I thought I’d start a new collection of posts called Thoughts So Far that will feature my thoughts on a game that I’ve been playing but not completed. These will be shorter and more to the point than my reviews and will be posted more often. This way I can give my thoughts on a game concerning the parts I’ve played and if I think it’ll get better or worse or stay the same. I obviously won’t be able to judge the game as well as I could once I have finished it but this is more akin to something like Giant Bomb’s Quick Looks. I will still write full reviews on some of these games.
With that out of the way I think it would be best to start this feature off on a high note and look at a game I’ve been playing over the weekend and enjoying a lot, Sonic Colours.
Sonic Colours is the latest Sonic platforming game for the Wii and DS. This article is about the Wii version though. As you may or may not know 3D Sonic games haven’t been too good. Sonic Adventure was pretty good and Sonic Adventure 2 was even better but after that it just went down hill until Sonic Unleashed came out and was pretty damn good. Well the Sonic levels were, the Werehog levels were a bad God of War clone. Luckily Sega decided to release a whole game based on the Sonic Unleashed day time levels and now we have Sonic Colours, a game some are calling the best 3D Sonic ever and as close to the classic Mega Drvie games as can be possible in 3D.
The game opens with a nice CGI cutscene showing Sonic running about and setting up the game to an up beat tune that many people seem to hate but I enjoy as it seems to fit with Sonic and his happy go lucky upbeat ways. Anyway, the reason I mention the CGI opening is because it does a great job of showcasing the Wisps -Alien creatures that act as power-ups for Sonic- and their unique powers.
After the opening and the title screen you are thrown straight into the action where you play through two acts of the first Zone, Tropical Resort.
The game plays almost identical to the Wii Version of Sonic Unleashed and you can use the GameCube controller is you like (I do). A jumps and homing attacks or double jumps if you are in mid air, B boosts, X slides or stomps if you are in the air and Z activates your wisp power if you have one. It all controls very well but something just feels a bit off when platforming in the 2D sections, like there is a small amount of input lag or something. It’s enough to feel a bit odd but not enough to have a big impact on the game.
The levels I have played have been really great at getting you used to the mechanics of the game and the wisps. The wisps add a lot of variety to the gameplay and are completely optional if you just want to finish the level. The wisps I’ve played with so far have been White, which gives you boost power, Cyan, which lets you shoot off like a beam of light and ricochet off walls or transport through special power lines, Yellow, which lets you drill into soft ground and burrow around, Orange, which shoots you skyward and then lets you freefall slowly and Blue which fuctions like a P-Switch from Mario but turns special blue blocks into blue rings and vice versa. All of these powers can be used to find alternate pathways and hidden goodies in the various acts and unlocking a wisp in an act lets you then use that wisp on other acts that have the same colour container.
There is plenty of replayability in the acts with hidden red rings to collect and of course those coveted S ranks. The Zones also have a lot of variety with locales including a planet made from sweets, a fleet of space ships with disco like interiors and a plaza resort full of palm trees. Some of the acts are pretty short but I suppose that just makes them easier to go through multiple times. There is also the Sonic Simulator in the Game Land, a world that allows single or multiple players to play through 2D levels using remote controlled Sonics that aren’t too dissimilar to the Tails Doll from Sonic R. Finding tokens will unlock more stages in this world and finishing them will unlock the Chaos Emeralds which in turn will unlock a very special surprise that I won’t spoil but you can probably guess what it is.
Not much else to say apart from the first boss was easy (but it was the first boss) and had a nice gimmick being a ferris wheel. The graphics are also pretty damn good and the zones look awesome, especially Starlight Carnival which is like a Walt Disney parade in space with spaceships and light beam path ways. The game also has some great music but that’s never been a problem for Sonic games, even 06 had some great tracks.
I have to say, this game is shaping up to be the best 3D Sonic game yet. I’ll have a full reviews up when I’ve finished with it.
