Happy Holidays, everybody. I hope you all have big plans this year, for whatever you celebrate. I sure do. But, I'm looking forward to reviewing Sonic Lost World on the final Saturday of 2013. The game is said to be a sequel to today's game, Sonic Colors. So, I thought "Hey, what better way to get ready for that review than to do the game it's based off of?" So, without further delay, here is my review for Sonic Colors on the Nintendo Wii.

I'll be completely honest, last weekend was the first time I've ever played this game all the way through. I don't even own the game, I just borrowed it from one of my IRL friends. But, boy, did I miss out. Sonic Colors is probably one of the best 3D/2D Sonic games I've ever played, right up there with Sonic Generations, in fact. I know that sounds crazy, especially considering that this game is running on... not as powerful hardware

Let's begin with the plot. Dr. Eggman is up to his old tricks again. This time, he's captured an alien race called the Wisps, a small, colorful species of beings that have their own qualities, like the lazer, drill, rocket, and so forth. The reason Eggman has captured this race is because the wisps have a powerful energy in their systems called "hyper go-on power." Eggman wants to use this power to energize his newest device, which he want's to use to conquer the world. Upon doing this, Eggman chains the homes of the wisps to his new base of operations. He does some home-improvement on their worlds and makes them into an intergalatic amusement park. As usual, Sonic and Tails go into the park and try to find out what exactly Eggman is up to and, free the chained worlds, and rescue the entire wisp race.

Before you say anything, yes, I said that Dr.Eggman was up to his old tricks. What I mean by that is, it's just Eggman this time around. There's giant liquid lizard god, there's no Flames of Disaster, there's no Dark Gaia, it's just Eggman trying to conquer the world. That's the way I like it, and I'm glad Sonic Colors doesn't disappoint in that regard.

On top of that, this story is very light-hearted and simple. Again, I like that in a Sonic game. Sonic doesn't need to be dark or serious to have a good story. I mean, look at the classic games from the 90s. Those games barely had any story, but it was still entertaining. Plus, the only major Sonic characters here are Sonic, Tails, and Eggman. That's really all I need, with the exception of Knuckles and Amy. But, honestly, I don't play Sonic games for the plot to begin with.

We've also got new voices in this game. Yup, the 4Kids voices, starting at this game, are no longer with us. To this day, Sonic is vocecd by Roger Craig Smith, who you might know as Chris Redfield from Resident Evil and Ezio from Assassin's Creed Brotherhood and Revelations. Tails is now vocied by Kate Higgins which, to be honest, is my favorite Tails VA so far. She just feels SO RIGHT for the character. While I'm at it, I might as well say that Knuckles is now voiced by Travis Willingham and Amy Rose is now voiced by Cindy Robinson. The only returning VA from 4Kids is Mike Pollock, which I'm thankful for, because I honestly think no one can capture Eggman better than him (Sorry, Deem Bristow fans.)

Onward to the game itself. Sonic controls similar to how he did in Unleashed in his day time stages. Everything he could do there, he can also do here, except the light speed dash. Though, this time around, he has a new added feature; the double jump. If you press the jump button twice in midair, Sonic will perform a second jump, excelling his jump higher. This does feel like a nice feature, but it can be a bit problematic, especially in situations where you have to make tight jumps. The double jump feels a bit sluggish and when it's used, it's difficult to make Sonic come to a complete halt. Though, most jumps are about the size of Cloudsdale, so I guess it's not that big of an issue.

Though, the best abilities Sonic can take advantage of in this game are, without a doubt, the wisps. As Sonic travels through the game, he can start unlocking different wisps to use in each act. Sonic Colors contains a total of eight wisps for Sonic to use; Boost, Lazer, Drill, Rocket, Cube, Spikes, Hover, and Frenzy. (Bad use of sentence structure coming up.)

The wisps can probably do exactly what you think. The boost wisp fills up Sonic's boost gauge since rings no longer fill it. The lazer wisp shoots sonic into a streak of light, allowing his to dart through enemies and bounce off the walls and these diamond-shaped objects through the level. The drill wisp allows Sonic to dig underground to find hidden goodies or find alternate pathways. The Rocket wisp soars Sonic into the sky tremendously and sends him free-falling afterwards. The cube wisp turns Sonic into a blue block, and when he hits the ground, he can turn these giant blue rings into solid platforms, or vise versa. This can also act as a screen nuke. The spike wisp turns Sonic into a prickly ball, allowing Sonic to cling to the walls, roll on them to gain ground faster, and perform the... spin dash ( -_- ) The hover wisp grants Sonic the ability to... well, hover. He can also go higher in this form and perform the... light speed dash. ( -_- -_- ) Finally, the frenzy wisp turns Sonic into a purple freak of nature, allowing him to completely devour anything that comes in contact, making himself bigger to the point where he starts sucking up everything. Using the wisps, most of the time, is completely optional. Though, most of the time, you'll need them to collect hidden items, like red rings or an extra life. Plus, if you use them, you'l gain bonus points for doing so, which goes towards your ranking at the end of the stage. Though, in order to use certain wisps, you need to complete certain stages in order to use them in previous stages. For example, in order to use the Frenzy wisp, you need to complete Asteroid Coaster Act 1.

