Full Review: Sonic Colors

Full Review:

Sonic Colors

Developed by Sonic Team & Dimps

Published by Sega

for the Nintendo DS

Released November 16th, 2010

Sonic's Truest Colors:

Like his life long mustachioed rival before him, Sonic takes it to the stars and gives Sonic fans something new and unique with Sonic Colors. Everyone's favorite (or most tolerated) hedgehog has had some trouble reliving the glory days of the past by either attempting to rekindle the elements of his 16-bit era (Sonic 4, Sonic Advance) or by taking him out of his element all together and putting him in a type of game that's simply weird or unnecessary (Sonic Riders, Sonic and the Black Knight). Fortunately for gamers everywhere, Sonic Colors breaks the streak of awful Sonic games by combining high speed platforming with innovative game design to create Sonics greatest adventure since the good ol' Genesis days.

Let's get the story out of the way first since I know that absolutely no one plays a Sonic game for its ever so intuitive story telling. Dr. Robotnik, being the generous psycho-genius he is, decides to create an intergalactic amusement park to make up for all of his past sins. Sonic and Tails, suspicious of their arch nemesis, check into the matter only to find out that, sure enough, old Ivo is stealing energy from a group of aliens called Whisps in order to create a mind control device. Sonic, along with the help of the Whisps, must now stop Dr. Robotnik and put an end to his treacherous amusement park for good.

The Whisps give Sonic plenty of new power maneuvers to utilize on his journey, which sounds a bit off putting to old school Sonic fans but actually offer an absolutely fun experience. Of course, it wouldn't be a Sonic game without the mindless speeding and dashing through miles of exotic levels and spin homing badniks to pieces and trust me, there's plenty of it. The main game plays like a charm with only minor physics errors such as air dashing when you mean to jump and vice versa.

After every world or so you gain the powers of new Whisps such as boosting, rocket blasting, fire booming, drilling, etc. By gathering energy from enemies or trapped Whisps, Sonic can boost with Y or transform into any of the other colored powers with X. The game greatly utilizes these powers by making the player perform certain energy maneuvers in order to complete a level (although some levels give the player the option of using the moves or just speeding to the finish.) Whether you're fire booming your enemies to oblivion, boosting at top speed through the level, or drilling the boss badnik to death, it's a fun experience that adds a lot to Sonic's worn out gameplay.

Of course, we can't forget about the classic special Chaos Emerald stages. In these special stages, Sonic runs through a half-pipe (very reminiscent of Sonic 2) as you try collecting as many colored orbs as possible before Sonic makes it to the finish. Colors utilizes the stylus in these stages which is a blast aside from the occasional stylus-to-screen lag. The biggest problem I have with the Chaos Emerald stages is that they are way too easy. In most other Sonic games, it would be unlikely to complete your first run of the game with all seven chaos emeralds, but Colors is an unfortunate exception as it is rather unlikely that you won't be snatching the emeralds before the end.

The main game itself is incredibly easy and can actually be completed in literally, one sitting. I would mark it down for this grueling flaw except that Colors offers so much replay value you'll be spending hours and hours trying to get S ranks on every level, finding secrets in each level with the new powers you obtain, collecting all of the star emblems, and finding all of the hidden unlockables. Not to mention just trying to complete a few of the games many side missions will have you shaking your DS violently for hours. I suppose it's a better idea to have these time attacks, enemy & Whisp hunts, and ring collecting missions not mandatory. They're challenging; which is nice but I just wonder to myself why the actually game is humiliatingly easy while the missions create sudden difficulty spikes.

The one thing I hate about every Sonic game is the hedgehog's voice. It's just too damn annoying. I thought I had all I could take with his whiny, high pitched voice in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. When I booted the game up and prepared myself for the opening dialogue, I prepared for the worst. I was shocked to find out that I wasn't annoyed at all with his voice. Sega actually found a guy (Roger Craig Smith) who could provide a voice to Sonic I can actually listen to. In fact, all of the voice actors do a pretty good job and that's a definite plus in my book.

