When Colors came out, I was in the middle of a "Man all of the Sonic games after SA2 have been mediocre at best" mood so I missed out on it. I did see the internet praising the game left and right, though. After I played Generations a bunch I went back and picked up Colors and it's.... okay. Like I didn't hate the game, but it also felt pretty generic and not very fun. I got up to that desert level - Sweet Mountain, I think it's called? - before I got bored. Still need to get back to it one of these days.
Oh man, 10 years already? Time flies! I've never really played Colors on Wii but Colors DS was my first real Sonic game. Super fun, and since almost every modern Sonic cameos there I got a feel for the cast as well. And like a year into it I found out about the Chaos Emeralds and I kinda lost my mind about Super Sonic. Very very good game.
I like this game as a stand-alone game, but I don’t like how it defined the story/tone of Sonic games, and Sonic’s personality, for everything else that came out after. Sonic Colors and onwards feels like a completely different series than everything before it, and I’m not exactly a fan of this “new” series.
I'll repeat what I said before: Colours is my favourite Sonic game that isn't S3K. It's an absolute blast to play, it's a blast to speedrun, it's a blast to score attack. The Wisps in particular offer tons of replay value, with lots of multiple routes and secrets in the levels, and the music's awesome. Plus, Super Sonic is playable in levels and is exactly as broken as he should be.
I liked the 3DS game a lot. I actually spent a lot of time with it, getting 100% twice and doing several playthroughs. Going back to the Wii game never even crossed my mind.
I've noticed some mentioning the 2D "block platforming" in Colors, and I just wanted to throw this in: I've been playing Colors again recently, and the amount of those sections is massively exaggerated IMO. Even the extremely gimmicky 2D levels only take about a minute to complete. The actual, mostly 3D levels are still by far the meat and bones of the game.
Colors was good because it helped change the conversation about Sonic from, "Sonic was never good", to "Sonic has had misteps but continues to prove there is still something with a never ending appeal about that blue hedgehog who represents freedom itself." After 06 and Unleashed and games following them had me just buying to go through the motions, Colors was so good that I fell in love with the franchise again. It's the reason I beat Sonic 3 and Knuckles finally and got to experience that masterpiece, it's the reason I started reading the comics and getting into the lore, it's also the reason I got deeper into the online fandom. Many early 20 something fans like myself told me it helped them with this same journey. I feel that for a lot of people Sonic Colors is what helped them become Sonic stans who wanted to engross as much of the content as possible because it's a game that was fun and worked on so many levels that you wanted to go back and see what the fuss/hate for the other games were and you grabbed a lot of the charm that you forgot about. I think one thing people forget is that Sonic Colors was everything people wanted from Sonic in 2010. A more focused cast. A Boost game with just Sonic and no extra playstyles. A game that was worth beating at the very least. It offered all of those things. We expected them to improve from this point forward, improving on their formula and making better and better games but that just didn't happen. It makes Colors flaws more apparent. Colors may not hold up now but it was a step in the right direction that Generations kept the momentum of (as well as Mr. Whitehead's CD port) and it was a very good time to be a Sonic fan. Shame that Lost World had such mixed reception and Forces and Boom just ended up bad because it'd have been nice to see it keep going. Mania and the movie were great but neither really rebirthed the franchise the way Colors did. I'll always appreciate it for doing so, despite how it worked out in the end. https://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?threads/sonic-true-colors-the-real-sonic-colors.39561/ While we're here, reminder that Color's structure was modified for some reason and it got bloated as a result. Without hacking completely Josh managed to change the structure of the levels around to have a closer idea of Sonic Team's original vision. Maybe one day a fan developer on Unity or something will realize the complete original vision.
From the moment you first see the title screen and hear the awesome orchestra theme (a favourite of mine), until the very end of the credits, Sonic Colo(u)rs is such a well-rounded package that it's almost hard to believe that it was made by the same company who brought us the Storybook titles. I mean, don't get me wrong, I like them both. But just look at Sonics character model and everything! It even has a mention of Gamma on the file select screen! There's still plenty that the other two boost games did better (hub towns, drifting), but Colo(u)rs delivered a much-needed split from the past and succeeded at it. I'd also like to mention that the cutscene in which Sonic pushes Tails into the elevator always struck me as a reference to Gundam. I just can't remember which one. Probably 00. If you get the chance, go watch it.
