Hold your… Color

Sega has a very complicated history as a developer and publisher, but one blue hedgehog has been with them through it all. His glory days were during Sega’s golden age, the era of the Genesis. There is a definite correlation though between Sega getting out of the console market and Sonic games, at least on consoles, being successful. Now, Sega’s Sonic Team studio is hoping to bring redemption to the series. Hold your color for another month: Sonic Colors will dash into stores on November 16.

A Refocused Spectrum

As was said, Sonic hasn’t had much success on modern consoles. Perhaps this is why Sonic Team decided to refocus their scope on that basic level; Colors will only be available on the Wii and DS. Integrated into the Wii version are the expected motion controls, which are a fundamental part of the new Colors power ups. Portrayed as colorful (did I really need to describe that?) one-eyed bunny-like things which have been kidnapped by Dr. Egghead Robutnick, they grant temporary and invaluable benefits to Sonic.

In the gameplay seen so far, the yellow color-creature for example causes Sonic to rotate rapidly and drill through the ground, allowing him to reach otherwise inaccessible areas. Sonic Team has said that selection and control of the powers will be integrated into which direction one moves the Wii-mote, but it is hard to say exactly how effective this controls the game without an actual hands on opportunity.

I would expect the game to fully integrate motion if Sonic Team is going to be taking advantage of it; too many a Wii game has simply had the occasional use of motion almost as a kind of afterthought. In order for Colors to be a success with its new one-console focus, it must use the motion capability often and in ways that truly expand the gameplay, i.e. different motions changing what benefits a color power up provides. The player could thus run into the power up, and with the drill mode, choose via motion to either drill into the ground or simply make it a special attack against enemies. There are a lot of possibilities here.

Colorful New Dimensions

Level design as it has been shown so far is definitely geared for younger ages, even to a kind of literal Hansel and Gretel scale in some cases (the Sweet Mountain stage seizes the concept of a dangerous place decorated in all kinds of tasty delectables). Sonic Team initially commented in an interview that their target is ages 6-12, although this was followed up with a hasty correction to being “fun to play for everyone.” Needless to say, the Gears of War gamer probably isn’t going to get very into this, though that person probably never played Sonic anyway.

Sonic Team seems to have fully recognized how Sonic hasn’t had much success in all-3D games like the last title, Sonic Unleashed. Accordingly, all-3D is getting tossed out. The DS version is a very classical 2D approach, while the Wii extensively integrates 2.5D sequences into its gameplay. At various points in a level, the camera will phase away from the behind-the-hedgehog 3D rail that will seem familiar (perhaps triggering an initial sense of dread for the hardcore Sonic classicists) and go to a much more old-style 2D camera with enough isometric details to keep things interesting.

Wait and See

I get a sense this might have been inspired by the constantly shifting camera angles of Super Mario Galaxy, although if that is true, then Sonic Team has certainly decided to stick with the basics in comparison. Levels shift back and forth between perspectives and, at least in the gameplay footage I’ve seen, there’s no freely changing camera viewpoints in between. I can’t really judge it at this point but this seems like an opportunity for some real innovation (in a Sonic game? Really?) that was only seized in part. We’ll have to see how it turns out.