Sonic Colors: Ultimate

Genre: 3D Platformer

Players: 1

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Review:

Sonic Colors is a family-friendly 3D Platformer first released on the Wii in 2010 (with a completely different game with the same name releasing on Nintendo DS) and in 2021 ported to PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in 2021 in an updated “Ultimate” version that improves on numerous elements of the game and adds a few small new features, like collectable coins to unlock new costumes for Sonic.

Now, before getting into the review proper, I want to address a reputation this release of the game has garnered for being buggy and broken. While this may be the case for some players, this was not the experience I had with the game. Perhaps this is because I played this game after a patch was released for it, or maybe I was lucky enough to not encounter any bugs. However, I can only comment on my personal experience, and my personal experience with Sonic Colors: Ultimate did not include any bugs.

Of course the biggest change here from the Wii release of the game is the graphical update, and while the other modern releases of the game got increases to 60FPS, the Nintendo Switch version unfortunately gets stuck with the Wii version’s 30FPS framerate. At the very least, the overall resolution has received an upgrade here, from the Wii’s 480p to 900p in docked mode and 600p in portable mode, which is a significant boost, even if it’s not as nice as the 1080p resolution some of the other contemporary platforms received, not to mention the 4K resolution on the Xbox Series X (Thanks to Digital Foundry for the numbers). In terms of performance, the move from Wii to Nintendo Switch represents a moderate upgrade, but nowhere near as noteworthy as what was on other platforms.

At the very least, the Nintendo Switch did receive some of the other visual upgrades brought to the Ultimate version of the game, which features improved lighting, better textures, and more detailed level geometry (though again not as nice as the PS4/Xbox One versions). However, there is one area where the Nintendo Switch version actually manages to be a downgrade from the Wii version of the game – it has some absurdly long loading times, making you wait at a loading screen for an absurd amount of time before each level. These guys do remember that Sonic’s whole thing is going fast, right?

In the sound department, this game re-uses the voices and sounds from the original release, which were just fine, but it has remixed some of the music. To my ear, it doesn’t sound like a drastic change from the original, but more of a subtle update. The music is still nice and energetic, and fits the high-speed Sonic gameplay quite well, with some of the nice remixed themes including Tropical Resort Act 2, Vs. Rotatatron & Refreshinator, Sweet Mountain Act 3, Starlight Carnival Act 2, and Aquarium Park Act 1, to name a few. Overall, I’d say Sonic Colors sounds better than ever here.

All of that brings me to the gameplay, which is much the same as the original release of the game. Sonic Colors is generally seen as one of the better 3D Sonic games, with the gameplay shifting from a 3D style to 2D to a simplified 3D that has players dashing between lanes as they zip forward. This game provides a good sense of speed and plenty of variety, especially thanks to the addition of “wisps” that give Sonic new power-up abilities that allow him to fire himself like a laser beam or drill through the ground. However, I find the actual Platforming to be sluggish, and getting Sonic to change direction mid-sprint is clunky. Overall, this is still a fun 3D Platformer, but Sonic simply doesn’t come close to the maneuverability and freedom of movement found in your average 3D Mario game. Of course, a Sonic fan would undoubtedly point out that this isn’t the point of a Sonic game, it’s about racing through each level as fast as possible. I suppose to each their own.

In the end, while I may still strongly prefer Mario games, I definitely don’t think that Sonic Colors: Ultimate is the disaster that many have painted it as. While it’s true that the Nintendo Switch version is a visual downgrade from the versions on other modern platforms, and the loading times are abysmal even compared to the Wii version. However, despite its flaws, this is still a solid 3D Platformer and overall it’s a step above that original Wii version. Fans of Platformers on the Nintendo Switch should definitely give this game a look.

tl;dr – Sonic Colors: Ultimate is a family-friendly 3D Platformer that does a solid job updating the Wii game for modern platforms, although the Nintendo Switch version definitely gets less of an upgrade than other platforms, and the loading times are actually worse than they were before. Still, this is a solid entry in the genre, even if it’s not on the same level as Mario’s 3D adventures.

Grade: B-

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2021 Game Awards:

Runner-Up – Most Underrated

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