Colors lacks any kind of sticking point that would leave me to look fondly on it. The best parts of the game are the soundtrack and art design, which both are admittedly very good though I'm not a fan of how "un-Sonic" the architecture of the levels are. But...the soundtrack doesn't need Colors alongside it--you can listen to it on its own. So outside of that, I just cannot find any emotional connection or investment to colors. It doesn't have a unique gameplay style. What elements it did add are flat-out antithetical to Sonic's core philosophy (wisps) and have been annoyingly shoved in games constantly. The plot is a complete nothing-burger. The game introduces no new animal characters for me to enjoy outside of the game. Even the actual setting of the game is self-contained and basically has never been referenced outside of spinoffs that aren't canon anyway like the racing games. And, finally, there is no super unique element that I can take outside of the game; to explain better, I enjoy the chao garden in SA2 and the Avatar feature of Forces because they are things that have left an impact on me outside of the game. I have put chao-esque creatures in the worlds of my stories; I have made a few avatars that I've named and even plan on commissioning art of (in fact while I write this an artist I'm commissioning my Forces character from contacted me!). I care about this way more than probably anyone else on this forum: I really love the Sonic games I do love not just for what they are, but what impact they have on me once I've put the controller down. Mania may have basically no plot, introduce no new characters, and lack a side feature such as the chao gardens and avatar--but I love Studiopolis so much that it is canonically where my team of Forces Avatar live. That doesn't kill Colors for me immediately, but I am just not a fan of the rest of the game. It is not a bad game by any means. It controls fine, the level designs are generally fine, and overall it lacks any super glaring issues that plague games like Shadow (frequently pitiful level design and miserable mission structures), 06 (uh, everything), and Forces (completely busted controls, shoehorned classic Sonic). But I do not like the boost style terribly much to begin with, and the critical flaw of Colors is that it isn't my sonic. Colors is, to be utterly blunt, the active disownment of everything I love about this series. Colors stripped out so many elements of Sonic that make the series what it is to me--elements that for the record remained in even Unleashed, such as an attempt at a story with stakes, an introduction of a new cast member, a set of levels with unique setpieces and a sense of place, a sense of ambition--that it scarcely even seems to be a Sonic game to me. In the place of what was lost...is nothing. Nothing at all. It set in motion nearly a decade of Sonic actively shunning what made me and thousands other love it in the first place. The fact that the reception to the game is overwhelmingly "finally, Sonic was good again!" has only filled me with more bitter disdain for this game and what it is. Colors represents the moment--the moment--that Sonic Team actually listened to the gaming community and burnt what they had built to the ground to prostrate themselves in the desperate bid for respect. The fact that the wider gaming community gleefully accepted this and then continued to spit in Sonic Team's face only deepens my resentment. I am disgustingly biased, I know. I make no bones about that. I absolutely see why people like and love Colors, and I have no reservations about admitting that I vehemently dislike this game for reasons utterly unrelated to its gameplay (which is serviceable), but for the cultural event it was in the Sonic series and fandom. Colors is the reason you can count the number of new animal characters in the mainline games on one finger (Infinite). It is the reason that the continuity and canon of the series is now an utterly tattered mess because it and Lost World appear to actively throw out to tie into what came before (granted, Unleashed didn't either, but Unleashed also has charm and ambition, whereas those two games are insecure whitewashing of Sonic's lore and history). Colors is the reason basically 90% of the cast vanished into thin air outside of tiny cameos for nearly a fucking decade. Hell, some characters like Blaze and the Babylon Rogues have literally vanished into thin air. Colors is the start of Sonic being low-budget platformers with nothing to distinguish them or sell them on. Modern Sonic Team would never create the chao system today--that implies a level of care and dedication to ancilliary elements that doesn't exist anymore. Colors is the reason the games became nothing but "do levels until game ends" with no extra missions (no, the crappy Generations ones that exist solely to pad the game out don't count) or medals/emblems. I truly, earnestly, think Forces is a better game than Colors. Not because Forces controls better, no. But because Forces let me make four characters and then give them all backstories, names, and personalities in my own time. Forces left far more of an impact on Frostav the Human than Colors ever did or could at all. Forces also actually has a plot (a bad one, but I can fix that with fanfic ^.