But High Score Has to be Kept in Perspective
Varied reports from various sources who have obtained the December 2010 issue of Nintendo Power indicate the Future published monthly has given the Wii version of Sonic Colors a 9 out of 10, with a 7.5 out of 10 for the DS counterpart.
There aren’t scans available yet, but some quotes circulating around some Internet forums praise Colors as “an unequivocal success.”
A 9 score is very good for a Sonic title in the modern era, but let’s put things in perspective; Nintendo Power has also rated mediocre Sonic fare highly. Both Sonic and the Black Knight and Sonic Unleashed for the Wii 8 out of 10 ratings. The Wii exclusive Sonic and the Secret Rings fared a tad better, at 8.5 out of 10.
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Bugger perspective.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=23964448&postcount=1470
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=23964641&postcount=1475
Yes, admittedly, Nintendo Power’s review doesn’t hold as much weight as, say, NGamer’s does. NGamer gave Unleashed a very lukewarm review, so a high rating from them carries a bit more stopping power.
Not that this is the be-all end-all of it; Hilary Goldstein bashed Unleashed as well, and that didn’t make his overly positive Sonic 4 review any less craptastic. (I don’t mean to imply with this statement that Sonic 4 doesn’t deserve a positive review, merely that Goldstein’s review was crap at making a case for the game, not to mention inaccurate on several key points.)
It’s still very impressive though, as Sonic hasn’t received a 9 in awhile.
Nintendo Power always gave Sonic games high scores, so I’m not convinced until a review that’s actually accurate comes out.
Someone on NeoGAF claiming to be the Nintendo Power reviewer has this to say:
“I wrote the Sonic Colors review for NP, and for what it’s worth, I didn’t review any of those previous titles. If I had, I probably would have given Sonic and the Secret Rings a 7.0 and Sonic Unleashed a 6.5. (I haven’t played through Sonic and the Black Knight yet.) I’m not saying that to throw my colleagues under the bus–reviews are just one person’s opinion–but to help folks calibrate where that 9.0 for Sonic Colors is coming from. It’s a hell of a lot of fun, and I think you guys are really going to enjoy it.”
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=23964448&postcount=1470
Sonic 4 – 8 IGN
Sonic Colors – 9 N.P
Yep,sonic now is good =P
Np did their review based on opinion not fully reviewing content personally. total bs.
Here’s some perspective apparently from the author of the NP review thanks to the NeoGaf forums:
“I wrote the Sonic Colors review for NP, and for what it’s worth, I didn’t review any of those previous titles. If I had, I probably would have given Sonic and the Secret Rings a 7.0 and Sonic Unleashed a 6.5. (I haven’t played through Sonic and the Black Knight yet.) I’m not saying that to throw my colleagues under the bus–reviews are just one person’s opinion–but to help folks calibrate where that 9.0 for Sonic Colors is coming from. It’s a hell of a lot of fun, and I think you guys are really going to enjoy it.
I probably shouldn’t get into too much detail here, but none of the acts felt like filler to me. Some are a bit on the short side, but as you mention, there are a LOT of them (more than 40, if I remember correctly), so the game certainly doesn’t feel like it’s hurting for content.
And to answer the question above yours, it’s definitely my favorite Sonic game since the 16-bit days. That’s largely because it’s more of a platformer than any of the games since then.”
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=398320&page=30
@Solaris Paradox
Its true it may not hold as much as NGamer’s review, but I really think this review should be based on its actual quality, rather than what they gave Sonic games in the past. Besides, I doubt the guy that reviewed this game is the same one who reviewed the other Sonics. That’s something a lot of people overlook, the fact that the entire publication isn’t a singular being that has the same mindset. Hell, I often forget that.
7.5 for DS? Ouch! I sincerely hope that’s a case of “big brother stealing the spotlight” and not ‘big brother stealing the development time”. I hope it lives up to the other Rush games because I loved those…
(Am I still happy for the 9 though? Absolutely!)
I don’t give a fuck how this particular magazine has rated past Sonic games. Sonic Colours (Wii) got a freakin’ 9/10, that’s all that matters.
@Solaris Paradox
That’s so true! Goldstein didn’t even discuss the physics of the game, which is something that every other critic noticed and took off points for.
The video review was FAR worse though. Goldstein stated in the written review that he didn’t like the difficulty spike when the player gets to the final boss run, plus he criticized the lack of new features compared to its predeccessors and only used two-player co-op as AN EXAMPLE of a likable feature that could’ve been in the game. However, the video review labeled these negative points as “Hard Final Boss” and “Lack of Co-op”, thus making himself and IGN look ridiculous. And why the video said “Presentation” three times I will never know. XD
People still listen to IGN after Godhand and Gamespot after Gertsmann-gate?
