Sonic Colours out for Wii/DS

Sonic Advance 2's XX Zone was great. It was a challenging boss rush.

By the way, slight off-topic on account of not having the game yet: Ever played the old PC flight-sim game Terminal Velocity?

 

Got it today with my fuckawesome sonic hat. This game is great. I'm not a fan of the unleashed style gameplay but it is executed well enough to be enjoyable all around. The 2d sections feel so alien... it's like the controls know exactly what they want to be but don't know how to do it. The 3d sections are ok, mostly rail/drift filler. Speaking of filler, it's obvious that there is some in this game but it is nowhere near as jarring as Unleashed's werehog sections. There is still a little too much autoplay in this game and it seems like someone at sonic team won't be happy until there are several "wow look how cool sonic is" moments in the game that do absolutely nothing but take you out of the experience. The platforming feels cold and regular, with some good moments inebtween. I don't like how inorganic most of the levels feel, it doesn't flow well without tons of autoplay (as seen ingame).

The cutscenes however, good lord they are the best cutscenes ever in a sonic game. They're cheerful and fun and I actually found myself laughing with joy at some of them. There are some genuinely great moments here.

All in all, I'm liking this game alot so far. It still seems to suffer from a lack of what makes the classic games so great (and even a little of what makes adventure feel great to a degree), and that is the character object itself feels so restricted and automated. Aside from that this is a quality product that should serve as a standard of quality that EVERY sonic title should achieve. 7/10.

 

Achieve at least if the games to follow surpass this... well, that would be extremely unfamiliar territory and it would be absolutely fantastic. I'm playing this game today and I haven't been more excited for a game in a very, very long time.

 

It's interesting how the jump works. It's like Unleashed, but with an extra "gear" to it. There's the hop, a standard jump, and then a higher jump that occurs if you hold the button down all the way (this is the floaty jump I'm assuming everyone's referring to). I can see why people would describe it as such- it's like you gain an extra little "bump" in midair. Double jump is kinda hard to handle, mostly because it seems to kill your midair momentum.

Anyways, I really like the game so far. It's kind of a shame that the 3D sections are so relatively sparse, since they really improved the handling from Unleashed. Also, after watching some Terminal Velocity footage, I have no idea why the FUCK they wouldn't let you jump over the interceptor-badnik's punches in Aquarium Park. That part is pretty weird- the game all of a sudden expects you to ration your boost and artificially screws you over for failing to do so.

EDIT: Also, I really really love the huge vertical knockback you get from jumping on enemies. It's awesome.

 

No, you can avoid it by jumping, but I admit, this screwed me over a few times. You have to jump when his fist (metal thing, whatever) reaches it's highest, then hold jump for as long as you can - you can avoid his hit, but it takes timing. Until I figured out how to do it, I died several times, and must admit, it was frustrating.

 

Unleashed did the same things for ramps as well. When you boost into a ramp you do a spin and you get boosted higher up.

 

What? The Aquarium Park sequence doesn't seem to let you jump AT ALL. I was hammering the damn button.

 

Doesn't let me jump at all either.

 

I think it's context-specific: when the thing took a swipe at me, I saw a prompt to press the jump button. Didn't react in time, but I think it only lets you jump WHEN you need to dodge.

Kind over overcomplicated if you ask me. If they hadn't been compensating for the Wii's shitty controller, it could have just worked like the Interceptor from Unleashed.

Some ramps do send you higher if you boost over them, although it doesn't always make a difference—but, for example, the ramp at the start of Planet Wisp Act 1 only launches you up toward the wall-run segment if you boost over it; otherwise you land on the lower path.

I beat the game pretty easy. Realized something annoying: while one may be tempted to utilize the double-jump to help jump accuracy, you actually have less control over your trajectory during a double-jump, making it nigh impossibly to land on smaller platforms with it unless you simply use the double jump to halt your momentum (double-jump without holding a direction). On the whole, it's a very fun game, but the control changes from Unleashed's control scheme—apart from the Homing Attack being back on the jump button where it belongs, that is—sometimes get in the way of my enjoyment. Drifting and side-stepping just aren't as fun anymore. If they ever port this sucker to the HD consoles, I hope to God they bring back the Unleashed controls for both of those mechanics.

A few of the acts are annoying in that they're so obvious throwaways that they make me feel cheated out of a real Act. The Motobug-racing act was a joke—I S-Ranked it and collected all five Red Rings in less than a goddamn minute.