^) and introduced a new animal character (once again, who could be salvaged with fandom work). It really cannot be stated how little impact Colors seems to have in my preferred side of the fandom, the younger and more creative side. 06 had more impact on us: Silver--you know, the character from a legendarily awful game who controls like shit and has one of the worst sections in any Sonic game ever and a truly infuriating boss fight that is so ludicrously bad people who don't like Sonic know the "IT'S NO USE" meme--is a very popular character, solely off the fact that he has a unique design, cool powers, and an endearing personality in hindsight. I know that the response to this will be that 90% of this post isn't talking about the actual game (but I could talk about the utterly lifeless levels devoid of any interesting playable architecture, uninteresting platforming, no setpieces, way too much fucking 2D, and forced wisp gimmicks if you'd like me to), but Sonic games are more than just digital toys to me. They have left an impact on me beyond the screen and console. Colors being an utterly vacuous void of nothing outside of being a mediocre 3d-but-actually-2d-with-mindless-hallways-between platformer kills it for me. Colors' release is the singular equivalent of the Simpsons becoming absolutely passionless dreck post-Season 10, except it all happened at once instead of being a gradual decline. It truly is the moment Sonic Team stopped giving a shit and reduced themselves to nothing but a nostalgia-whoring soulless factory of a development team.
You know, this comment and the ones already posted here fascinate me for one reason; it really fucking illustrates how some fans, usually on the younger and older side of the spectrum, but not always, feel about the series as a whole. So many younger fans like yourself and many others, hate this game for actively removing the things that you grew attached to within the series, while the older fans who were in fact burnt on the series by the same games you loved, embraced it for its simplicity and, to be completely blunt here, exercising all of the stuff that you liked that they hated. It's really a fascinating case study because its largely contributed to the game's contentious nature within the fanbase in recent years. Someone I read described Colors as a game for people who didn't like Sonic, but I paraphrased it and saw it as, Colors is a game for the older fans who had grown disillusioned with what the series had become at that point; someone who just wanted something simple and to the point with none of the convoluted mess that plagued the games from the previous decade...and well, they got it. But in turn, the game alienated the people who LIKED that convoluted stuff and that persisted for ten years. Honestly, it just tells me this fanbase is truly divided for a reason, because the fanbase just different priorities on what exactly makes a good game.
I'm from the same generation as Frosted and enjoyed Colors back in 2010 just plenty. I just feel like the older generation was a lot more vocal with how they felt about Colors. I had some things I didn't like about it as well but kept my mouth shut because it felt good to see people like Sonic again. I just also figured the games would get better from here. Matter of fact I'm sure the pure HATRED Frostav has of the game is his own and not something 99% of the fandom is like
It's incredible. The kind of feeling that Frostav describes toward Colors, especially how he resents it largely because of its precedent-setting effects on the series' direction and the way other fans felt about it moreso than the game itself... I mean, that's EXACTLY how so many fans were feeling toward games like SA2 in the years before Colors came out. You could find & replace a handful of key words in his post, and it'd fit in perfectly a decade ago. Heck, I can relate! I've had a lot of trouble knowing where I stand on the early 3D titles for exactly the same reason. This is something I wrote circa 2012, in that wonderfully optimistic period after Generations and before Lost World: I think I've developed a more nuanced perspective now, haha. It was easier to feel headstrong and assured that I was definitely correct when I was in my early 20s and Lost World and Boom hadn't happened yet. :P The point is, whether it was Adventure or Colors, I think most of us can relate on SOME level to how much it sucks when they take "your" Sonic away.
Well yea, the fandom isn't a hivemind; there are plenty of people who liked Colors (as we see by its critical reception) and plenty of people who didn't (As we can by vocal some fans are about it on social media nowadays). Was just pointing out that the game started a very clear divide in the fanbase on par with Sonic Adventure 2 for how drastically it alters the direction of the series. For my part, I'd say Colors is the game the series needed, but not necessarily what most of the fanbase wanted. Like it not, the series was not in a good place in 2010 and no matter how much you might have liked Sonic's epic Shonen adventures, they were doing more harm for the series than good. There needed to be a change. Did they have to get rid of everything that the previous decade had established? No, but Colors needed to separate itself from the controversial aspects of those games to garner good will again. I'd call it a necessary evil. And hey, it got the job done whether you like it or not. People had started to like Sonic again and see him in a respectful light, and that momentum continued into Generations, which was arguably the most well received 3D Sonic game since Adventure 2. Whatever happened with Lost World, Boom, and Forces, that cannot be taken away, Sonic started the decade amazingly and it needed to separate itself from the aspects that had alienated people.
