Review of Sonic Colours Ultimate: a new coat of paint
Our Verdict
I’d say there’s a great Sonic game here, and newcomers will find plenty to love. But if you own it already, maybe wait for a sale.
Just in time for Sonic's 25th anniversary, Sonic has gotten in on the party with a remaster of the Wii exclusive Sonic Colours, joining the wave of Wii remasters and rereleases on Switch that have been happening lately. Since this hybrid 3D/2D game is regarded as the series' high point for the past ten years, has SEGA been able to preserve the essence of what made the original game so amazing, or has enough been done to make a second purchase necessary?
Sonic Colours transports Sonic into space, much as Mario did in Super Mario Galaxy a few years earlier. Sonic and Tails are invited to join Dr Eggman's interplanetary entertainment park. Though obviously there are evil intentions at work. Sonic quickly learns that Eggman has really been gathering Wisps, which are extraterrestrial beings, and using their abilities to make weaponry.
In order to fully explore each level, Sonic will need to free the Wisps, who he can really utilize their capabilities to turn into a range of helpful new skills. You may sometimes uncover surprises and other pathways when you return to early stages with access to some of the later abilities since certain powers are even only available later. It's a clever technique to extend the gameplay, as completing the collectibles will force you to come back after you've unlocked additional abilities.
One problem right away, however, is that although there is a lot of variation in the Wisps, their implementation seems flimsy and direct. Typically, obtaining a Wisp only serves as a means of moving forward in the following few seconds of a level, rather than providing an opportunity to try out other moves and attacks. This is further shown by the fact that each Wisp has a timer, meaning you can only use it for a short period of time. Though Sonic controls differently in each of these enjoyable diversion, they sometimes seem more like brief riddles to be completed than an enjoyable study of mobility and battle.
Each level has collectibles that sometimes need the usage of certain Wisps, and while this is a good way to really employ them, it's also a bit too infrequently used and never feels very pleasant to handle. Although this is undoubtedly one of the finest 3D Sonic entries, the usage of the boost button rather than Sonic rolling into a ball results in a rather stilted and artificial sensation throughout 2D sequences. It seems particularly strange not to be able to roll Sonic into a ball in a post-Sonic Mania world, and the blue hedgehog's mechanics seem a little too airy and imprecise.
In Colours, Sonic excels most in the 3D/2D hybrid levels, especially those with broader layouts that demand to be raced through. This seems like one of the more active entries in the series, and it works well thanks to dynamic camera movement, fantastic backdrops, and some exciting chase parts. The finest parts of the game are when it seems like an interactive rollercoaster, which makes sense considering the carnival backdrop. In order to reach new heights and employ homing attacks, you must still press Y. The traditional strategy of leaping sideways and grinding on various rails still works well here, particularly given the theme of an amusement park.
In other words,This entry even has a good amount of variety in terms of both graphics and soundtrack, with the various planets providing some nice pace variations between levels and the soundtrack frequently striving to meet the grandiose standards of a Sonic level while also giving each area a distinct personality. The remastered tracks are a bit of a mixed bag, however part of the original soundtrack is back in all its glory. Several of the songs appear to have lost their meaning, either by a straightforward rerecording or rearranging that leaves them sounding like toothless elevator music versions of the originals, or by often altering the melody and instrumentation in overtly strange ways.
In a similar vein, it seems that rather than improving the optics, the alterations were made purely for show. Although this game looked amazing on the original Wii hardware, there don't appear to be any enhancements outside of Sonic's model. The Switch version is constantly plagued by graphical glitches and slowness, and it struggles to sustain even 30 frames per second. The majority of the visual adjustments seem to be limited to brightening or blooming light sources, thus on some stages, this technicolor rollercoaster is suddenly startlingly fluorescent.
The cutscenes have also been improved; nonetheless, while the opening section seems entirely new, the older sequences resemble supersized Wii footage. Though I imagine it would have been too costly to replace everything, the abrupt decline in quality is still a little startling. Still, this submission really captures the Saturday morning cartoon atmosphere, which I really love. The quips between Eggman and Sonic are at their funniest, and they come out almost every minute.
Even though I didn't come across any significant bugs or technical issues throughout my playthrough, I wouldn't claim that this game is flawless. Given the caliber of recent Wii ports on Switch, whether via in-house emulators or not, the fact that a game that was released ten years ago performs noticeably worse on technology that is much more powerful raises the possibility that certain elements might have been better left unaltered.
I didn't run across any significant graphics issues, but I did run into several little ones, such sounds not playing, effects that sometimes happened in the incorrect spot, and certain effects that didn't activate. Although I'm hoping that updates will improve the experience, this version seems like it's held together with tape. It's sad to release it in this shape, particularly as it appears to have further complicated what was an otherwise seamless original experience. Unless you want to do fast runs and unlock everything, this is a brief game, and I find it difficult to defend the price point to anybody who is even somewhat interested in playing it again in the modern day.
However, there are some positive additions: new treasures that may be used to buy Sonic cosmetics are hidden in every level. Although I can't say that playing with plain yellow, orange, or green gloves made me happy, it still provided me something to do and is worth going through again. The boost trails and more costly patterns are really very nice, and some of the cosmetics are wonderful, but there weren't nearly as many amazing items to obtain.
Rival Race is an entertaining new mode that plays like a cross between Mario games' Ghost Modes and level replays where the objective is to beat Metal Sonic to the finish. This is a very lovely addition, and it's good to see Sonic games encouraging players to speedrun or, at the very least, revisit levels in order to get a deeper understanding of them. When you are familiar enough with the levels to make improvements and iterations to your times, the Sonic experience is always enhanced.
Not to mention, the new Tails Save replaces lives with minor enhancements. With this option, you may choose to restart from the closest secure location rather than a checkpoint. Afterwards, there's the Jade Ghost, a brand-new Wisp that enables you to bypass levels and phase through solid objects to discover undiscovered regions. Although useful, it seems like an afterthought since only a little adjustment has been made to the levels to account for it. More time than you'd like will be spent bashing into unseen walls and obstructions or just aimlessly meandering around empty space.
I should point you, however, that Sonic Colours was a solid Sonic game in the first place. With some of the finest series music and several very memorable stages and set pieces, it's a well-designed Sonic game that captures Sonic at his most ludicrous and joyful. It eschews the pointless filler of some previous entries in favor of making an attempt to expand Sonic's library of transformations and moves in some really entertaining and unique ways. Many of them seem a lot like Super Mario Galaxy (the drill power is particularly recognizable), but if you're going to steal from someone, take from the greatest.
It is difficult to suggest Sonic Colours Ultimate to anybody who has and enjoys the original game since it is a jumbled remaster of a good game. Though it's a handy method to play the game, Sonic fans who haven't played it yet will find it to be one of the most sincerely enjoyable installments in the series in a long time. There is room for improvement in terms of graphic design and musical selection, so discerning viewers will have something to critique if they know what to look for.