Sonic Cycle! Ha! This is Sonic Colours for Nintendo Wii

I recently finished Sonic Colours for Wii. I have to let you know, I'm not a huge Sonic fan. Well that's not entirely true. I love the original trilogy on the Megadrive (Genesis for North America) and Sonic Adventure 2 wasn't too bad, as well as some of the handheld titles, but on the whole I haven't liked his 3D outings. Not at all. Something just wasn't right with the transition of the game from 2D to the third dimension. If you look at games like Mario, Zelda and even Metroid from a consumer's view, their progression into 3D was so seamless. In fact for those series, games such as Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Metroid Prime are considered by some to be the best in their respective series. That's why it always irked me that Sonic has had such a rough time in this regard. The Megadrive titles provided a great platforming experience, because rather than cloning the Mario experience, they tried something new. The end result was a game filled with exploration, twists and turns, multiple pathways and plenty of fascinating, if sometimes quirky level design. It was a classic, and it was all rooted in the fact that it was fast. Like, super-sonic fast. Heh.

I'm actually a little disappointed that out of the multitudes of 3D Sonic games that were released prior to Sonic Adventure for the Dreamcast, one of the one's that looked most promising, Sonic Xtreme for the Sega Saturn was cancelled. If you have a look at the video below, you'll notice that it not only had a solid engine running, but it was unique as it basically ran on a 2D plane of movement, but in certain spots the player could experience some depth. It seems that with a bit more time and polish, Sega may have been onto something. Ah well, no use crying over split milk though is there? Also, you may get nauseous from the loops in that video. Just a warning. I'm feeling dizzy.

However, this is not really the point. I just wanted to illustrate how difficult Sonic's transition to 3D has been. Even after the pretty successful Adventure titles, things collapsed. I've only played one 3D Sonic game to be released since Sonic Adventure 2, and that was Sonic and the Secret Rings. That game was okay, but the fact that it was on rails killed it for me. Where is the exploration? Gone. Where is the control? Gone. Don't get me wrong it was solid, but it didn't feel like a Sonic game. I've heard the other titles were just as appalling, although several gamers and critics alike praised the "day-time" levels of Sonic Unleashed (you know, that game with the.. arrrrrrrgh WERE-HOG! What were they thinking?!). Many even said that if a game focused solely on these sort of level designs, it could be a truly great Sonic game. So skipping ahead a couple of year's brings us to Sonic Colours' release. To be blunt, it's amazing.

So, why is Sonic Colours so awesome? Well for various reasons. Firstly, the aformentioned level design of Unleashed's "day-time" levels if indeed Colours follows that formula, are superb! They're somewhat similar to the Adventure games, but they focus more on maintaining speed and collecting rings. Sound familar? It should. That's pretty much what makes Sonic games... what's the word... oh yeah, FUN! However, in addition to this truly brilliant 3D levels, the game also seamlessly transistions to 2D side-scrolling sections, which funnily enough borrow HEAPS from the Megadrive games. If you're still wondering why I love this game so much... well, that's the reason. I've played a couple of the handheld titles, developed by Dimps, and don't get me wrong, they're really fun. However, they never felt like the original games. Sonic Colours' 2D sections do. They're brilliant. They're amazing. It even gets better with the addition of the Wisps, alien-like creatures that serve as the game's power-ups. They are unlocked gradually, allowing the player to return to previous worlds and acts with their powers in hand. These powers can then be used to find secret items, collect more rings, or even discover completely new sections of the level. Obviously they all lead to the same destination, but one of the greatest things about the original games was the multiple pathways. Sonic Colours nails this.

So basically, the gameplay is aweome. That's the thing that matters here, because as usual (even with the lackluster titles) Sega have delivered on the presentation. The graphics are some of the best on the Wii. Period. They definitely give Super Mario Galaxy a run for it's money (although that game is equally gorgeous... so don't hurt me. It's more a compliment towards Sonic Colours than an insult to Super Mario Galaxy, trust me). In addition the soundtrack... oh boy the soundtrack is great! Another thing that was so awesome about the original Megadrive games was how the first Act of a Zone would introduce a piece, and then Act 2 would essentially be a remix of the previous track. Sonic Colours does this too! There is a little over-lap however as there are many Acts in each world, so you usually have two acts sharing the same piece. Still that's about 3 different tracks per world, not including the boss stage. The variation is great, and it's probably the best soundtrack in a Sonic game since the Megadrive era. It's almost like all the planets finally aligned and Sega finally got their shit together. Thank god is all I can say. What we're rewarded with is, in my opinon, the greatest 3D Sonic game ever, because it doesn't ignore the fact that 2D Sonic is so awesome. It integrates what is fun about 3D Sonic and blends it perfectly with the winning 2D style. It's certainly one of the best games on Wii, and I'd also say it's one of the best games of this generation. Period. I haven't played Sonic Generations, but I'm very keen to. I hope Sega have managed to follow up this amazing entry in the Sonic franchise. Not convinced? Here's an excellent video review from TreavorClark, youtube reviewer/entertainer and games design student. If you like his review check out his channel (<--- click) as all his videos are of the same quality.

So yeah. Go buy Sonic Colours. Or.. or... I'll... *sigh* Just buy it, please? For once Sonic Team actually deserve your money. I swear.

So have you played Sonic Colours? Still skeptical? Have some thoughts on Generations you think I'd like to hear? Please leave a comment below :)