Why is Sonic Colors such a fan favorite?

[Deleted member 17627]

Decided to play this game after Forces leaving a bad taste in my mouth and honestly, it feels like a lot of the issues that Forces had originated here.

Extensive use of badly implemented 2D sections? Check.
Heavy feel to controlling Sonic? Check.
Wisps being used for the boost mechanic? Check.
And linear stage design? Also check.

I ask what made this such a fan favorite, given these circumstances?

 

[CloseTalker]

Cuz it was still better than most Other sonic games at the time

 

[Nepenthe]

I guess when you're used to contentious and/or shitty games, boring af ones are construed as amazing.

 

[Megatron]

It's been a while since I played it, but I liked it.

 

[ILikeFeet]

• because 2D sections are pretty good
• best controlling sonic that was improved on in subsequent games. restricting the speed and the lateral drift at high speeds really helped with controllability
• wisps were great and boosting wasn't as fast as games before or after it, leading to more controllability
• good stage design, far better than Forces and Generations

still the best 3D sonic game for me

 

[Deleted member 22630]

I really like Aquarium Park's music.

 

[1000% H]

It was like Unleashed without the Werehog.

 

[Zalman]

It was like Unleashed without the Werehog.

Click to shrink...

This, basically.

 

[Cybersai]

It came out on the Wii at a time it had a lack of good games, plus lack of good 3D Sonic games.

Sonic Colors isn't a very good game. If it came out today it'd be disliked quite a bit.

 

[Neptonic]

It was like Unleashed without the Werehog.

Click to shrink...

exactly, that's why it's good

 

[Twilight Suzuka]

Fantastic music. Outer space levels are colorful and fun. Mixture of 2D and 3D levels was novel at the time, and helps mix up the gameplay. Most of the powers are tiny, fun little additions.

 

[NuclearCake]

Because it was the first 3D Sonic game that most would consider passable.

 

[ILikeFeet]

not to mention the bomb-ass soundtrack

 

[Deleted member 2793]

Previous Sonic games were so bad people think this one is "good". It's a terrible buggy mess, with bad stages and terrible controls/physics too tho.

 

[foppy79]

It was Unleashed without the Werehog sections, it had interesting locations with great music, and wisps were fresh at the time and a fun mechanic. My biggest gripe with the game comes with the overuse of 2D sections, but most of them are designed fine. But most importantly, it's a good game.

not to mention the bomb-ass soundtrack

Click to shrink...

Picking Aquarium Park Act 2 over Act 1
A sign of a man with true taste

 

[Monster Zero]

Watch this.

 

[Deleted member 4532]

At the time, it was the best we had. I haven't played it in years so I'm sure my initial opinion changed.

 

[Deleted member 249]

It doesn't really have much competition.

 

[Deleted member 23850]

Great OST!

 

[Deleted member 8001]

Not sure myself as I never cared for it much. It felt so unlike a Sonic game to me in terms of gameplay and it has a lot of cheap moments and way too much emphasis on 2D. Feels very slow and stiff imo.

 

[I Wanna Be The Guy]

• because 2D sections are pretty good
• best controlling sonic that was improved on in subsequent games. restricting the speed and the lateral drift at high speeds really helped with controllability
• wisps were great and boosting wasn't as fast as games before or after it, leading to more controllability
• good stage design, far better than Forces and Generations

still the best 3D sonic game for me

Click to shrink...

Indeed, plus the soundtrack and game theming was AMAZING. Colours was fantastic and much better than Generations. It remains the most consistently strong 3D Sonic game.

 

[LewieP]

It's mediocre, but compared to all the other 3D games, that looks good.

 

[Deleted member 42105]

My guess is it was an introduction to Sonic for the new generation. Similar to Sonic Adventure 2.

The game is really boring imo and the OST is nothing to write home about. I get why Unleashed is loved, but with Colors it was always a question mark for me.