The music itself is corny. I'm not too fond of the opening track or much of the music but there were a few tunes that seemed melodiously out of place which had me tapping my foot. The sound effects are the best part, though. The booming blasts, the crackling fires, and the awesome "Burn!" or "Rocket!" screams Sonic makes before transforming are, dare I say, cool.

The graphics are gorgeous, vibrant, and colorful. The backgrounds are beautiful as are their animations. Everything seems to jump off the screen. The replacement of sprites with 3D character models are a pleasant surprise. It works very well. The biggest problem with the visuals is the use of the duel screen gameplay. Both screens are used to play; with Sonic switching between both during certain areas of each level. Sometimes, my eyes follow Sonic like magic and swiftly switch between screens (which feels awesome) but other times my eyes stay on one screen while Sonic speeds far into the other. It's a small annoyance that can cost you all of your collected rings.

Sonic Colors offers gamers a Sonic experience like no other. The new gameplay offers so much that it will make you wish the actual game was more than five hours long. Colors not only gives Sonic fans the okay to wear their Sonic shirts and backpacks with pride again, but it also reminds gamers everywhere how great Sonic was and potentially can be.

Details -

Genre: Platformer, 2-D Sidescroller

ESRB Rating: E for Everyone (Mild Cartoon Violence)

Difficulty: Easy (Main Quest) Hard (Missions)

Learning Curve: Pick-Up-And-Go

Stats -

Graphics: 5/5

Sound: 3/5

Controls: 4/5

Lasting Appeal: 3/5

Fun: 5/5

30 Hit-Combo!!

Superb!

Review Descriptions

This Week in Previews: 12/11/10

Tomb Raider (PS3, 360, WIN - 2011)

Revealed in the January 2011 issue of Game Informer, the new reboot of Lara Croft appears as very young, much less experienced version of the spelunking woman that Eidos has crafted over time. After embarking on a journey to the coast of Japan, Endurance, the ship sailing, crashes leaving Croft her stranded. Now Croft must take her few years of training and put it too good use in order to survive. It's definitely a much needed change in pace for the Tomb Raider series that's been plagued with stale games throughout last decade. A younger much more down to earth variation of Lara Croft is just what Eidos and Square-Enix are hoping to bring the Tomb Raider series back to the video game spotlight after so many years.

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (PS3 - 11/1/11)

Naughty Dog's third entry in the Uncharted series takes Nathan Drake to the Arabian desert. The trailer shown at the 2010 Video Game Awards shows Drake surveying and endless world of sand after apparently surviving a plane crash. The trailer showed a bit of gameplay footage of Drake jumping across buildings and running from waves of water. The trailer also displayed the released date of 11-1-11.

Mass Effect 3 (PS3, 360, WIN - Holiday 2011)

Electronic Arts takes the Commander Shepard to Earth to fight at home in third installment that is not only boasting a solid single player but multiplayer as well.

SSX Deadly Descents (TBA - TBA)

EA Canada, creators of Skate, announced that they were working on a reboot of the SSX snowboarding series saying they intend to take the series back to its roots. The trailer shows a much more serious take on the franchise. Included in the trailer which debuted at the 2010 VGAs shows an unknown snowboarder dropping from a helicopter named "Elise" onto what appears to be a mountain range somewhere near Mt. Everest. The snowboarder uses devices such as hooks to slow him down and wings to glide. These are all signs of a brand new style of playing but will it be at the sacrifice of the more cartoony feel of the originals?

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (TBA - 11/11/11)

The widely anticipated next installment in Bethesda's RPG epic has been announced at the VGAs. The trailer sets background for the story and displays the release date of 11/11/11.

Insane (TBA - 2013)

Displayed at the 2010 VGAs is a title from the mind of Guillermo Del Toro, and studios THQ and Volition brings a pretty frightening looking horror game. The trailer showed no gameplay, just a person crawling through a bunch of creepy crawlies. Seems pretty interesting but better put this one on the backburner as it's not intended to release until 2013.

