Skip to main content

Matt Vs. Sonic Colors



The Sonic the Hedgehog franchise has gone through many changes over its two decade existence. From its birth on the SEGA Genesis and transition to 3-D on the SEGA  Dreamcast to its struggles throughout the last decades, many wondered if Sonic would ever be good again. Since Sonic Adventure  2, I have played several newer Sonic games including Sonic Heroes and Sonic and the Secret Rings however theses titles were mediocre at best. A new game would be announced raising fan expectations and the final product would be a disappointing mess and this same cycle continued for years. Sonic Colors for the Wii and along with Sonic Generations for the Xbox 360 and PS3 helped change this perception.


Sonic Colors' plot is fairly basic, Sonic and Tails visit Dr. Robotnik's interstellar amusement part and have to rescue the aliens that the doctor has captured there. The overall tone of the game is similar to those of Saturday morning cartoon shows with voice acting that fits. Unlike prior entries in the series, Sonic is the game's only  playable character and the gameplay is a mix of 2.5 D platforming and 3D running sections similar to those seen in Sonic Adventure. The game clings to its amusement park concept in both the dialogue and the game design featuring worlds based off of carnivals, roller coasters, and confections. I even found the games obligatory water base level bearable. The game's main hook is that Sonic can use alien based power-ups which gives him a variety of temporary abilities such as the ability to turn into a laser, a spiked ball, or a floating balloon. These alien power-ups give the game some much needed variety. The game takes more than passing inspiration from Super Mario Galaxy but still provides some unique experiences of its own.


The game isn't perfect and  a few issues such as floaty controls and timing based jumps will cause several needless deaths.   The game can be played with a variety of controllers including the Wii Remote and the Gamecube and classic controllers and I ultimately chose my Gamecube controller. However the controls were not as responsive as I had hoped at times. The levels count is less than it appears because many of the later levels in each world are very short.  Still the graphics are great for a Wii game and the music is catchy and fitting. I enjoyed the 1st and 3rd final third of the game and slogged somewhat through the middle portion.

  While I do miss the free-roaming levels of the Sonic Adventure seriesm Sonic Colors represents a return to form to a much derided video game franchise. Anyone with a Wii or Wii U should give the game a try if they are yearning for a good non Mario platformer.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Matt and the Joker's Five Way Revenge

    Last year saw the passing of acclaimed comic book writer Denny O'Neill. O'Neill had a long history with many DC Comics superheroes as a writer and editor and is best known for revitalizing the character of Batman among others starting in the 1970s. I decided to pick up a copy of one of the more famous Batman issues of this era, Joker's Five Way Revenge which was written by O'Neill and drawn by Neal Adams. The story featured in Batman # 251, was released in November, 1973. While I am gaining a better appreciation for 1990s comics, I largely avoided avidly reading 1970s issues due to their seemingly dated nature and tropes. After reading this issue, I had some thoughts on both how the character and mythos of Batman has evolved over time and a greater appreciation for a more grounded Dark Knight. In Joker's Five Way Revenge, the Joker is seeking revenge for a presumed betrayal by killing members of his former gang and Batman is striving to stop him. By the time t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Matt VS. Non-Stop

Liam Neeson has had career arc, starring in films such as as Schindler's List, Star Wars, and Taken. His latest film Non-Stop is a high flying thriller that banks off of his popularity from the Taken films. Neeson stars as Bill Marks, an alcoholic Air Marshall on a trans-Atlantic flight who receives cryptic messages from someone on board claiming that someone will die every twenty minutes. As the deaths mount, he is forced to turn to desperate measures which then leads the majority of the flight to believe that he is the one hijacking the plane. The movie's release is further complicated by real world events like the disappearance of Malaysian Flight 370 This contributed to the film being a bit more chilling than it in normal circumstances. Julianne Moore is also a major character in the film and recent Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong'o also has a role. While I predicted a fair amount of the plot twists, I felt that a major one at the end really set the film ...
Post a Comment
Read more