Sonic Colors: Ultimate Review – Giving a Classic Title a Fresh Coat of Paint

Sonic Colors: Ultimate is the remastered version of the original title that was released back on the Wii. Now available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store; we’re on a mission to stop Doctor Eggman from enslaving an alien race.

Painting It Blue

The story starts off with Dr. Eggman building a gigantic interstellar amusement park bursting with a plethora of rides and colourful attractions. But of course, this is the Dr. Eggman we’re talking about, and in Eggman fashion, he’s powering his amusement park with a captured alien race called Wisps.

It’s now up to Sonic and Tails to free the Wisps and learn the secrets of their amazing powers, all while exploring six unique colourful worlds, each filled with dangerous enemies and hurdles to overcome.

Gotta Go Fast

Sonic Colors: Ultimate is very easy to play. A level generally stems with having to run from one end of the platform to the other end as fast as possible to get the highest score. To get a the highest score possible, players will need to clear the level quickly while getting all the items as bonus scores.

In the default settings, the game gives you as many as 2 lives per level and it’ll be a game over once you use up those lives. However in the remastered version, they’ve added a mechanic where if you collect the Tails Icon and when you fall, he’ll come and save you and bring you to the nearest area. If you don’t have Tails as your helper, you’ll be returned to the last checkpoint you unlocked.

As previously mentioned, your job here is help free the Wisps from enslavement by defeating Dr. Eggman. The amusement park is divided into 7 areas and in each of those areas, you’ll need to rescue at least one Wisp. Saving a Green Wisp from the Starlight Carnival will let you use their powers where it allows Sonic to hover all over the place.

And while the gameplay of remastered version is similar to its original, it’s still enjoyable to play. One thing that I can appreciate is how they make each level have their own unique theme, concept and challenges to keep the levels feel fresh and not be repetitive. Like with Starlight Carnival, most places will have you flying and jumping instead of just running fast.

There are a total of eight different types of Wisps, each with their own unique traits and advantages depending on their colour. White Wisps lets players get a speed boost at any time. “Cyan Laser” turns Sonic into a laser that lets you bounce off solid surfaces to change the laser’s path, and to travel through power lines. While the “Yellow Drill” allows Sonic to drill through soft ground and water.

The “Orange Rocket” lets Sonic be blast up to tremendous heights. The “Pink Spikes” allows Sonic to bond to walls and ceilings to perform a spin dash to gain velocity and destroy objects. The “Green Hover” enables Sonic to hover and perform dashes across lines of rings. Meanwhile the “Blue Cube” gives Sonic the ability to turn blue blocks into blue rings and vice versa.

Sonic Colors: Ultimate also has 2 mini games like Game Land and Egg Shuffle. Game Land can be played by up to 2 people where you fight to the end of the platform. While Egg Shuffle is only played by one persona and you have to finish each level quickly.

Not What You’d Expect 

When booting up the game, you’ll be greeted with a cutscene of the game’s intro. And I got to admit, the graphics look gorgeous. I was particular impressed when I saw Eggman’s mustache where you’re able to see his individual hair strands.

However, when you actually get into the game, the graphics are completely different. Personally speaking, Sonic Colours: Ultimate still looks like an old 3D game. Even the cutscenes in the game look different than the ones you see from the intro. Initially, I was really excited to play this game and how pretty it looked, but after playing the game for a while, it just felt so different.

What was weird to me was that they don’t give you the opportunity to change the graphics. There were only the options to toggle fullscreen, brightness, and V-Sync; that was all they offered in the graphics setting. I don’t mean to say that the game is terrible just because of its dated graphics, but I still hoped that it would at least be more distinguishable.

Sonic with The Rizz

One thing that I can appreciate with Sonic Colors: Ultimate is how they let you change Sonic to the style that you like. You can change your gloves, shoes, and more. Instead of the usual white, you can change it to another colour. But you’ll need to buy it first by using Park Tokens that you can collect in the game.

Not only that, you can also change the Aura and Boosts which gives a lot of difference to Sonic while in the game. And while there aren’t that many options available, it still makes Sonic look very unique and can be seen clearly in the game.

Verdict

All in all, Sonic Colors: Ultimate is easy to play, although there are various challenges that you need to face to finish each level quickly. I enjoyed my time on each levels, since there’s a lot of different variations that keeps the gameplay feel fresh.

And with how the premise of the game focuses on finishing the level as quickly as possible to get the highest scores, this game has great potential for speedrun fans. In regards to the graphics, I think should haven been better. Regardless, it’s till a fun game for Sonic fans to pick up and play.

Sonic Colors: Ultimate was reviewed on PC via Steam

Sonic Colors: Ultimate

Developer: SEGA

Release Date: 2023-02-07

Epic Games Store, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Steam, Xbox One

Sonic Colors is a 2010 platform game published by Sega. It follows Sonic's quest to stop his nemesis Doctor Eggman from enslaving an alien race and taking over the world. A remastered edition of the Wii version, Sonic Colors: Ultimate, was released on September 7, 2021, for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One as part of the Sonic series' 30th anniversary.

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