The Oddboxx (PC - Early 2011)

Oddworld Inhabitants announced the PC collection of the Oddworld series; which includes Oddworld Abe's Odyssey, Abe's Exodus, Munch's Odyssey, and Stranger's Wrath will be available through Steam sometime after the Holiday 2010 season.

Prototype 2 (TBA - TBA)

Forza Motorsport 4 (360 - Fall 2011)

Full Review: Disney Epic Mickey

Full Review:

Disney Epic Mickey

Developed by Junction Point

Published by Disney Interactive Studios

for the Nintendo Wii

Released November 30th, 2010

Not the epic it hoped to be:

Never has the gaming community anticipated a Mickey Mouse game as much as they have with Disney Epic Mickey. As soon as gamers saw the cover of Game Informer over a year ago which displayed a darker style of Mickey Mouse, speculation and anticipation grew everywhere. Warren Spector and his Junction Point team promised to take Mickey Mouse into untraversed territory and turn Mickey into a video game star on the same par as Mario and Sonic. Epic Mickey brings a lot to the table but ultimately falls short in too many areas for it to be considered a classic.

The game starts out with a mischievous Mickey Mouse venturing through a magical mirror in his bedroom ultimately ending up in the workshop of wizard Yen Sid of Fantasia fame. There Yen Sid is putting the finishing touches on a land where forgotten Disney characters can live in peace created using a magical paint brush. After Yen Sid retires to his chambers, Mickey decided to add some of his own artistic touches to this wondrous world. Through his mischievous meandering with Yen Sid's brush he creates an evil entity known as the Blot and spills thinner all over the land sending the world into a spiral of disarray. Mickey escapes through the mirror leaving a blatantly obvious abyss where Yen Sid's new world once lied. Nearly a year later, Mickey is famous having made cartoons from Steamboat Willie to Fantasia. The Blot, stronger than ever, drags Mickey through the mirror and into the Wasteland. Mickey must now restore the Wasteland to its former glory and return safely home.

The story brings a unique and bizarre twist to the lore of Mickey Mouse. It's interesting to see so many Disney characters living in a world of disrepair and gloom. The characters in Epic Mickey were once huge stars of the Disney world before being forgotten in the Disney renaissance of the 90's. Familiar faces like Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horse appear as major quest characters while more notable characters such Goofy and Donald appear as frightening robots but still have their familiar charm. The most notable character included in the game who drives the entire plot is Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

Oswald once was Walt Disney's proud mascot and superstar but Disney lost the rights to him when he and Universal split ways in 1928. It wasn't until about 70 years later, Disney got the rights back to the forgotten animated star. In the Wasteland, Oswald acts as the world's leader, looking out for all of the forgotten characters by creating a safe home for them all. Oswald creates Mean Street (his version of Disney's Main Street), OsTown (a variant of ToonTown) and most notably a recreation of the famous statue of Walt Disney pointing to the sky but with Oswald, not Mickey, holding the creator's hand. Oswald's character is well developed, acting as the jealous older brother of Mickey who wants nothing do to with him. The character of Oswald drives the game's story the entire way and provides much depth. The story and characters drove the game and kept me interested in continuing. Unfortunately, the actually gameplay of Epic Mickey had the exact opposite effect.

Epic Mickey offers a plethora of main quest missions and sidequests but none of them are much fun. Every mission consists of either finding, painting, or thinning, a certain number of objects for various characters in order to continue. It's an experience that's fun and unique at first; painting a gear to make platforms move or thinning away walls to find hidden treasure, but after awhile the missions start becoming monotonous with a lack of variety. I can safely say that, with the exception of boss battles, the same type of missions you'll play at the beginning of the game, will be the same type of missions you play near the end and throughout. When something new does come it either isn't implemented nearly as much as it should be or quickly wears out its welcome.