 

[benbeau]

Sonic Colors is a simple game, and that's pretty great after years of mainstream Sonic games that have been so far up their own arse with terrible alternative gameplay styles and stories with excessively poor attempts with melodrama.

Just one gameplay style and gimmick that it's entirely confident with and delivers at an acceptable level, a simple story that has some of the best banter and characterizations that Sonic and Tails has ever had, some great music, and what I still think is some of Sonic Team's best work in terms of level themes and environmental design.

It's a fine game, maybe not Sonic Team's best, but a simple game like it is something Sonic desperately needed. Shame Sonic Team learned little to nothing from it.

 

[Metallix87]

Because it's the best 3D Sonic game that Sega's made so far. It takes the little that worked with previous entries in the franchise, and marries it with some new ideas as well as some borrowed ideas from the 2D series. Generations continues this, but relies heavily on nostalgia, whereas Colors is entirely it's own game.

 

[Leek]

I think people liked it more because it ditched a lot of the nonsense that people didn't like about Sonic.

There's no non-Sonic gameplay. It wouldn't be a Sonic game without unnecessary experimentation so there's the wisps, but they have minimal impact.
The story is simple, streamlined and doesn't take itself too seriously. Eggman is the sole threat and final boss for the first time in a 3D game. Dozens of other woodland creatures didn't show up to get their time in the spotlight.
The boost formula was still fresh at the time, and wasn't as dumbed down as it became in later titles like Forces.

For Sonic fans, it's a fairly inoffensive game. It didn't repeat mistakes of previous titles like so many do, and didn't introduce any new ones.

 

[Jahranimo]

It was like Unleashed without the Werehog.

Click to shrink...

Ding ding ding.

Pretty good artstyle for the Wii as well. Soundtrack is one of the best imo. A simpler Sonic game, and I really enjoyed the 2D level design in the game along with most of the wisps.

It was also one of those Sonic games where I didn't really follow it as much compared to Unleashed, Generations, and...Lost World. When I got it and started playing it, I was surprised at how much better this game was and it was indeed fun. It definitely had its issues but even then, it's still one of the better Sonic games in the past decade.

Edit: Ah, you played Forces OP. Yeesh, well we make those choices I guess.

Forces does attempt to take some of those aspects of Colors and integrate them in that, but from what I've seen of the game it's overall worse compared to Colors.

Controls terribly in both a 2D and 3D space? check
Shoehorns wisps in Avatar stages that exposes the already terrible level design? check
Weird music direction overall? check

The 2D level design in Colors is definitely up to taste, but I enjoyed then and I enjoy it now.

 

[AniHawk]

sonic colors is straightforward and confident. it returned to 'zone 1 act 1' as a way to kick things off for the first time in a decade and a half, leaving story to pop in after the first two acts. the pacing is nice and snappy, with a simple level select instead of a boring hub world, and little microlevels to focus on a couple smaller ideas to break up the pace between the setpiece levels. the level design is not linear either, as speed isn't the way to get the best score. to do that, you have to go after red rings, which means exploring levels and thinking outside the box. unlocking red rings doesn't give you cosmetic parts or some other bs either. you get brand new levels as a reward with some multiplayer thrown in for good measure. on top of that, it doesn't take itself too seriously after a run of darker storylines in games that felt more like they were the focus instead of the gameplay.

it also came out around dkcr, so sonic colors seemed even better by comparison.

 

[Deleted member 14002]

Cuz it was still better than most Other sonic games at the time

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One and done. Music was pretty good too.

 

[Zacmortar]

My guess is it was an introduction to Sonic for the new generation. Similar to Sonic Adventure 2.

The game is really boring imo and the OST is nothing to write home about. I get why Unleashed is loved, but with Colors it was always a question mark for me.

Click to shrink...

Colors only came out in 2009/10. Its not the start for any generation.

