Sonic Colors

"Just push. We have to hurry. I already have my revenge planned out, and next time I will not fail!"

- Dr. Eggman

Sonic Colors (ソニック カラーズ) in Japan and North America, or Sonic Colours in Europe and Australia, is a game for the Nintendo Wii console and Nintendo DS. It was first announced on May 26, 2010 in a press release by Sega for Italy, and included a teaser trailer.

Development
Sonic Colors came out on the Nintendo Wii and the Nintendo DS in late 2010. Much like its predecessor, Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Colors for the Wii seamlessly combines both 3D and classic 2D game play perspectives, while the Nintendo DS version takes full advantage of the console's dual screen, similar to the Sonic Rush series. The Wii version was developed by Sega and Sonic Team where the DS version was developed by Sonic Team and Dimps.

The head supervisor was Takashi Iizuka. Morio Kishimoto directed the Wii version of the game. Takao Hiyabayashi directed the DS version.

Nintendo Wii version
The story starts with Sonic and Tails in Dr. Eggman's Incredible Interstellar Amusement Park before opening day. Tails wonders aloud why they were there because it seems as if Eggman is actually showing a sense of remorse of his past deeds. Sonic disagrees, certain that Eggman's theme park is part of a plot. They suddenly hear a commotion and spot Orbot and Cubot chasing two Wisps, one white and the other cyan. Neither Sonic nor Tails are sure what was going on but they know that they have to save the Wisps. Suddenly the Cyan Wisp floats into Sonic with Sonic completely unaware of it. He turns into a laser and bounces around at an incredible speed.

Tails is seen with a White Wisp modifying his Miles Electric until the White Wisp says something unintelligible. Tails is shown to be making a translator so that he can understand what the Wisp is saying. Sonic reaches Tails in his laser form and then the Cyan Wisp comes out of Sonic's body. Sonic tells Tails in amazement what just happened. The White Wisp tries proving that Sonic is right through gestures, but Sonic and Tails fail to understand. Sonic is from then on certain Eggman is up to something.

Further in Tropical Resort, the main part of Eggman's Incredible Interstellar Amusement Park, Eggman counts up the captured Wisps, but he needs more, until Sonic appears. Eggman tells Orbot to unleash the "Big Boy", called Rotatatron. Sonic trashes the robot easily and returns to Tails, who is fixing up the translator. The translator is finished, but still has a few problems, including comical mistranslations. Thanks to the translator, Sonic and Tails found out that the White Wisp is named Yacker and he is part of a race called Wisps, who live in a distant planet. Yacker's people are being kidnapped and he is desperately trying to save them. Sonic agrees to free the Wisps. Meanwhile, as Orbot and Cubot pick up parts of the destroyed Big Boy, they couldn't find the arm of the robot, which had crashed into a machine leaking a purple fluid, which malfunctions Eggman Mind Control Ray later in the story.

Sonic reaches Sweet Mountain and spots a giant generator. Sonic decides to investigate it because it is glowing. A giant pirate ship shows up to guard the generator, only to be destroyed by Sonic. After destroying the pirate and his ship, Tails comes up to Sonic along with Yacker, who has given him more information: Eggman is behind the capturing of the Wisps.

The two friends then visit Starlight Carnival looking for Eggman. Eggman takes them by surprise and mind-controls Tails by zapping him with a Mind Control Ray. He tries to force Tails to fight Sonic, but Sonic refuses to fight him, as Tails is still his friend. When Tails is ready to hurt Sonic, Eggman runs out of power, so Tails comes back to his senses. The fleeing Eggman reveals that he plans to mind-control to the whole world. Tails' translator reveals: the energy that sustains the Wisps is called "Hyper-go-on power" and Eggman is after that energy, trying to use it for his mind-control beam. Also, Eggman is using five generators to hold the theme park together. Lucky for Sonic, he had already broken two generators without even knowing that he had to break them.

