So I finally got Sonic Colors. Yes, I know it’s almost four years now, but it’s my first 3-D Sonic game. (Previously I was limited to whatever Sonic games were available in the app store, as I didn’t have consistent access to a Wii or any other console to that matter.) Right now, I’m stuck on Starlight Carnival Act 3.
My first impressions of Sonic Colors actually came from Chuggaconroy’s playthrough and Brainscratch Commentaries run-through of it during the Non-Lewis Chronicles. I have to say, it’s as good as I was expecting and more. Something neither playthrough addressed was the sheer amount of replay value that the Wisps bring to the table. It actually tells you which Wisps that you’ve unlocked are going to be used in the levels. For instance, you can unlock Cube by beating Starlight Carnival Act 1. (which opens up along with Sweet Mountain after you beat Tropical Resort.) You can then go and play Acts 5 and 6 of Sweet Mountain with the Cube Wisp.
This game features Sonic and Tails. It’s the original bro duo and how it should be. There’s no Amy and her crush, there’s no wondering why Knuckles isn’t guarding the Master Emerald, there’s no continuity headaches that Shadow brings. Interesting fact supplied to me just today from my Uncle is that ‘hedgehogs’ are people who specialize in one area and do it really well, while ‘foxes’ are people who tend to be a Jack-of-all-trades, able to do a little bit everything. I think someone at SEGA knew this, because Sonic specializes in high-speed platforming, while Tails (when he’s playable) favors exploration.
There’s no opening cutscene, you go straight to the first level.Small tidbit, the intro shows the order you unlock the Wisps, by the order of their appearance (assuming you beat Sweet Mountain Act 3 before Starlight Carnival Act 1) You unlock Laser in Tropical Resort Act 3, Drill in Sweet Mountain Act 1, Rocket in Sweet Mountain Act 3 (It’s only appearance in any of the first three levels), Cube comes in Starlight Carnival Act 1.
Each act has five red rings, for a total of 30 Red rings per level. when you use to unlock Special Stages which allow you to unlock Super Sonic. Some rings you can only get if you use certain Wisps at certain points.
After you unlock Laser and Drill, (which do exactly what they say), I highly recommend you go back and replay Tropical Resort. You’ll find plenty of alternate paths, and the odds of you picking up more red rings are increased, especially if you use Drill in certain places in certain acts.
One thing I’m noting as a general overview is that Colors actually reuses many of the Sonic’s previous gameplay gimmicks that many people found so upsetting. The mach-speed section from Sonic ’06 has been reworked. There’s a section in Starlight Carnival Act 1 where you’re slowly falling toward rings like you do with Westopolis.
If every game were similar to Colors, only instead of trashing Eggman’s interstellar amusement park game after game you were trashing his factories (that are all powered by a Chaos Emerald), I believe that would work wonderfully. Just enough story to tide people along like the classic series, without the continuity risks from Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog. (For the record, in my own head-canon, I have it so that Sonic Unleashed picks up minutes after Sonic Adventure 2 and Shadow’s rescued because of Eggman and the Time Eater in Sonic Generations. Why? It’s much easier.)
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