[Aerosol]

You know what Overlord? I have extremely vague memories of singing that in my primary school, now that I think about it. The annoying high-pitched whine of schoolchildren reminded me.

[PC2]

So as to redirect some of you from the recent discussion in the Generations thread, I notice you guys are finally beginning to discuss the DS version of the game. And it only took a year for people to notice its existence!

corneliab, on 16 October 2011 - 07:04 AM, said:

Colors DS is pretty good. It probably has the best level design out of the Rush games, and the wisps actually complement the gameplay surprisingly well. People just like to throw it under the bus since it's not the "main" game and that Dimps made it.

I am SO GLAD somebody finally had the guts to stand up and say this. This game deserves every bit as much attention as the others. Kudos to you, corneliab.

Personally, I think the DS version of Colors felt a lot more at home to me and more like a proper Sonic game. I think the absence of the Blue, Green, and Pink wisps had something to do with it, but also the design philosophy in general feels a lot more fluid and fast-paced. Everything seems so well-handled; rolling and spindashing makes a perfect alternative for when the boost runs out or when you want to slow down to look for the Red Rings (or if you just don't like boosting) and some of the missions feel genuinely challenging. I also love being able to interact with the rides, like the rockets in Sweet Mountain or the water slides in Aquarium Park.

It may not be as pretty as the Wii version on the graphics side, but some of the levels (mainly Aquarium Park) are actually nice to look at, and I actually found the animated pixel artwork in the map screens pretty impressive. I only wish the game was longer. I know a lot of people call it Rush 3 (which imo isn't a bad thing anyway), but it really isn't - it really borrows more elements from Unleashed than it does from the Rush games in terms of the moveset. Tricking played a major role in the Rush games, and since it's been replaced with the stomp and air boost, less time is spent hanging in the air or mashing B to fill up the meter.

I know I complained about the Wii version a lot, and I'll admit some of those complaints were petty and misguided, but the reason I said the DS version feels more like a spiritual successor to Unleashed is because the Wii version had more of that 2D puzzle platforming that feels very "alien" in comparison. I also found out that the DS version was directed by the lead planner for Unleashed, Takao Hirabayashi.

EDIT: I also think that the Wisps were used in more fun and creative ways in the DS version, again possibly due to the absence of the slower wisps. Outdrilling that crusher in Planet Wisp Act 2 was intense!

This post has been edited by PC2: 16 October 2011 - 11:58 AM

[Sonic Warrior TJ]

So hey, has anyone ever hit the first boss's hand with the laser? Like aimed at it? You surge through its body to its head, found it out by accident. Pretty cool.

[Crappy Blue Luigi]

Actually, yeah! I accidentally found out about it yesterday while playing with my nephews. Does anybody know if it does more damage than just aiming straight at the eye?

[TimmiT]

Sonic Warrior TJ, on 16 October 2011 - 11:55 AM, said:

So hey, has anyone ever hit the first boss's hand with the laser? Like aimed at it? You surge through its body to its head, found it out by accident. Pretty cool.

This and being able to use different Wisps together in the multiplayer mode makes me wonder if there are more things like that we don't know about the game yet.

[Dissident]

I got to Aquarium Park in the 3DS version before giving up and never touching it again. God damn, I was bored out of my mind playing that game.

[CesspoolofHatred]

Speaking as an owner of both versions, I actually found the DS version to be pretty fun. It's a good time-waster, which I suppose is what a portable game should be: Something to take up time while you're waiting on something like a plane ride or waiting between classes.

I would've liked more Wisps to be in the DS version, though. And fuck the Purple and Violet Wisps, seriously. Those things were ANNOYING to control. Can't tell you how many jumps I missed with the Purple Wisp in that one act because I was going too damn fast.

[Vinchenz]

Yeah I played both versions as well and I enjoyed the DS version. Not nearly as much as the Wii version mind, but it was still good fun.

Level layouts were vastly improved from the Rush titles and Wisps were utilized very well, I think.

But I absolutely hate Asteroid Coaster in the DS version. I mean, it's my least favourite zone in the Wii version but I outright hate it in the DS version.