Sonic reaches Planet Wisp and then Aquarium Park and destroys the generators there. At Asteroid Coaster, Sonic and Tails find a factory of Wisps being drained of their Hyper-go-ons and turned into "Nega Wisps". Sonic destroys that factory, thinking that the Wisps will be changed back. He returns to Tropical Resort and celebrates his victory with Tails and the Wisps, believing Eggman has been finally defeated.

However, Eggman still possessed the Hyper-go-on energy of the Nega Wisps, regardless of the generator's state, Eggman then activates the Mind Control Cannon but the cannon malfunctions due to the robot arm that Sonic accidentally struck in the weapon. With the park falling apart from the backlash, Eggman vows to destroy Sonic instead. In Tropical Resort, Sonic and Tails feel an earthquake and head to Eggman's space elevator to go back home. Unfortunately, both were stopped by Dr. Eggman in his new mecha, the Egg Nega Wisp. Tails is unsure of their success, so Sonic shoves Tails into the space elevator and sends him back, leaving him to fight Eggman.

The two fight once again, and finally, with the help of every type of Wisp, Sonic defeats Eggman with the Final Color Blaster. The malfunctioning cannon creates a black hole that consumes the amusement park and the defeated Eggman. While even Sonic is unable to outrun a black hole, all of the Wisps use their energy to neutralize the black hole and save Sonic as he lies fainted. Yacker changes the Nega Wisps back to normal. Sonic wakes up back on Earth, breathing heavily and looking tired. Tails reprimands Sonic for pushing him into the space elevator but thanked him for handling Eggman all by himself. Yacker arrives and thanks them. The good news: Tails' Miles Electric is translating perfectly now. The bad news: Yacker has to go home. Sonic and Tails part ways with the Wisps.

DS Version
The DS version of the game has the same scenario, but more brief and no jokes added. The difference is that the translator works perfectly in the DS version. After each world is beaten, Sonic unlocks missions for that planet and his friends appear in it. Thus, after all Chaos Emeralds are collected from Special Stages there is a special boss called Nega Mother-Wisp. She is actually Yacker's mother who is possessed by the Negative Hyper-go-on energy. Sonic has no choice but to fight her in the form of Super Sonic.

After fighting her, she is able to turn back to her normal form, Mother-Wisp. Sonic found out that she is not only Yacker's mother but is the mother of all Wisps and the creator of Planet Wisp. Eggman captures the Mother-Wisp before the cutscene "Hyper-go-ons Charging" as it can be assumed the "giant alien" was her. At this point Sonic had just cleared Aquarium Park. However, Eggman does lose control of the Mother-Wisp before Sonic clears the 3rd mission in Asteroid Coaster, but he has already turned her into a Nega-Wisp by then.

Playable

 * Sonic the Hedgehog/Super Sonic
 * Virtual Hedgehog (exclusively for co-op)
 * Mii (exclusively for co-op) (Wii)

Non-Playable

 * Dr. Eggman
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Yacker
 * Orbot
 * Cubot
 * Knuckles the Echidna (DS version)
 * Amy Rose (DS version)
 * Silver the Hedgehog (DS version)
 * Blaze the Cat (DS version)
 * E-123 Omega (DS version)
 * Rouge the Bat (DS version)
 * Shadow the Hedgehog (DS version)
 * Charmy Bee (DS version)
 * Vector the Crocodile (DS version)
 * Espio the Chameleon (DS version)
 * Cream the Rabbit (DS version)
 * Cheese (DS version)
 * Big the Cat (DS version)
 * Chao (DS version)
 * Mother Wisp (DS version)

Enemies

 * Egg Pawn
 * Spinner
 * Buzzbomber
 * Burrobot
 * Mole
 * Motobug (Big and Small)
 * Crabmeat
 * Spiny
 * Orbinaut
 * Chopper (Big and small)
 * Jawz
 * Sandworm
 * Aero Chaser
 * Giant Crabmeat
 * Asteroid Coaster sub-boss

Voice actors
The game (not counting Sonic Free Riders) is the first game in the main series to feature the new English voice cast, with all voices except for Eggman's being changed.

Stages
The stages (except special stages in the DS version) are accessed by a world map. The 8 stages listed below, Challenge Mode (where each act is played consecutively), and the Options Menu can be selected from the world map.