There was a comment on another forum that nicely contextualized Colors for me before Forces' release; on stating that it has been considered the best Sonic game in over a decade, but then asking when was the last time I ever went back to play it. My response there is that honestly...I haven't. After beating the game for the first time to 100% completion years ago, I haven't had much desire to revisit the title. I don't think it's terrible, but my opinion over time has definitely lowered to it being "great" to it being on the higher end of decent (or just barely passing as good), something to have if you just want a competently-designed Sonic game and nothing more beyond that. The platforming and level design is too Xeroxed from average non-Sonic platformers to me; more cookie-cutter than imaginative in terms of general platforming and more stilted than flowing for Sonic gameplay. And I stand by my and others' comments that for being a "3D Sonic" game; most of its meaningful gameplay is spent as a side-scroller instead of actually being in 3D. (Although with it being derived from Boost controls and level design, the "3D platforming" here (re: anything not related to Boosting through the levels) isn't of much thrilling stuff either.) It's also a game that when looking back with hindsight, I can't help but hold it accountable for starting the trend in a lot of areas for later Sonic games, which took once tolerable-to-good elements and mismanaged them into being lame-to-unbearable. Things that were novel breaths of fresh air in this game --the Wisps, the laidback self-aware sitcom tone, the Sonic/Tails character focus-- have overwrought the franchise to the point that I would happily never see them revisited for a long time, if not ever. There is one element though that I would say has definitely aged well over time--the presentation, even if it's for the wrong reasons. (I say that in the sense that I don't think it's a good thing that Colors stands as the last major Sonic game with entirely original settings or an mostly original soundtrack with multiple composers.) The game looked great for a Wii title and it still does, with nicely detailed, varied, and inspired environments; with a wonderful score to back the visuals up. I still love listening to Aquarium Park Act 1, Sweet Mountain Act 2, and others; as well as the Gameland chiptune versions of the primary songs for each world. All three acts of Planet Wisp and Terminal Velocity Act 1 I'd still peg as some the best music to come out of the franchise for the entire decade. I'll also be happy to bat for Colors in saying that game is very much the actual "road to recovery" Sonic game of 2010 that some critics and casual fans were all too willing (at first) to crown Sonic 4 as. Several people were tripping over themselves in saying the game that was clearly sold itself as a triumphant return to an era of excellence and clearly fell far below those expectations was the return to form, if only because it did the bare minimum of what they thought made a good Sonic game. (Even if it was in a very cynical and callous way.) But you had in Colors a Sonic game that was largely honest about the type of Sonic game it was, which it delivered with solid, even above-expected, results. That much was clear to everyone; on which you could see which Sonic game ended 2010 with a broadly warm reception from reviewers and fans alike, and which Sonic game ended 2010 as a hotly-contested "disappointment" in multiple circles.
Frostav basically echoed all of my thoughts on Colours so I won't reiterate. (Not on Forces though, no defending that diaper fire) It was fine as the palate cleanser game after the dark ages, it's just when that no-substance milquetoast palate cleanser becomes the sole lynchpin of the series identity for the next whole decade that a lot of people take issue with, ironcially starting a new, even Darker Age with it as the game everyone points at to where it all went wrong, just like people pointed at the Adventure games back then. And the style of gameplay, while fun for a few people, is so simplistic and basic that after Generations resusitated the franchise (for all of 2 years LOL) and perfected it, there was nowhere to go but down. And in Forces case, they went down so hard that they came out the other end of the planet. (Off topic, but I seriously hope we get some new style for the 2064 game or whenever the hell its gonna come out. At this rate, I'm expecting the next boost game to just be an extended cutscene where you hold the Square button for 2 hours.)
