Sonic Colors: Ultimate is a great gateway back into the platforming franchise

Sonic the Hedgehog is a funny little franchise. The blue ball of speed’s first few games are undeniably some of the most iconic platformers in history, and Sonic himself has remained popular enough to warrant multiple crossover titles with Mario, be featured in Super Smash Bros. games and get a live-action movie of his own. His games however, are another story. 

The Sonic franchise has had something of an identity crisis since shifting from 2D to 3D gameplay. Most of its recent entries have been half-baked, mildly terrible platformers that either rely too much on gimmicks or lose sight of Sonic’s core identity completely. The Nintendo Wii-exclusive game Sonic Colors was one of the last good 3D Sonic games to come out of this era, which makes it that much more interesting to return to all these years later, remastered as Sonic Colors: Ultimate. 

But does the 2010 Wii game still hold up? 

Panic! At the carnival

Not that Sonic games are known for their stories, but we should talk about this one anyway. Sonic Colors: Ultimate trims the fat from Sonic’s colourful assortment of friends, which almost works in its favour. You won’t see much of fan-favourites like Knuckles, Amy and Shadow here - instead, this simple tale mostly revolves around Sonic, his best friend Tails and the villain Dr. Eggman. Dr. Eggman’s evil machinations are at the center of Sonic Colors: Ultimate as usual, with yet another plan to conquer the world.

This plot is fine in a Saturday morning cartoon kind of way, and its interstellar setting makes for some nice environmental diversity. Dr. Eggman has set up an evil space carnival, as villains often do, using an alien species called the Wisps as an energy source. Having hitched a ride to the Carnival, Sonic partners up with the Wisps to stop Dr. Eggman and free their species. Just as every Sonic game tries to unnecessarily mix up the speedster’s platforming gameplay, Sonic Colors’ gimmick comes in the form of these Wisps - and they’re just that: a gimmick. 

You’ll bump into Wisps throughout Sonic Colors’ levels, unlocking new ones the further you progress in the main story. Sonic himself is a familiar blinding-fast ball of blue, rocketing past enemies and gaining speed as long as he is uninterrupted by obstacles. The Wisps throw a wrench in that, replacing his kit with new abilities like flying into the sky, drilling through certain objects and so on. Not all Wisps are made equal, however. The drill and laser Wisps are a lot more fun to use than say, the wall-climbing Wisp, which feels a lot less exciting to bump into during a level. All of them feel unfortunately out of place, each one weighing levels down when you simply want to bound across obstacles as fast as you can.

That’s what a Sonic game is meant to be, so why overcomplicate things?

Sonic and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Sonic Colors doesn’t take too long to beat, averaging maybe four hours or more in total length, with each level taking mere minutes to complete. You’re scored based on your performance however, depending on how many things you’ve destroyed and how much time was saved. Levels are 3D environments, but they often switch from an over-the-shoulder 3D perspective to a more traditional 2D one. These transitions feel surprisingly seamless. Sonic needs to be quick on his feet and so do you, timin button presses and reacting quickly to zip into enemies and soar over platforms without losing momentum. 

Sonic games are essentially all about speed, and avoiding anything that might slow you down. The game is relatively short, but satisfaction is not derived from completion so much as replayability. Sonic Team is counting on the ‘perfect run’ to keep you coming back, and while it's a fun enough time, those pesky Wisps do pull the rug out from under your feet too often. It’s a shame that Sonic Team’s one attempt to push this platformer away from the familiar is also what brings it down, because I am truly down for anything that makes a Sonic game feel novel and different - like reality-warping suits did for Crash Bandicoot 4. This just isn’t it. 

This is a good remaster. Sonic Colors is an energetic platformer with dazzling levels you bolt through like lightning, and the entire package has been given a well-deserved facelift that improves lighting, textures and character models. It doesn’t look incredible, but it certainly looks a lot better than before. Its cutscenes exist as proof of that, as they disappointingly have not been updated besides with what seems to be a resolution bump. It’s very strange to go back and forth from clean-looking gameplay to these ugly old visuals on modern consoles, but I suppose we can’t have it all. 

Verdict

If you’re a fan of the 2020 movie or want to dive back into some childhood nostalgia, Sonic Colors Ultimate works as a gateway into the franchise. Not only is this one of the better 3D Sonic games out there - seriously, don’t even look at Sonic Unleashed - but it also adds some new content onto the original game like new costumes, music and an extra Wisp. Sometimes-clumsy level design and the inclusion of the Wisps themselves keep this from being a truly good Sonic game, but it’s still an all-around solid title to keep you busy for a few hours. 

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