Video game review number three hundred and fifty in my 365 Games in 365 Days project is "Sonic Colors".
This one just came in for the DS and even after all my adventures with Sonic this year, I'm still not sick of him yet. This game actually reminded me a lot of Sonic Rush, with a little bit of salsa added for extra flavor. People like to say "Salsa".
The game begins with a rather awesome cinematic (that plays only on the top screen). The story is apparently as follows: Eggman has built an elevator to space, and at the top of it is an amusement park. Sonic and Tails have to bust into it and find out what exactly he's planning.
Why an elevator to space? It has to cost a lot more to build that thing than to just buy another space ship (Lord knows he's had several). Did he think this was a more practical idea? I mean, the wind damage alone must cost tens of thousands in repairs every day, and if someone ever gets stuck in there, you probably need astronauts to get them out. Can you imagine how long the wait is if you push the button on earth and the elevator is up on the top floor?
Anyway...
The action is classic Sonic style for the most part. Side scrolling, super fast...collect rings and power-ups. You have the usual bouncers to launch you all over the place, loops, water levels...and then on top of that, there are a few new twists. First of all, there was some hang-gliding at the end of the first level, I thought that was pretty cool. When you get the right amount of score, you get to go to the "special" levels (yay!) and collect orbs to try and win an emerald of some kind. These levels take place in giant half pipes that reminded me of the first couple of Sonic games on the Genesis.
I made it 4 or 5 levels in, and I enjoyed the game for the most part. Sonic has some new abilities this time, thanks to these little ghost creatures that fly right into his body and somehow possess him with their special abilities. It sounds a little creepy, but no moreso than Mario eating mushrooms or flowers to get beefed up. Once Sonic has been invaded by one of these little monsters, he has a new power (such as "boost"). Small price to pay, I suppose.
If I'm counting correctly, I think this is the eighth game I've played this year that had Sonic the Hedgehog in it. Of those eight, I think I've actually only enjoyed three starring Sonic...and of those three, I think this might be my new second favorite. The XBLA platformer (Sonic 4) is number one, and this is a close second, followed by Rush.
Overall Score? 7/10. I have a pretty good basis for comparison now, and this is much better than average as far as Sonic games go. It's got that "old-school" feeling, with better graphics and the cool two-screen feature on the DS. It's definitely worth playing....and I also think it's worth owning. As far as the project goes, Sonic may have started off with a whimper, but he went out with a roar.
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