I grew up on the Genesis games and liked the Adventure games a great deal. I knew they were different but liked the direction they were going in. They were aimed at teens, which is how old I was at the time. I liked Heroes despite its flaws, but by Shadow I'd lost my investment because of the declining quality. It wasn't because it wasn't my Sonic, I loved, and still do like, SA1 and SA2, but the games had so obviously decreased in quality by Heroes that they turned me off. So I liked Colors not because it brought 'my Sonic' back, but because it stripped away a lot of the poor quality trends which haf arisen. The overabundance of redundant friends, the increasingly awful melodramatic stories the broken multiple character playstyles, the constant gimmick stages. I always saw these for what they were; bad interpretations of SA1 and SA2. The Adventure titles certainly have their issues, but I think they are far superior in quality than the games which came after them until Unleashed. I don't really like the way discussions are cast around Colors as entirely about preference. A lot of people were like myself. We didn't like it because it was a turn away from the tone of Adventure, but because it was actually good quality and stripped away the poor decisions which had cemented in Shadow, 06, and the Storybook games. Arguably Heroes and Unlesshed too. Colors in turn has established to its own share of problematic trends. Simplistic writing to the extent of non-existence (Gens), awful humour (Rise of Lyric, Lost World, TSR), corridor design (Forces). But if Sonic changes track, I wont be happy that they got rid of the Colors and Gens Sonic, I'll be glad that they move away from the poor trends which have caught on in recent years. I like the classics, adventure titles, Heroes to an extent, Colors, Gens, some of Lost World, despite the flaws of all of them. For me it isn't about preference, it's about quality.
I loved colours when I played it but... I can pick up Sonic Generations 10 years later and it still has a pick up and play feel, it's easy to remember how it was when it came back out and catch that hype again. Colours I struggle with, there are just too many things (like the Wisps) that I've forgotten how to handle. I kind of get the perception if I'm going to enjoy it again I need to replay it from the start.
You know what I find interesting about this; for a lot of people, and probably ones here that won't admit to it, fans will put up with a lot of low quality stuff when it has things that they resonate with. I don't anyone is going to argue that the 3D games have their fair set of issues, but to a lot of people who exalt games like Sonic Adventure 2, the flaws didn't matter because the stuff that was there resonated with them and got them attached to the series. If those elements didn't resonate with you, then all you're left with is a mediocre product. This is not meant to be derogatory to anyone, but it adds credence of Sonic fans being willing to up with anything, as long as it has the things they like about the series. It's the only way you see fans willing to go to bat for 06 of all games, because despite it being a fundamentally broken game, it had all of the things Adventure fans loved so they were willing to overlook it being a broken game. The sad part though is that while the fanbase is willing to overlook these game's flaws, the general public will not; the general public does not give an iota of a shit about how cool Shadow's character arc was, or how these characters interact in this world. They care about the gameplay, and if that isn't up to snuff, then people are simply aren't going to like the game, plain and simple. It's a touch pill to swallow, but the entire game needs to be put together well, not just one or two parts and that's where this divide comes from. I'm fairly sure Adventure fans wouldn't be alright with a mediocre or subpar game, BUT I think it goes without saying @Frostav and @BadBehavior do not prioritize gameplay as much as most users here would. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's important to keep in mind that Sonic is a VIDEO GAME series at the end of day. You may not see it that way, but that's the reality. If the gameplay isn't up to snuff, then nobody is going to care about it's world or setting, plain and simple. The games from the last decade may not be everyone's cup of tea, but they haven't really sparked the same controversy the 2000's games have, because the gameplay is at least serviceable. You want people to take Sonic's world and setting seriously again, then the game needs to be put together well for non-fans to actually enjoy playing it. That's why Colors got good reception...because people actually liked playing the game, because it was well made. The story and characters are secondary to that.