The Wii version, including boss fights, features seven acts for each of the first six stages, while the seventh stage (Terminal Velocity) has three. In addition, the Game Land area serves as the game's Special Stage equivalent, containing seven "zones" with three acts each, making a grand total of 66 stages to play through. A wonderful space park with a view of Sonic's home planet, the visitors riding in their hover cars can enjoy shopping, sight-seeing and lots of fun in the luxurious paradise. Centered around a lush tropical vegetation and urban industrialism, this resort is just to relax and enjoy. A very "sweet" and joyous land comprised of different types of food ranging from candies to hamburgers and even to popcorn. This planetoid is very distinct from the others the entire landscape is mixture between military industrialism and a seemingly infinitely layered cake ground. Sweet Mountain is very beautiful with its candy cane grind rails to its towering burgers, even its mechanical side is breathtaking. Additionally, one of the most beautiful features is its pinkish, peach-orange sky. Starlight Carnival is a space armada set in the darkness of space illuminated by the glowing neon lights that cover everything in sight. The space fleet comes out of worm holes, which transport it around space and bring its big festive light show around the dark space. The tour along pathways of light, through festive starships and across their illuminated and colorful decks is truly an amazing experience. Planet Wisp is the home planet of the Wisps. It was once a lush and harmonious little planet in far away space, but the evil Doctor Eggman took the peaceful Wisps' home planet with a powerful tractor beam, and it is currently being constructed into a theme park, so this area is off-limits to park-goers. Planet Wisp is filled with very prominent alien vegetation with a beautiful Earth-like sky, but, due to Eggman, machinery takes at least half of the planet, and lakes of toxic waste can be seen taking over the once clear waters. Aquarium Park is a gorgeous and amazing oriental-themed underwater aquarium. Visitors can enjoy the amazing city of pagodas and the countless pools and aquariums filled with all sorts of sea life (and mechas). The Aquarium Park is a planet with a flooded surface; therefore it's made up of many underwater spheres holding cities and sea life combined. Its most comical and famous location is it's sushi restaurant "The Bucket-O'-Sushi", where apparently the food is terrible. They have recently added fish to the menu, primarily an endangered and rare species. Asteroid Coaster is a theme park centered around wild and dangerous rides. The large rock planet is surrounded by a huge, endless asteroid field, that's also used for the countless roller coasters. These rides run through the asteroid field, vast space, and large planetoids filled with toxic sludge in dangerous curves, loops, and corkscrews in spiky, draconic, skeletal roller coaster carts. The Asteroid Coaster is the wild, cool, and awesome world for the boyish love of danger, action, and extreme rides. Terminal Velocity is a hay-wire space speedway that takes place on the space elevator, a transportation tower connecting Sonic's home world to Dr. Eggman's amusement park with extreme acceleration and velocity. After a system failure it's starts to crumble leading chunks of the pathway ascending from out of place. Game Land is Dr. Eggman's artificial planet of arcade games, that houses its most popular game, the Sonic Simulator, in which players run through 21 levels with an optional pal. Here the player can unlock levels by collecting red rings from the other amusement parks to in turn finish the third act of each level which gives the player a Chaos Emerald.
 * Tropical Resort
 * Sweet Mountain
 * Starlight Carnival
 * Planet Wisp
 * Aquarium Park
 * Asteroid Coaster
 * Terminal Velocity
 * Game Land

Note: Game Land's levels act as Special Stages. If a set of 3 acts are completed, the player gets a Chaos Emerald at the end of the third. As with most Sonic games, collecting all 7 Chaos Emeralds awards the player with the ability to transform into Super Sonic, although it has to be enabled using the Options Menu.

All the stages above (besides Game Land), once selected, will take the player to the stage-specific area map. Each area map has 6 acts and a boss selectable, and 7 "S" ranks and 30 Special Rings to be earned. However, Terminal Velocity being the final stage has only 2 acts selectable plus the final boss, with no Special Rings to collect.