The 2-D Sidescrolling projector sequences are examples of the latter. The projector sequences take away the use of the brush and bring the player a pure side-scrolling experience much like the older Mickey Mouse games on the SNES or Genesis but unlike such classics as Mickey's World of Illusion, it's not fun. The projector sequences were based on various Mickey and Oswald cartoons of the past. The game does a great job of bringing these old cartoons back to life through these levels; so much so that the presentation of the levels is the only enjoyable part of it. Seeing the old Steamboat Willie boat propped up like a cardboard set reminds the player that these are Oswald's attempts of creating a false glory for himself despite being forgotten. It's very interesting to think about but it seems that they spent too much time paying homage to the past and not focusing on whether or not jumping on platforms or dodging the stage-prop enemies was actually fun. The answer is no as the layout is much too simple and requires absolutely no thought process to complete.

The projector sequences act as portals that link to different areas of the Wasteland and only by completing them can one continue their journey. The worst part is that even after completing each sequence the first time, the game gives you no option to skip these stages any other time. So even during vital missions that require you to traverse back and forth between areas, you are forced to play through the projector sequences time and time again which really takes the player out of the story.

Another area of gameplay that really leaves a blemish on the game is the playability. First of all the controls are not layed out well. Everything seems to be cluttered; A to jump of course, Z to shoot thinner, B to shoot paint, d-pad to control the camera, plus to scroll through your items, minus to use them, 1 to place the camera in back of you and 2 to go into your menu. Every button has a purpose which is fine but during the heat of battle it can be difficult to execute.

The camera is bad. When up against a wall, the camera does not know where to go and ends up placing itself in a horrendous view that leaves you vulnerable to all enemies nearby. Controlling it is no cakewalk either. Changing your thumb placement to the d-pad takes away the ability to jump therefore causing death. The camera could have been executed much better but because of its awkward placement at times the game suffers greatly.

Unlike the controls, the graphics and music were done right. The character models look great and are animated to move in the same feel as they did in their glory days of Disney. The dripping affect on Mickey is an awesome touch as well. The paint/thinner splashes remind me of the water affects of Super Mario Sunshine which definitely isn't a bad thing. The areas represent a cartoony town in dismay and showing the difference between a painted object and a thinned one is done well with a favorable art style committed to both. The backgrounds are some of the most beautiful designs I've seen in any game.

While the opening cutscene looks gorgeous in all its CG glory, I can't say the same for the in-game cutscenes. They chose an odd art style that is supposed to represent the paint theme of the entire game. It does nothing for it however, neither reminding the player of the classic style of art that Disney cartoons are known for nor providing any justice for the art style represented in the game. The game would be much better off using the CG graphics displayed in the opening cutscene.

The music is surprisingly tolerable. While every tune has a campy rhythm to it that I thought would definitely get on my nerves, they do achieve in quality. The campy style of every song is balanced by a dark portion of the song that reminds the player that this world, although cartoony in nature, is in distress. The OsTown theme is a great example to this. Dark alterations to old Disney themes such as "It's a Small World" sound awesome and definitely provide a unique take on the world Epic Mickey is trying to portray. The sound effects especially the muffled voices of the older cartoon characters and constant rolling of the projector wheel in the projector sequences are great as well.

An upsetting part of the sound is the lack of voice acting. Instead of speech, short grunts or chuckles are used to show that a character is speaking. The lack of voice acting is unnecessary and the game would have greatly benefited from the voices of the characters that created over 80 years of classic cartoons.

Warren Spector and Junction Point clearly focused more on rehashing the history and art of Disney rather than creating a gameplay experience worthy of playing. The game is all show and not much else. Disney Epic Mickey has enough content to keep a Disney fans and younger gamers content but more experienced gamers hoping to have a Mickey Mouse game that's on par with video game platform stars like Mario are going to be disappointed with this entry.

Details -

Genre: Action/Adventure, Platformer, 2-D Sidescroller

ESRB Rating: E for Everyone (Cartoon Violence)

Player Options: 1-Player, Nunchuck

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Curve: 30 minutes

Stats -

Graphics: 4/5

Sound: 4/5

Controls: 2/5

Lasting Appeal: 4/5

Fun: 2/5

23 Hit-Combo

Decent

Review Descriptions