Which brings us to the stages themselves. Sonic Colors contains a total of seven zones with seven acts within each of them, except for the final zone. These zones are Tropical Resort, Sweet Mountain, Starlight Carnival, Planet Wisp. Aquarium Park, Asteroid Coaster, and Thermal Velocity. Seven acts a piece might seem a bit overwhelming at first, but a fair amount of these acts are pretty short, taking you about a minute to complete them. That's not the case for every act, though. In fact, some acts in Asteroid Coaster can drag sometimes.

The level design in the game is pretty top notch. They're simple, comfortable levels that I think any gamer can get through without much trouble. But, actually, that's my biggest issue with the level design. Sonic Colors is a very easy game, something that should only take you about four hours to complete if you don't decide to grind for S Ranks or Red Rings. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing majorly wrong with the level design. I just wish it challenged me a bit more.

Each zone ends with a boss fight, which are also pathetically easy. The same even goes for the final encounter with Eggman and his final machine. All you have to do is dodge his stolen wisp powers and wait for an opening. When you free all the wisps. they all combine with Sonic and do a sonic rainboom on Eggman's machine. Simple and pathetically easy. Though, I like the final boss theme, though.

In fact, let's talk about the soundtrack as a whole. Sonic Colors' soundtrack is pretty good stuff. I like Tropical Resort's Act 2 music as well as most of the level themes in Sweet Mountain. Planet Wisp's music is pretty soothing and relaxing and Aquarium Park is just a joy to my ears. Then, there's the game's main theme; Reach for the Stars, performed by Cash Cash. You can listen to the song by clicking the link at the end of the review. And, I'll just say it right now; this is probably one of my favorite lyrical Sonic theme songs, right next to Open your Heart by Crush 40. The song is just so upbeat and catchy, though I wouldn't expect anything less from a Sonic the Hedgehog game.

But, the soundtrack isn't my favorite thing about the game. My favorite thing has to be the graphical presentation. Sonic Colors, in my opinion, is a visual masterpiece. Every level just seems to be so alive, complete with vivid colors and beautiful textures (Hence the name, Sonic Colors.) If it's not the neon lights and space scenery of Starlight Carnival that'll catch your eye, it's the gorgeous sea of Aquarium Park or the colors of Planet Wisp that will.

I mentioned the Red Rings a few times, so let's finish off the review by talking about them. Sonic Colors is the first Sonic game to utilize the Red Ring collectibles. Each act contains a total of five of them. All of them except for the bosses and Thermal Velocity. Collecting enough of these things will unlock more levels in the Game Land option.

Think of the Game Land option as the special stages of the game. There are seven different special zones to play through with three acts in each of them. When you finish all three acts within a certain special zone, you'll earn a Chaos Emerald. Collect all seven, and you'll unlock Super Sonic to play as in both normal stages and boss fights. Is it worth it? In my opinion, yes and no. Super Sonic is great and all, but I had to go out of my way to get several Red Rings. I even had to look up a guide to help me find a good chunk of them. The special stages are easy once you practice enough, it's just a matter of collecting all of the Red Rings, which, trust me, is easier said than done.

Well, despite the short game length and pathetic difficulty, I'd say Sonic Colors is, overall, a fantastic Sonic game. Like I said in the beginning, I completely missed out on one of my favorite 3D titles, and I'm going to be hesitant on giving my friend his copy back. Sonic Colors is a great game for Sonic fans and platforming fans alike. It's got great game play, a simple story, a catchy soundtrack, beautiful scenery, and much more.

Definitely a recommendation.

Overall Game Grade: A

Next Game: Sonic Lost World (That is, if I finish it in time. If not, the review will be a bit delayed.)

(Disclaimer: I'd review the Nintendo DS version along with the Wii version, but I have no experience with it. I promise that if I ever get it, I'll do a small review once I complete it.)

Reach for the Stars: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bv4CJ80LXQ