Sonic Colo(u)rs Ultimate released for Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Epic Games Store

After playing the original Colours and Unwiished in the recent weeks, I consider Unleashed the only boost game (or at least the only one I've played, in case someone mentions Forces). Sonic Colours is a game with a boost button and some boosting segments, and I don't remember modern acts in Generations to be much different.

I mean, I played the whole Colours and I was only forced to boost in a very few places (most of them to get red rings), whereas Unleashed had me constantly running, and also drifting and braking, which, in a game where you get S ranks solely by being fast, means you need to boost at every chance and keep the rings flowing to recharge the meter, rings which are more plentiful in the shortcut routes. If it's already like that in the Wii version, I imagine the HD one (which I haven't played) must be insane.

While I've never been nitpicky with framerates or graphics, the responsiveness is a totally different matter, and that's also something I've noticed with Unwiished. I don't think the 50Hz PAL was the only one to blame (yes, I had to play the game that way), but the slow response or absolute absence of it at times was undeniable and any available improvement to that would have been very much appreciated.

That said, the appeal SCU has for me is playing it portable, so the Switch version maybe worse but it's unique and gives what I want from it. Same for any Sonic game released on that system, really.

 

Famitsu just released an interview with both Izuka-san and Hoshino-san that talks a bit more about why they choose to do a remaster of Colors.

I'm still reading through it (with Google Translate admittedly) but I find it interesting that they start talking about how they wanted to broaden Sonic's appeal with the past few titles. Mania was for fans of the genesis titles, Forces for "enthusiastic fans" (though a more accurate translation might be hardcore fans), and TSR for fans of the character who weren't into action games. The rest Izuka's pretty much gone on record discussing before, that the influx of new fans with those games and the recent movie they wanted a good entry point to fans which they seem to think is Colors since it sold so well 10 years ago, etc. It's kinda refreshing to finally have some insight into their reasoning for the choices they made with the series over the past 4 to 5 years, even if it might be a tad misguided. It sounds to me like they're trying to appeal to the greatest common denominator rather than solidify a single identity that's cohesive. I kinda get it, but it kinda strikes me as the wrong approach.They also seem to be trying to broaden the Japanese fanbase in particular so as "not to lose to overseas fans".

It's kinda refreshing to finally have some insight into their reasoning for the choices they made with the series over the past 4 to 5 years, even if it might be a tad misguided. It sounds to me like they're trying to appeal to the greatest common denominator rather than solidify a single identity that's cohesive. I kinda get it, but it kinda strikes me as the wrong approach.

 

That's pretty good reasoning regarding the present direction of the franchise, but reasonably evident from the outside. I'm more surprised by the explicit mention of Decoe and Bocoe as the source of Orbot and Cubot. I thought the official story was that they were concepted thanks to Pontac and DeGraff, but maybe some sort of legal obstacle present back then is no longer the case and they can more accurately talk about spiritual successors now..?

 

Well.... at least they didn't copy those two's lack of individuality. Or fail to live up to a third like Bokkun.
I wouldn't think they'd ever not have permission to bring Sonic X/TMS characters up in conversation.

 

Theres hope for Cosmo yet

 

No, they failed to live up to a second instead. Cubot is such a bleh character

 

They've been trying to "broaden Sonic's appeal" for the last 15-20 years. How about instead they try to narrow it into a solid series of games.

 

Skimming through that interview with my own questionable and probably bad translation methods, jotted down what caught my eye

• lives seem to be fully removed (to make the game more appealing to modern tastes)
• hidden Jade Wisp sections added to the existing levels, designed to get you to explore puzzle-like situations (different from the others Wisps, which were designed to get you moving forward through levels)
• the Rival Rush mode where you race Metal is built for skilled players, and does not replace the 2P Sonic Simulator
• story is entirely untouched
• Sonic had gained many friends as time went on, while Eggman had remained the sole villain... they wanted to add some while making Colours back in the day
  ... Orbot and Cubot were inspired by Sonic X's Decoe and Bocoe (and how they played off of Eggman)
  
  
• trying to get the new 2020 Movie fans and those who've known of Sonic from the M&S Olympics to try out a simple beginner friendly entry
  ... added Jade Ghost and Rival Rush for older fans revisiting to toy around with
• something about in the future working with the "Sonic Pillar HQ" (ソニック ピラー 本部) in America?

 

They actively said that they don't want to do that. They want Sonic to appeal to as many people as possible.

I don't really agree with it either, but I get it from a business standpoint at least.

Hope this gets translated soon properly.

 

But that's the whole point. It's not smart from a business standpoint. They've been trying to make sonic appeal to as many people as possible for decades and it's only made him less popular. Sonic Mania was them explicitly trying not to make Sonic more appealing to the masses and it ended up being a surprisingly popular game. Good business executives do what works not what what hasn't worked for decades.

 

They could appeal to as many people as possible, and the results would be good, as long as the games actually appeal to them. But Forces doesn't appeal to hardcore fans, and TSR is so lacking in content that doesn't appeal to fans who are missing characters. Mania delivered what its audience wanted, but the others didn't. It's not only about target audience, it's about target audience and quality.

 

Could've fooled me with how easy that game was. But at least it somewhat explains egregious additions like the Avatar and especially Classic Sonic

 

I started translating the interview but got bored because it’s 90% stuff we’ve heard before and marketing fluff, and the other 10% can more or less be understood from machine translation. I think all of it’s been covered here by now.

That was just Hoshino saying that while the Japan pillar cooperates with the US pillar, he doesn’t want to “lose to them” and wants to make a lot more Sonic fans in Japan.

 

I wouldn't put a lot of stock into that kind of thing--I've noticed that Japanese game devs tend to say things that are completely nonsensical about their own design decisions. I dunno if it's a translation thing or just how PR speak works in Japan. Nintendo does it a LOT--they'll make a strange design decision for a game, and then "justify" it with a truly bonkers reasoning in an interview that makes no sense whatsoever. Sonic Team does it a lot too. Frankly, all the big Japanese companies do it. I'm so used to them explaining decisions with absolutely incomprehensible justifications that are clear PR speak that it just washes over me at this point.

 

...because rivalry within SEGA ended so well in the 90s... (Yeah it's friendly now, I get it. I just couldn't resist writing that).

To be honest, I don't get why Sega is pursuing the angle with wider audience so hard. It's clearly not working well. Just make a damn great game - it will gain popularity and appeal to a lot of people, just like Mania did.

I can't imagine if Nintendo was like this. They put the gameplay and idea first, and that's why Mario and Zelda are still in high regards.

 

Comparing Sonic to Nintendo is an a recipe for disaster. They're the exceptions, not the rule.

 

Wait, they actually mentioned Sonic Similator for once?

I can't tell what the intention behind the new statement about it is because of the machine translations... is it back?

Edit: Google seems to say yes.

 

It's a minor bummer that the 2-player won't be expanded at all (I was kind of hoping that's what Rival Rush mode might be, and also for some possible online racing mode).

 

I heard that Sonic Simulator is getting full online support

 

Source?

Sonic Simulator is 100% crappy filler. I played through all the levels precisely once in order to unlock Super Sonic, and never looked back. The physics and controls of colours just aren't suited to the precise platforming with a natural sense of flow. They don't feel nice to play at all. And you can tell that Sonic Team was aware of this even when they created watered-down versions of S1's levels for several of the acts. It's not even accurate enough to convincingly mimic the original Sonic game.