Special Stages (Nintendo DS Exclusive)
The DS version has Special Stages in which by completing each, a Chaos Emerald will be received. It is entirely similar to the Special Stages that were used in Sonic Rush, except instead of collecting rings, Sonic will have to collect colorful balls, like in Sonic Heroes. The player needs to collect the spheres of the same colors as the top screen. The rainbow ones can be collected at any time and count as 2 spheres. If they have a number on them, they count as the number they have. There are also checkered ones, that if the player has collected all of them a 10 sphere bonus will be received. Also, there is a special checkered sphere before the end of each round (there are 3 rounds, each one requiring a different sphere color), and if the player touches it, many required colorful spheres will roll from the one side to the other. But the player has to be careful as touching any balls that aren't in the right color will shove them out of the course, disabling their collection.

Wisps
Wisps are power-ups used in the game which activate the Hyper-Go-On power for the player to reach alternate paths, collect red rings, destroy enemies or simply to proceed through the stage.

Music
The game now has its own soundtrack called ViViD SOUND X HYBRiD COLORS produced by Wave Master. It also consists of the main themes and the in-game level music.

The theme song of the game is Reach For The Stars, sung by Jean Paul Makhlouf from the band Cash Cash. The ending theme of the game is Speak With Your Heart, which is also sung by Cash Cash.

The music is composed by SEGA Sound Team. Takashi Iizuka stated that: "Since the game has an amusement-park setting and a more fantastical visual style, they're trying to expand the usual "cool" Sonic sound and focus on making fun, up-tempo music that will really get players' blood pumping.""

The Nintendo Power Magazine praised the music by saying it is "annoying, catchy and rubbish," and that is what they always liked about the music in Sonic games.

Artwork
For more see: Sonic Colors/Gallery

Previews
A preview of the Official Nintendo Power Magazine gaming studios said that the action was fast, the levels were nice and long, and that there were loads of different routes available through each level. Their favorite Wisp was the Drill Wisp. In the end they mentioned that Sonic was at his best at mimicking Mario elements similar to 2010's hit game Super Mario Galaxy 2. They said the game will be the equivalent of all-daytime stages of Sonic Unleashed. IGN said that Sonic Colors might be, "The best Sonic game of this generation", praising its level design and fully-packed action with vibrant colors. It also was also nominated as the Best of E3 by IGN, but however, it did not win. Sonic Colors was nominated for Best Platformer Game at Gametrailers E3 2010 awards. Later IGN had given their own review giving it a very positive score of 8.5 which is awarded as the "Editors Choice award" on IGN's behalf on both DS and Wii. For the DS version they had said that it is one of Sonic's best portable platformers and it had a little classic touch in it. They said that upward slopes and pits was very frustrating, but the boss-fights were great. They said that the levels were very fun as it had great pacing but one major problem was that the game had no checkpoints and then the player would have to start from the beginning of the level even if the player is in a boss-fight. For the Wii version, they said that it is one of the most attractive looking games for the Wii that year because of its great animation. They also mentioned that it was the best that Sonic has ever looked. They said the music was good for the huge amount of visual stages, from Casino, to parks and interstellar space areas. In addition, they were pleased in the fact that the cast of characters was greatly reduced. They noted that the game's platforming was good and was similar the platforming of the Mario series. They complained on the game having many extra competitions and made it frustrating. They said that it was very important to do the extra missions that made the game no fun anymore. They stated the Co-op wasn't very fun as it was frustrating and they said that one screen is not enough for two Sonics.

