into a lazer that'll allow him to zip around the area and ricochet off of walls and enemies, and even take him to new areas by using it on prisms and optical cables.
Yellow wisps allow Sonic to dig underground in search of more rings, and in Aquarium Park they allow Sonic to swim faster, and this wisp power can take Sonic to secret areas if he goes through certain pipes.
Orange wisps turn Sonic into a rocket that'll propel him high into the air, allowing him to reach places that are otherwise impossible to reach.
Blue wisps turn Sonic into a cube that creates a shockwave that takes out nearby enemies, and it even turns the game into a bit of a puzzle platformer by turning Blue Rings into Blue Blocks for Sonic to climb and vice versa.
Pink wisps turn Sonic into a spike ball that allows him to climb up walls and ceilings.
Green wisps give Sonic the power to fly, and acts as this game's equivalent to the Light Speed Dash. Just press the designated button in front of a line of rings and watch Sonic fly.
Finally there's the Purple wisp, which turn Sonic into a vicious beast that eats everything in sight, and he grows bigger with each thing he eats.
All of these wisps are fun to use and are great ways to spice up the gameplay.
So with great graphics, an easy to follow story that still manages to be entertaining thanks to the writers of Mad World, and very engaging gameplay, Sonic Colors is easily one of the best Sonic games we've gotten in recent years.
Real quick though, I've got to know something. If there were five words one could use to describe this game, what would they be?
GOOD! GREAT! AWESOME! OUTSTANDING! AMAZING!
Indeed.
