better 3D Sonic the Hedgehog games, even if the new content is lackluster.
Sonic Colors involves Dr. Eggman building a massive theme park in space. Sonic and Tails are skeptical of Eggman's face-turn, so they decide to visit the theme park for themselves. They quickly discover that Eggman has kidnapped a race of aliens, known as the Wisps. Eggman is draining the power from the Wisps and their homeworlds, leading Sonic to go on an adventure to free them. Sonic soon discovers that some Wisps have the ability to transform his body, giving him power-ups for as long as the transformation lasts.
The gameplay of Sonic Colors will be familiar to fans of the 3D Sonic games. The stages shift between traditional 2D platform stages, where Sonic can deal with enemies using his homing attack, and racing/running sections where Sonic keeps moving and the player only controls Sonic's direction. What sets Sonic Colors apart from other entries in the series is the Wisps. Once Sonic encounters a Wisp in a stage, it will allow him to transform and give him new ways to explore the environment, such as the Yellow Wisp turning Sonic into a drill and letting him burrow underground, or the Pink Wisp turning Sonic into a spiked ball that can stick to surfaces.
The player has to gradually unlock the Wisps over the course of the game, which means they will spend most of their time playing as vanilla Sonic during their first run. Sonic Colors gets a lot of mileage out of its short runtime, as going back and playing the stages with the Wisps unlocked introduces new ways to explore and find secrets. The second run-through is a lot more enjoyable than the first for this reason, giving players a reason to stick around after seeing the credits for the first time. The fact that the game has a short runtime (roughly 7-8 for the first run) means that it's surprising that there is so much reuse on the boss encounters, which dilutes their appeal when having to face them again on multiple runs.
The biggest change in Sonic Colors is the visuals. The stages look absolutely gorgeous in 4K and everything runs at a silky smooth 60fps. The theme park-style levels look especially amazing, with a vibrant color palette that is a joy to behold. The same cannot be said for the cutscenes, which are ugly and grainy by comparison. The remixed soundtrack is also excellent, save for Eggman's announcer-style commentary in some stages. Screen Rant played the Xbox One version of Sonic Colors through Xbox Series X and didn't encounter any bugs. This bears mentioning, as there are numerous reports regarding bugs in the Nintendo Switch version of the game.
Sonic Colors isn't as exciting as the technical upgrades. There is a new Jade Wisp that lets Sonic turn into a ghost, there are Metal Sonic stages that are essentially time trials, Sonic can now purchase clothing and visual effects using points earned in stages, and the life system has been scrapped, allowing players to repeat stages as many times as they want. A lot of the new content feels like rehashing stuff that was already in the game, rather than expanding on the existing content as a draw for people who finished the original Sonic Colors in 2010.
Sonic Colors was already a great game when it was released on the Wii and Sonic Colors: Ultimate doesn't detract from the original experience, barring the aforementioned issues with the Switch port. The new content is underwhelming, but the whole package still stands up and it upholds the game's reputation as one of the best 3D entries in the series.
Sonic Colors: Ultimate will be released for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and Xbox One on September 7, 2021. Screen Rant was provided with a digital code for the Xbox One version of the game, which was played using an Xbox Series X.