On the contrary: I do prioritize gameplay a lot, which is the other reason I don't like Colors! See, I love Sonic Robo Blast 2 and Mania despite being effectively plotless games that don't focus on a large cast or anything. Why? Because they're good games. The gameplay--or more, the goals of Sonic's overall gameplay philosophy--of Sonic is the other thing that keeps me a fan of the series. I vehemently disagree with the notion that Colors "went back to what made Sonic good". I find a lot of Classic fans say "Colors was like the games I grew up loving", but where? Where in Colors are the following: -a surreal art deco art-style -a groovy soundtrack inspired by 80's and 90's pop music genres -an emphasis on momentum physics and platforming, utilizing speed to reach new areas -levels that are massive and multi-layered zones, arranged in 2-3 acts, and are based around a THEME and not a gimmick external to the actual zone/act itself -multiple playable characters that each possess their own routes and paths through the stage, using the same base but with a special ability or two Colors is not like Classic Sonic--if anything, it's Classic Sonic's damn near diametric opposite. One playable character. Levels that arranged like 2D Mario with a bunch of small levels, and which are usually based around a particular gimmick powerup instead of being integrated into the theming of the level like the Classic zones are. The art style is very pleasing, but cartoonish rather than surreal (Sweet Mountain would never be a Classic Sonic zone--it'd more likely be a massive eggman factory or something producing food branded and designed in his image). The soundtrack is about as far from Mania and CD (the two prime examples of Classic Sonic-style music with full instrumentation as opposed to being sequenced) as you can get. The controls de-emphasize momentum physics so much it's effectively not a thing; Sonic reaches new routes through gimmick power-ups that do the work for him. Multiple routes are, at best, tiny shortcuts and not entirely new sections that feel distinctly different from the rest of them, and the levels are too short for that anyway. Heroes has more in common with Classic Sonic and I don't even like Heroes. Colors is like Classic Sonic in the same way Sonic 4 is: in that it is like it only in the most simplistic basic way that fails to understand what's good about Classic Sonic. I said I thought Colors was a fine game in my first post but I was just downplaying my opinion to not be too controversial, because wow! I hate this shitty game lmfao it's so bad my god Boost sucks and Generations and Unleashed already did everything that style could do (not much) and better, so there is no reason to go back to Colors. Forces has the exact same issues but it has the avatar creator which is enough to make me grin and bear it through the story for more customization parts. In a world where Sonic Robo Blast 2, Sonic GT, and Spark The Electric Jester 2 (and eventually 3) exist, I have no need to pretend that the Boost games were the best we had. We have literal proof that a 3D take on Classic Sonic and an improved take on Adventure is objectively superior and has more depth than the Boost games could ever hope to have. Mania has shown us that 2D Sonic still has worth. When Unleashed used 2D sections, it was an amusing nod back to the days of the genesis trilogy. But when Colors came out, it became abundantly clear that Sonic Team now viewed them as a crutch to avoid designing good 3D levels. People talk about Lost World like it's some singularly uniquely bad game, but no. Colors laid down the groundwork for Lost World to fall on its ass. Colors told SEGA that Nintendo exclusivity meant sales. It told them that whoring out twee mockeries of Classic Sonic's aesthetics and look meant sales. It told them that spending half of a 3D platformer actually playing a 2D one was a viable strategy. It told them that abandoning the zone/act structure--a structure that had remained in some kind of fashion all the way to Unleashed--for bland copy-paste levels that make no effort to be a cohesive world, incorporate no fun gimmicks into their gameplay, and instead rely solely on external gimmicks like wisps, was a good idea. It told them lifelessly copying Mario was a good thing, so now we have the Deadly Six, a group of shitty Koopaling clones that literally no one likes--and this is the Sonic fandom mind you where I've seen people earnestly say that CHARMY BEE is their favorite character, AKA a fandom where nearly every cast member has some fans--and whose leaders won't go away and keeps getting shoved into games endlessly to the point where he shows up in Team Sonic Racing over the characters WHO LITERALLY CAME FROM A RACING GAME AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH deep breath Colors is the reason Lost World was terrible. And then Lost World being absolutely atrocious and selling horrendously led SEGA to cut Sonic Team's budget. And then when they tried to make a new game that actually had ambition and new ideas (Forces), their low budget completely screwed the game over and now they probably won't ever wanna try again like they at least attempted with Forces. Hey remember when Sonic used to get cool or at least novel spinoffs like Battle, Riders, and the storybook games? It's kinda hard to, given that Colors is the reason those spinoffs don't exist anymore due to SEGA slashing their funds for Sonic super hard. I like 06 more than Colors. At least 06 gave us Silver and ensured Blaze was a mainline character and also gave us a hilarious fandub. That alone redeems that otherwise abysmal flaming wreck of a game. Colors has nothing.