Review
Reviews for the game were mostly positive, with a Metacritic ranking of 78 for the Wii version and 79 for the DS version, and a GameRankings score of 78.84% for the Wii version and 77.07% for the DS version. IGN gave both versions a score of 8.5 and an Editor's Choice Award, calling it "the best Sonic game in 18 years," praising its gameplay and level design, while criticising some difficulty spikes later in the game, as well as the two player co-op, stating, "One screen isn't enough for two hedgehogs." IGN also gave the Wii version the 'Quick Fix Award' in their Best of 2010 awards. Famitsu gave the Wii version 34/40 while the DS version scored 32/40. NGamer gave the Wii game 86%, praising its gameplay and soundtrack, though criticizing some easy and "rehashed" bosses. Nintendo Power gave the Wii version of Sonic Colors 9 out of 10, praising the game as "an unequivocal success", and gave the DS version 7.5 out of 10, criticising the game's short length. On the Nintendo Power awards, Colors won "Best Wii Graphics" and was nominated for "Best Wii Game of the Year." Official Nintendo Magazine gave the game 86% for the Wii version and 85% for the DS version. WiiMagazin, a German gaming magazine, gave the Wii version a 92% and the DS version a 90% rating praising a remark saying, "There is a God, and he's a Sonic-fan". Joystiq gave the game 4 out of 5 stars, saying "Sonic Colors succeeds where so, so many other Sonic games have failed." Eurogamer gave the Wii version 8/10, calling it "stupefyingly fast and utterly thrilling." GameSpot gave the Wii version an 8 out of 10 praising the game's level design, sense of speed, and graphics, but criticizing its bare-bones, poorly-designed co-operative play. CNET reviews gave the game 4 stars, praising that the game offers a mix of 3D action and classic Sonic side-scrolling with dazzling visuals and exhilarating platforming. 1UP gave the Wii version a B+ rank, calling it "the best 3D Sonic in ages." Wired gave the Wii version a 7/10, praising its "Excellent music, colorful graphics" and "fun and varied level design" while criticising its "somewhat twitchy jumping controls" and the fact that later levels "are filled with cheap deaths."

GameTrailers was more critical of the game, citing unresponsive controls and underused Wisp powers, giving the Wii version a 6.4, preferring the DS version, which scored a 7.9. GamesRadar gave the Wii version 7/10, praising the game's replayability while criticizing some 'horribly cheap deaths'. Game Informer gave the Wii version a 7.0 score, criticizing floaty physics and inconsistent difficulty, though it did award the DS version a score of 8.5, saying "Dimps continues its run of entertaining titles with Sonic Colors."