Still, I am officially addicted. Currently collecting Red Rings. Cleaned out Tropical Resort and Sweet Mountain, and between that and the Rings I picked up during my initial playthrough, I have well over 130 already. Got two of the Emeralds. Hell, I may even be able to finish this off tomorrow, depending on how hard the other Rings are to find. Then it'll just be me and the S-Ranks, which are a lot harder to get thanks to the game's emphasis on bonus-getting.

 

Just beat it in one (5+ hour) sitting. Great fucking game. Easily the best 3D Sonic game, and my 2nd fav of all time, beating Sonic 2 but not quite topping S3&K.

Sonic Colors brought Sonic games to a whole new level, a level that it should have been on years ago. The game has a legit platforming game feel, from the game play itself to little things like the world map. The dialogue is amazing and cheesily made of good times, the Wisps are amazing and I didn't feel annoyed to use them (although I feel that Frenzy could've had better control, unless there's something I don't know), and the double jump is amazing.

I honestly don't see how GameTrailers and Destructoid gave this game such bad scores. (6.4 and 4.5 respectively iirc). There was nothing overly difficult in terms of platforming, the controls were far from lose and responded accordingly, and there were very few blind spots in the game. The blind spots that did exist weren't blind spots that either repeated themselves over and over in the level or defied logic to the point where it's like you'll fall into them multiple times because common sense would have you go into the blind spot because of your common sense.

I just wish that short hopping put Sonic in a ball... that had me losing many a ring. Oh well, time to hunt down them red rings.

Oh, and Sonic Simulator sucks with 2 players imo. That concussion stuff can ruin your partner.

 

Methinks multiplayer, much like NSMBWii, is only really fun when both players are on an even skill level.

 

This is true. I always leave my friend in the dust. I now have to wait for him to complete obstacles before continuing.

 

You gonna be disapointed that all the Special Rings are so easy to find. There are patterns in the level design that almost screams "hey! I'm right over here, silly!" Each planet took me about an hour or so to clear.

About the S-Ranks, really? You found it difficult? I didn't find it any difficult at all. You just have to abuse abilities, whenever possible, the most as you can. For example: in sections that allows you to side-step, go slow and side-step as crazy, like, literaly tap left and right back and forth, until the game realize you are abusing the ability and don't give you any more bonus for it's use. Same goes to grinding; grind slowly to allow more grinding bonus to be gathered. Abuse drift when avaiable. And most importantly: stay as long as possible with a Wisp Power activated. You earn 4000 points for each second the Wisp Power is activated. Do so in a area where such Wisp Capsule respawn, so you can abuse it until the game realizes you are abusing it, and don't give you any more bonus for that Wisp. Usually each act has two different kinds of Wisps; abuse both of them accordingly. Don't lose any rings, to give a little boost in your score. Get any Special Ring you find (as long as it is not an ass to get it), since they give you a nice 20000 points (if memory serves correctly). Just make sure to not stay too long in a level; otherwise you'll get a "Time Up!" and won't be receiving any bonus in that level whatsoever.

EDIT: typos

Following such guidelines I've been able to achieve S-Ranks in my first S-Rank tries for most levels.

 

Copying and pasting what I wrote somewhere else, want to see if you guys agree. This is coming from people arguing if Unleashed or Colors is better...

 

I'm interested in playing Sonic Colors for the Wii. Just recently learned about how Vic Mignogna is voicing Omega. When I found out about this, I squealed like a girly fanboy. :v:

He also voiced as Ed from Full Metal Alchemist and Hikaru Ichijo from the 2005 dub of Super Dimension Fortress Macross (Main reason why I bothered posting on this topic).


Anyhow, does anyone know if the game is able to be controlled with a Gamecube or Classic controller? Or am I stuck with the Wii remote (unless I have to wave my arms around like a maniac, I don't really mind)?

 

Protip: Anyone from the Sonic cast other than Sonic, Tails, and Eggman are not in the Wii version. You're looking for the DS version, which I also hear is not a bad game.

Plus, there are available controller schemes for both Wiimote, Wiimote+Nunchuck, Classic controller, and GC controller. The only waving you'll be expected to do is more of a wrist flick to active wisps.

 

Man, I thought Sonic 4 was good. Now that I've gotten into Colors... Definitely my favorite 3D Sonic game of all time. Even using a Wii remote, I haven't had any trouble with the controls. I love this.

 

The game is controlled with the Wiimote+NunChuck combo, Wiimote only sideways, Gamecube Controller, Classic Controller and Classic Controller Pro.

Though, if you want to play this game just for the solely fact that Vic Mignogna is voicing Omega, be ready for disapointment, since Omega or any other characters (besides Sonic, Tails, Eggman, Cubot and Orbot, for that matter) are not- and I can't stress not enough -in this game. In the Wii version, at least.

EDIT: Espio'd.