7.5 may look bad by comparison with a 9 for the Wii version, but it’s still better than the average Sonic score. Of course, NPower DOES have a tendency to give more favorable reviews to Sonic games than many publications, even taking into account the different staffers. That may be the largest factor in the differing scores with the two versions of Colors, also…two different people probably reviewed them.
I feel that in general, NPower likes to highlight the positive aspects of games more than some other publications. A lot of reviewers tend to focus on the negative points to an absurd degree, which skews their scores below what the average gamer might think, and CERTAINLY below a lot of fan’s opinions. So once I get my hands on the TEXT of these reviews, I’ll simply read them along with some other reviews to get the full picture.
To be fair, IGN’s Unleashed score for the Wii was a 7.5, compared to NP’s 8.0. Not much difference, really.
@ Kits.
Isn’t the game being good all that matters? Why is it that some people are so obsessed with the idea of good reviews that they don’t even care if the game is ACTUALLY good? Are people really that desperate for their favorite video game character to be more popular?
@Chaotic Fox: Regarding Sonic, yes, reviews and scores are important. Thanks to ’06, no one (i.e the gamers) truly believes that Sonic can ever work in 3D simply by looking at screenshots and trailers and they’re not gonna waste money on a game they believe is going to be crap. They’ll only believe that the game is good if they go by the final scores and the reviews. The better the scores (and how often they’re raved), the closer Sonic gets to being taken seriously as a franchise again.
Otherwise, it doesn’t matter whether the game’s good or not if no one’s going to believe in it.
@ChaoticFox
“Are people really that desperate for their favorite video game character to be more popular”
lolz, “Desperate Sonic Fans”, it’ll be TV’s next biggest sitcom =P
@Kits’Okami
Couldn’t have said it better myself. *applauds*
I personally don’t CARE if Sonic is taken “seriously” again. I don’t care if Sonic ever achieves mainstream approval. I DON’T CARE ABOUT SEGA AS A COMPANY. I’m not the type of rabid supporter that wants everyone to love Sonic as much as I do and prays at night for the prosperity of Sega.
I’d rather have Sega make GOOD games than make POPULAR games. I don’t care what the mainstream media says, especially if they unanimously agree that a mediocre game is “great”. Sega is going to keep churning out Sonic games until it runs itself into the ground.
If anything, I’m grateful that 06 and the storybook titles were poorly received because it forced them to try harder. Sega has proved that it will keep making Sonic games regardless of the character’s critical reception or whether anybody takes him “seriously”, so saying that successful Sonic titles will guarantee more Sonic titles is a hardly a real point.
So long as Sonic keeps getting nailed to a cross for shitty games, they’re going to have to keep trying harder – it’s not like we’re going to make the big bad videogame company cry and quit making games that ultimately make them truckloads of money.
What will positive critical reception garner? More than likely, complacency – and we all know where that can lead. People won’t stop making fun of Sonic because of a good game or three. And even if they did, WHO CARES? Are we defending a fictional character’s feelings now?
I’m not saying I don’t WANT Colors to succeed… but I am saying that I don’t particularly care whether it does or doesn’t. It looks like an absolute blast to me, and that’s all that ultimately matters. If the rest of the world agrees with me then that’s awesome… but if they don’t, so what?
I guess what I’m trying to say is that I see a lot of “YES, FINALLY GOOD REVIEWS” rather than “YES, FINALLY A GOOD GAME”, and it makes me wonder… are these people under the impression that “good reviews lead to more good games”, or are they really just SO committed to the franchise that they are emotionally invested in its success?
@ChaoticFox: So you honestly wouldn’t mind if Sonic will always be seen as a “dead franchise” so long as you’re satisfied?
Yes.
I like what I like because I like it, and I could care less what other people think of it.
I’m not saying I hope Sonic never recovers his image, I’m just saying it doesn’t matter to me if he does. As long as I think his games are good, nothing else particularly matters. Even if they’re not, I’ll always love the character.
Oh hey! Solaris goes on here too, huh? Sweet! Oh, and Sonic Colors rocks.
@ChaoticFox: If a Sonic fan chooses to enjoy certain titles that got lousy reviews (and most Sonic fans did at least somewhat enjoy at least one of them), then how much more are they likely to enjoy games that actually stand up to the scrutiny of critics whose job it is to be harsh on badly programmed titles? I think THAT’S why the good reviews matter…it tells us we should be in for a better game than we’ve been getting of late.
“If a Sonic fan chooses to enjoy certain titles that got lousy reviews (and most Sonic fans did at least somewhat enjoy at least one of them), then how much more are they likely to enjoy games that actually stand up to the scrutiny of critics whose job it is to be harsh on badly programmed titles? ”
Because they arent as big as a dumbass as you’re making them out to be.