Trivia

 * SA-55's real name has been revealed as "Orbot" in this game.
 * If a customer pre-ordered Sonic Colors at GameStop, the customer got a free hat with the look of Sonic's Sonic Hat.png quills on their head.
 * This game marks the first time Sonic is able to perform a double jump since Sonic R (and Super Smash Bros. Brawl if counted).
 * Note that the double-jump replaced the jump dash. However, the jump-dash can be pulled off by boosting in midair when the boost gauge is empty.
 * The Wisps in the DS version are different than those in the Wii version, with the exception of the orange, white, yellow, and cyan Wisps. They can also be used in different ways in each version.
 * If the player repeatedly presses the jump button while in water, Sonic will keep jumping higher in the air, possibly the first time he can swim.
 * This is currently the last Sonic game developed for the DS, as the portable version of Sonic Generations is for the Nintendo 3DS.
 * In the E3 demo, when Sonic would activate the "Drill Power" the announcer would say, "Spin!" but in the final version of the game, he says, "Drill!" Also, before activating the power of any Wisps, the announcer would say, "Color!" in the demo version, but in the final build he doesn't say anything until Sonic activated the power.
 * This is the first time Sonic can perform a Stomp Attack on a handheld console.
 * When Eggman's mind control machine explodes, it hits the moon instead of the earth. This is a direct reference to Sonic Adventure 2.
 * While the DS version of Sonic Colors uses Sonic Rush's gameplay engine, the Trick system was removed and the Homing Attack is mapped to the Jump button.
 * This is the first main series 3D Sonic game where Sonic can transform into Super Sonic during the normal stages, though he cannot fight bosses.
 * This is the only main series 3D game where Sonic can fight the last boss with no need of a super form and Eggman serves as the final boss.
 * An unused Eggman voice clip reveals that the Wisp's Hyper-Go-On energy is more powerful than Chaos energy.
 * During one of Eggman's announcements, he mentions a yellow car with license plate "1NOM155" is about to get hit by an asteroid. This could be a reference to Crazy Taxi (another Sega game) as one of the characters, Axel, drives a taxi with the same license plate.
 * In the final cutscene of the Wii version, the Red and Violet Wisps can also be seen, even though they are DS-exclusive. Similarly, the Blue, Pink and Green Wisps are seen in the ending of the DS version, even though they are Wii-exclusive. Also in the DS version, the opening cutscene (accessible from the options menu) shows all 10 types of Wisps. This is, of course, due to the two versions sharing the same video cutscenes.
 * Towards the end of the game, the Miles Electric's screen is shown. Earlier in the game, Tails says that the translations on there are in binary code, but the code shown on the device is in hexadecimal format (Tails may have switched it to a better code offscreen). The bottom line of code translates to: "If you can read this, youXfre a geek!".MilesElectric.PNG.]]
 * Unlike the other games, Sonic doesn't get an extra life upon gaining 100 rings in the Wii version.
 * Also, in the DS version, you don't lose a life if you restart a level.
 * In DS version, Cheese is missing his bow-tie.
 * The DS version uses some CGI cutscene footage from the Wii version, but still uses speech bubbles for characters in most cases.
 * Sonic acts surprised that Dr. Eggman captured an entire planet, even though he has already done this with the Little Planet in Sonic CD.
 * During an act, when Super Sonic mode is activated, any Wisps' power cannot be used except from the White Wisp.
 * This is the first 3D Sonic game where if the player starts a new game the player is taken to the first stage immediately rather than showing a cutscene first.
 * The DS version of this game takes the drowning tune out of Sonic Rush.
 * In the cutscene after the credits to show what happens to Eggman after the ending, Cubot says "What's up with those things anyway?" However, the subtitles say "What's up with those guys anyway?
 * In the back of the box of the game (the US Version), there's a text that says "And preform new moves". It is supposed to say: "And perform new moves." Ironically, this is not a misspelling of any sort.
 * This game is one of the few games where the regular boss fights are against Eggman's unmanned robots rather than Eggman in a manned robot.
 * This is the second main series game where any variation of the Tornado doesn't make an appearance.
 * When Orbot installs a new voice chip for Cubot, he says "The think bone's connected to the talk bone... the talk bone's connected to the mouth bone". This is a reference to Dem Bones, a traditional song written by James Weldon Johnson.
 * There is a typo in the DS version when at the Aquarium Park. They spell aquarium as 'acquarium'.
 * This is the first Sonic game in which none of the stages are on Earth, they are all on individual planets.
 * The Wii version is the first main series Sonic game in which the Chaos Emeralds are not involved in the story.
 * The game brings back some characteristics of the classic games, such as underwater access and pushing boxes.
 * Most enemies are taken from classic games as well, such as Moto Bugs, Buzzers, Crabmeats, Choppers and Egg Pawns.
 * The Frenzy and Void wisps are revealed as Nega-Wisps in the Wii version manual and in the final cutscene.
 * According to a Nintendo magazine from Mexico, named Club Nintendo, this game is considered as a spin-off title. However, this game is actually a main series title from the Sonic franchise.
 * During the cutscene where Tails first translates Yacker, Sonic "breaks the Fourth Wall" by looking at the screen and saying that he's "gonna stick with aliens, if that's okay with everyone."
 * The ending of the Wii version has a connection to the plot of Sonic Generations. This may mean that Sonic Colors occurs on Sonic's birthday.
 * The different colored levels in Game Land show similarities to levels in the different areas, such as that the green levels appear similar to those in Tropical Resort.
 * When Sonic runs, his fists are noticeably not closed when they're behind his back. Instead, they're left open similar to his running animation in Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2, except when boosting, they remain closed. This was also repeated in Sonic Generations.
 * Even though Eggman says he already has a revenge plan at the end of the game, we never get to learn what the plan was, as in Sonic Generations, he seems to abandon it in favor of the Time Eater.
 * In the DS version, after gathering 100 rings the player earns an extra try. However in the Wii version it does not.
 * By achieving an S Rank on any act, the player will earn 3 lives on both versions. But in the Wii version, the player must reach for all the 3 lives. On the DS version, they are automatically added instead.