Sadly the actual starter of the new generation was probably 06 lol

 

[clickKunst]

+ Less emphasis on special friends that turned the series into an Anime soap opera. (Although I'm one of the few people that was completely on board with the absurd human girlfriend angle)
+ Stable gameplay reusing the best part of Sonic Unleashed.
+ Natural overlap of Sonic fans and Wii users.
+ Audio and visual game is on point.

It was legitimately great... unless you're referring to the 3DS port, which was played out and tired garbage. Sonic Forces doesn't work because Sega gimped classic Sonic's movement, the levels are only a few moments long, the rebellion story is on the nose and the visual design is headache inducing.

-

 

[Metallix87]

Colors only came out in 2009/10. Its not the start for any generation.

Sadly the actual starter of the new generation was probably 06 lol

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Either that, or Sonic and the Secret Rings on the Wii, a title I actually think gets a pretty bad rap despite being overall pretty good.

 

[Shadow]

not to mention the bomb-ass soundtrack

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It's funny, the music is the main reason I bought it at Walmart on clarence last year. it's damn good.

Didn't have the drive to get the extra stuff though after beating the main story. I'll probably come back to it in the future.

 

[Ultimadrago]

The music is pretty good, but the pacing of the levels suuuuck. Not much fun to play at all.

If I never see another Wisp again it'd be too soon.

 

[Seeya]

Decided to play this game after Forces leaving a bad taste in my mouth and honestly, it feels like a lot of the issues that Forces had originated here.

Extensive use of badly implemented 2D sections? Check.
Heavy feel to controlling Sonic? Check.
Wisps being used for the boost mechanic? Check.
And linear stage design? Also check.

I ask what made this such a fan favorite, given these circumstances?

Click to shrink...

It's a way better game than most other 3D Sonic games

 

[Neptonic]

The writing was pretty funny too. It had enough to have a plot but didn't have like super long boring cutscenes like unleashed or Sonic 06. Definitely my favorite version of eggman in a game.

 

[Android Sophia]

I still maintain that Sonic Colors is the best 3D Sonic game thanks to it's emphasis on tight gameplay compared to other 3D Sonics. There's no gimmicky stages, multiple types of gameplay, nonsensical world hubs to get in your way, etc, etc.

It's just Sonic largely at it's purest, and also probably the best Sonic has ever controlled in 3D.

 

[Deleted member 8001]

I still maintain that Sonic Colors is the best 3D Sonic game thanks to it's emphasis on tight gameplay compared to other 3D Sonics. There's no gimmicky stages, multiple types of gameplay, nonsensical world hubs to get in your way, etc, etc.

It's just Sonic largely at it's purest, and also probably the best Sonic has ever controlled in 3D.

Click to shrink...

I'd say it's Sonic his least purist form. It feels like a Mario game not a Sonic one. I'd also say Generations Modern Sonic is far more polished and cohesive due to the weird floatiness of his jumping in Sonic Colors combined with the 3D segments in Colors not offering much depth at all.

 

[TheGreatDirector]

The music was fantastic.
The writing was clever and didn't take itself seriously.
The stages had fun gimmicks and were really atmospheric.
The wisps allowed for each stage to have multiple paths and rewards.

 

[Deleted member 8001]

Either that, or Sonic and the Secret Rings on the Wii, a title I actually think gets a pretty bad rap despite being overall pretty good.

Click to shrink...

Sonic and the Secret Rings is absolutely worse than 2006 and I played and beat through both of those garbage piles.

Sonic 2006 with all it's jank and bugs doesn't control anywhere near as bad as Secret Rings does with it's forced tilting and obnoxious challenges such as "Don't touch a single ring!" despite the controls being absolutely horrendous and it being difficult to move backwards, and all the other bullshit mandatory challenges you are forced to go through.

I talked with a official playtester of the game and him and a bunch of other playtesters were telling them how bad it was but they literally wouldn't listen to them.

It does not surprise me in the slightest that Secret Rings and 2006 were both in development at the same time.

