An old friend returns

Growing up, I owned a SEGA Game Gear handheld. I was the envy of all my Gameboy friends. The Game Gear had a full color screen while the Gameboy at the time was in greyscale. The only downside was the lack of games at the time. My Game Gear came with Columns, a sort of Tetris clone, but I also went out and bought a copy of Sonic the Hedgehog which was the game of choice at the time, rivaling the might of Nintendo’s Mario. The little blue hedgehog racing through level after level at break-neck speed.

Now, many years down the track, the two giants of the time have been reunited again. Sega’s Sonic and Nintendo’s portable device the DS have joined forces to produce a game that is reminiscent of the original classic Sonic handheld title. Sonic Colors (or Sonic Colours for those outside North America) is that game. Sure, there have been plenty of Sonic games in between that time, but not many have lived up to the standards set by the original title. How does Sonic Colors fare?

Dr. Eggman is at it again

Sonic Colors starts off with a wonderful opening video showing Sonic and his friend Tails entering Dr. Eggman’s new interstellar amusement park. The fully voiced dialogue (which unfortunately doesn’t last past the initial cutscene) and the video set the scene where Dr. Eggman seems to have hatched another plan for world domination in the guise of this amusement park.

Of course, Sonic and Tails discover that all is not what it seems with the park. Dr. Eggman has abducted an alien race known as Wisps and is harnessing their colorful energy to fuel a sinister plot. Sonic too, finds that he is also able to use the alien powers of the Wisps and with their help sets off to, once again, thwart the evil doctor’s plans.

Sonic… Retro

Most of the game is played in a similar vein to the original Sonic title I played all those years ago. The game is primarily a 2D side scrolling platformer with loads of hidden areas to find. Of course, being a Sonic game means that much of the levels (known as Areas in the game) will be spent racing through the levels at high speed. This can cause the occasional issue (more on this later), but otherwise the levels are really well designed. The early levels are on the rather easy side, but as you progress they ramp up difficulty. The six Areas (each made up of two Acts and a boss level) seemed to get progressively longer and a bit harder. There are a couple of Acts that will cause some frustration, even if it is because you die due to not knowing what’s ahead.

Completing each Area will unlock a new Wisp. These Wisps when combined with Sonic transform Sonic into various guises. One Wisp will transform Sonic into a digger, whilst another transforms Sonic into a laser the rockets around the level. Of course, Sonic cannot use the Wisps power all the time, as the Wisp power drains out. A boost bar on the side of the screen drains as Sonic uses the power.

Straying off the main path

The boss levels require Sonic to use the acquired Wisp power to complete them. Bosses do put up a slight challenge, although once you’ve worked out their patterns, they are relatively easy. Also in each Area are Mission Levels. Mission levels require the gamer to complete a specific quest in a level. Missions include such tasks as defeating a certain number of enemies in a time limit, collecting a required number of rings or even saving Wisps before the time limit runs out. Personally, I found many of the missions more challenging than the Acts, mainly due to the time constraints.