Scans–With Some New Screenshots–Inside
After a short delay in publication, the UK based Official Nintendo Magazine has weighed in on both editions of Sonic Colors.
While the Wii version didn’t score quite as high as it did with ONM’s American counterparts, the game received a very respectable 86% by the publication. Though not enough to earn the magazine’s Gold Award, writer Chris Scullion had plenty of nice things to say about the game, including the change in Sonic’s voice to Roger Craig Smith, which he claims afford a “less cringeworthy persona.” Scullion also assesses the Wisps as a “gimmick” that have various strengths and weaknesses, though none are a deal breaker.
There are some noticeable flaws in-game. The review cites that some of the 60+ stages are much weaker than others, and that on the whole they stop just short and “lack the character of the real-world locations in (Sonic) Unleashed,” Scullion says. Multiplayer also misses the mark in his assessment.
The DS edition was rated comparably to its Wii counterpart with an 85% rating. There have been some observations that this might as well be Sonic Rush 3, but reviewer Simon Bramble believes you can’t get too much of a good thing:
It starts off very simply. Clamp down on the right hand side of the D-pad and Sonic is off, with little adjustment needed to make it to the end of the level. With more actions added to the formula as you progress, there’s more to occupy you, but at its heart Colours is speed-run gaming at its finest,
[....]
So far then, it’s very familiar. But sometimes familiarity is all the Sonic fan wants [....]
Weak spots in the DS version include the game’s special stages and boss battles, according to Bramble.
Scans have been made available of both reviews, as well as a supplementary interview with Takashi Iizuka, in which he reiterates the inspiration of daytime Sonic Unleashed applied to Colors. The relevant scans are below. Thanks to darkclarkson for the initial score tip, and Speed the Hedgehog for providing links to scans. If you have news to share, be sure to share it with us by clicking News Tips at the top of every page.
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wow! This just poped up! lol
Why does Sonic Unleashed’s real world locations get more praise than Colors’?
Firstly, Unleashed’s environments were accurate to their real world counterparts but Colors’ took a heck load of imagination to design! Unleashed looked nice and all, but Colors looks like the result of pure creativity. Sorry Unleashed, but Colors is just looking so much nicer.
Too bad about the multiplayer though, I was looking forward to it. Oh well, I’ll just judge it for myself when it comes out
Seriously though, no gold award? why?!
I call BS on the multiplayer, honestly. It looks pretty damn fun to me.
And yeah, that ‘Unleashed had more characteristic level design than Colors’ bit had me scratching my head. Serious? The level with giant donuts loses to some stage (while beautifully rendered) that’s based off of Africa? How about the roller coaster in space? Or the Japanese aquarium? I’m not really seeing what point he was trying to make there.
Other than that, it’s nice to see it being praised so heavily. And also nice to hear that the voice acting has indeed gotten better.
“Not as good as Sonic Adventure”
?? LOLwut?
@Gooch
>Not as good as Sonic Adventure
>MAXIMUMTROLLING.jpg
Seriously, I love SA to pieces, but Colors is far superior from a technical standpoint.
While I’m glad for the scores, I can’t help but feel there’s some ignorance (please refrain from IGNorant jokes please) to some of the comments.
Every review so far gets me more and more excited for this game.
I’m gonna write in to Chris and settle this score. Still, it ranks as Excellent cos that boundry is 85% – 89%.
The game scores well and the fans still complain. wow just wow,
@Soul Gauge
I feel the same way >.>
I can’t believe I wasted £3.99 on a review that basically says “Nice try, but it’s no ‘Unleashed’”. I also can’t believe that the guy counted the platforming sections and multiplayer as “bad” points.
At least it’s not all bad news, though it has put me off wasting time on reviews when I’ve heard and believe otherwise.
Having read the review, there seems to be some perception differences between the reviewers and fans (not all) on what sonic is. I get the gist they see sonic as purely all about speed, rather than a balance between speed AND platforming. If you read ONM America’s review, they mention sonic is as much about platforming as speed; here that’s barely mentioned.
I’m not complaining: I’m thrilled they gave it a score in the Excellent range. I’m just highlighting some differences that may affect how we see the game. If you’re all about sonic speed and Colors has a lot of platforming in it, you may like it a little less.
Though, they did factor in the exploration (which can count as platforming) more into their DS review. All in all, go sonic colors!
To be honest, I would LOVE a game using the same speed, engine, and controls (with fixed drifting control) as the true daytime stages of Unleashed (It could be Sonic Unleashed 2: Werehog NOT included). However, there are people that hates the daytime stages because it’s too fast/uncontrollable for them. It gets to the point where reviewers hate it. (Yes, I’m looking at you Gamespot!)
I think the best for Sonic is Speed AND Platforming. That way, it will still be fast, but not fast enough to the point where people bitch about it.
To be fair, while I like the simulator IDEA, the multiplayer aspect of it looks as dinky and tacked on as some of the alternate modes in, say, ASR. Not really a great experience, just something that might be fun to goof with in once or twice. I like SEEING the wisp combinations, but they don’t really like terribly FUN as much as they are just neat.
As far as the comparison to Unleashed, I think they have a point. While I’m glad to see more unique-ish looking environments, they don’t really “wow” me like the Unleashed stages did, especially graphically. It’s like they tried to plant themselves somewhere between surreal and realistic, and that middle ground seems to house a bit of mediocrity.
Also, the reviewer may have a point about the levels not living up to SOME of the daytime stages in Unleashed. With 60 something stages, it’s pretty much a guarantee that many of them will be short and unimpressive little jaunts, much like some of the alternate win condition acts in Unleashed. I’m quite excited for this game, but I’m not naive enough to think that EVERY level will be mind-blowing.
It’s good to see a positive review that still addresses some concerns. When I hear too much good and not ANY criticism about a game, I get suspicious.
I do find it a bit funny that the review summary says it won’t top Sonic Adventure, but then it puts Colors higher on the “classic” scale. Iol
Woah… in the Iizuka interview he calls S4 “the best 2D Sonic we could produce”. That certainly doesn’t give me a lot of hope for Episode 2. Way to set the bar low.
Then again, he also said SA2 had “fluid” tempo. I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear anything XD
Now Announce Sonic Colors HD SEGA!!
@Jak
Just wait for the ending results and it may pay off
@Sjmaster Well, that’s the most of the Sonic fanbase for you. The game could be even better than SA2, but some fans will still find things to moan, bitch, and whine about.
Some of us even have plenty to bitch about regarding SA2!
Seems like a good, fair review to me.
I agree with everything the review has to say minus Adventure being a series highlight. It is a staple and once hailed game, but it just doesn’t hold up much to time.
I dunno, to me hype was the only thing SA1 ever had over SA2, well that and Tails having feet. I was extremely disappointed with SA1, I only place two 3D games below it personally. Closer to topic, what is Iizuka talking about, even Sega (I think it may have been him) has said that they designed this game with Mario fans in mind. That’s not even mentioning that Mario Galaxy had a first installment.
Further from topic (huh, deep space is pretty dark), that man needs a dentist.