[muteKi]

Ultimately, though, this is what modern Sonic without death pits is like. I don't mind the low difficulty here any more than I did in the first Sonic Adventure. It works well because the levels have replayability and aren't frustrating (and except for a few bits in Asteroid Coaster, don't require lots of memorization to get through). Not having 1-hit-kills everywhere makes time attacking much more fun.
I also like that one can boost in air.



But in any case I shall, having played all the handheld Sonics, give my opinion of all the ones Dimps has done thus far.

Sonic Advance. Not super fast, a bit slower than the pace of S3K overall. Egg Rocket drags on, though, and few levels have much replayability after you've found the special stage. Special stages are set up in a way that makes it hard to judge distance. Knuckles and Amy are entirely filler characters. Decent, but I think gets more praise heaped onto it than it deserves at times.

Sonic Advance 2: Faster. Despite what some say, I'd say it still feels like a Sonic game. Unfortunately it's Sonic 2, with Metropolis Zone levels of cheap hits and blind spots. Hate the SP Ring mechanic (so hard to find them in any given stage), and can't as a result give a judgement on the special stage. Bosses are cheap, especially for Sky Canyon (which isn't a level I like much in general). Music is nice, though.

Sonic Advance 3: Fixes a lot of the issues with the first Advance -- levels are a bit more elaborately laid out, taking a few more design cues from SA2, though it's a slower game. I don't mind in general, except some of the hub levels are really frustrating to traverse (if only due to how large they are -- I don't like to jump through hoops to actually play the damn game). Characters are useful again, since you don't have to beat the game with every one of them to win. The pervasive switch puzzles get really old after a while, especially when many of them don't spawn platforms in interesting places, instead just a few pixels off to the right. Controls feel too lose for some of the bits that require precision jumping, though (see: Chaos Angel 3). The special stage mechanic is more satisfying than that of SA2. Bosses tend to be fun again, and don't require replaying the previous levels to fight, thankfully. Music's a bit weaker than SA2 though. I would really like this if the hub worlds were more compact, the switches weren't in every damn stage, and the controls were tighter.

Sonic Rush: Sonic moves too fast for some of the platforming, found almost exclusively at the end of the level above bottomless pits, and the jumping doesn't feel right. The trick mechanic is annoying. Levels have a lot of the annoyances introduced in Sonic Advance 3 but the high speed makes the later levels feel only slightly less cheap than Advance 2.

Sonic Rush Adventure: Bosses take a lot of hits. Levels feel a lot fairer, and in general the game seems a lot nicer tuned than the original. Special stages and overworld are unusual, though I actually like a lot of the sailing action. What I don't like is padding out what would have been an otherwise solid game with lots of repetitive farming tasks; FUCK having to get more material. Otherwise probably the best one so far, has fewer traces of the Advance 3 annoyances, and is like what Sonic Rush SHOULD have been.

Sonic Colors: Fixes my problems with Advance 1 -- no filler playable characters! Fixes my problems with Advance 2 -- special stages just take 50 rings at the end, and can be replayed after being beaten from a menu; very few bottomless pits. Fixes my problems with Advance 3 -- no stupid switch puzzles, sonic controls tightly when not boosting, and the hub world is simpler like in the first Rush. Tricks are gone, and there's no farming. There are the red rings everywhere, but, like the SPA picture squares, are quite optional. I'm never really forced to replay a stage. I SWALLOW THE PENULTIMATE BOSS TO BEAT IT. However, the game as a whole is easy, even for a Sonic game (although from Planet Wisp on, it's less so).
Other Colors frustrations: The red and purple wisps are a bit awkward to control, though hardly unmanageable compared to some of the other games in the series. I can't play the VS. mode stages without an annoying CPU opponent -- though formulaic (resembling the first Rush in design) they also represent a take on what Rush really should have been. Click-the-wisp is not an interesting minigame. For what little it counts, production levels aren't as high as they could be; Advance 2 looks nicer. The lack of cheap traps for most of the game and the prevalence of interesting gimmicks unique to each stage makes a lot of this really minor though; it definitely fixes a lot more problems than it adds.

[Overlord]

My problem with Colours DS is the fucking Missions - I'm still stuck on Sweet Mountain because I refuse to progress without beating one of them >_>