 

[Deleted member 34949]

Because unlike every other 3D Sonic game, it knows exactly what it wants to be and actually follows through pretty competently. It has consistent pacing, far less of an emphasis on setpieces and boosting, and more on actual level/platforming and probably the only 3D game in the series I can think of where the number of levels per world didn't feel like blatant padding to tack on extra game time but almost gets kind of Mario-esque in it's per act gimmicks and it's commitment to wringing nearly everything they can get out of a level gimmick in a single act. (Note: I'm not saying it does this as well as Mario, but well enough that I don't feel unjustified in my comparison here) The wisps don't intrude on gameplay nearly as much as one would think, and there's some pretty clever ways in which they're used to encourage exploration, like for Red Rings.

About the worst thing I can say is that it's far more 2D than 3D, the bosses are kinda not good bar the final boss, and Starlight Carnival is pure spectacle and less actual level design.

It's a solid enough game with a firm sense of direction, something I can't really say for any other 3D Sonic game aside from maybe Generations.

 

[Android Sophia]

I'd say it's Sonic his least purist form. It feels like a Mario game not a Sonic one. I'd also say Generations Modern Sonic is far more polished and cohesive due to the weird floatiness of his jumping in Sonic Colors combined with the 3D segments in Colors not offering much depth at all.

Click to shrink...

Generations probably has better controls, yeah. But I feel like the overall package in Colors is just more cohesive all around, due to not swapping gameplay styles every other act, not having that godforsaken skill system that started in Secret Rings, nor having random mandatory challenges just to progress the game.

 

[Sub Boss]

Mario Galaxy!

 

[Ferrs]

Linear stage design? Colors is the 3D Sonic game with more alternate paths.

 

[Metallix87]

Sonic and the Secret Rings is absolutely worse than 2006 and I played and beat through both of those garbage piles.

Sonic 2006 with all it's jank and bugs doesn't control anywhere near as bad as Secret Rings does with it's forced tilting and obnoxious challenges such as "Don't touch a single ring!" despite the controls being absolutely horrendous and it being difficult to move backwards, and all the other bullshit mandatory challenges you are forced to go through.

I talked with a official playtester of the game and him and a bunch of other playtesters were telling them how bad it was but they literally wouldn't listen to them.

It does not surprise me in the slightest that Secret Rings and 2006 were both in development at the same time.

Click to shrink...

I think the controls are the only rough part of the game, largely existing as a result of the "everything needs to be waggle!" aspect that third party developers felt was important during the Wii era. I think music, visuals, and level design are solid, and I like the overall tone the game has. I understand that the play controls are extremely important in a game, especially a runner platformer like Secret Rings, but at the same time, I still think it's a more competent whole than Sonic 2006, which I think is mostly a disaster on all fronts.

 

[Deleted member 28076]

You're playing it wrong.

The first thing about Colors is that it's the first and only Sonic game in a long while where it's not about all speed all the time. The scoring systems in Unleashed and Generations were heavily, HEAVILY weighted on the time bonus, in Colors the time bonus means next to nothing. You get way more points out of finding the red rings in the levels, collecting regular rings, and using wisps intelligently. Learning the level design and finding shortcuts and hidden areas will reward you much, much greater than just gota go faest

Boosting is not something you basically want to have on at all times like in Unleashed and Generations. Boosting is used to get more height off of ramps to get to hidden areas, or passing through long areas where not much happens (like grind rail lanes and stuff.) That's why it's significantly harder to get your hands on than it is in the other Sonic games.

 

[Kevvin]

Sonic fans surviving on scraps.

 

[Zippo]

I have no clue. I'm with you, OP. It's beyond boring to play.

 

[FiXalaS]

It was like Unleashed without the Werehog.

Click to shrink...

Hx]

 

[Dooble]

It was like Unleashed without the Werehog.

Click to shrink...

Nah...Unleashed had bigger setpieces, was faster, was mostly 3D and probably actually had more levels and content even if you take out the Werehog.

Colors was a solid game but was lacking in content with just 6 zones.