REVIEW: ‘Sonic Colors: Ultimate’

Sonic+Colors+Ultimate

Fun Fact: while purchasing this game at GameStop, I actually used a Mario game for trade-in credits in order to purchase it. I can hear the angry Nintendo fans now…

SEGA returns with their latest remaster, “Sonic Colors: Ultimate,” based on the original 2010 Wii game of the same name (hold the “Ultimate”). The story once again revolves around our favorite speedy blue hedgehog, Sonic, and his best friend, Tails, as they travel through an interstellar theme park created by the evil Dr. Eggman. As they traverse the park, they take it upon themselves to save an alien race called wisps from Eggman’s evil clutches and foil his dastardly plans again.

I must say, as someone who has played Sonic for several years now, I have experienced many ups and downs in this franchise. Unfortunately, one of the downs is that most 3D Sonic games turned out to be quite atrocious. With this entry, I feel it is the best 3D Sonic game I have played; however, that’s not saying much due to the glitches and certain aspects of it not being updated properly for modern consoles.

Let’s talk about what makes the game a blast despite these issues. First off, almost all the levels in this game are a blast to play. The best Sonic games always make you feel like you are riding a digital roller coaster with just the right amount of fast-paced gameplay and eye-popping visuals that take your breath away. This game is no exception. The levels here are amazing and they all had me grinning in awe as I sped through the courses.

These levels also feature power wisps that aid you; they can help you move at the speed of light, dig underground, levitate, destroy bigger objects, and transform rings into blocks to help you progress. Although not all wisps are necessary (mainly the ghost wisp that makes you levitate), they still provide a means to keep the levels from going stale. In terms of gameplay, this game is an all-out thrill ride.

Additionally, the music in this game is fantastic. Within the first minute of the game, the remix of Jean Paul Makhlouf’s song “Reach for the Stars,” had me anticipating nothing less than a stellar soundtrack. And, sure enough, I was right. Each world has one song, and that same song is played, in different renditions, throughout the six levels within each world. Some may find this annoyingly repetitive, but for me, it worked astoundingly well as I felt each rendition in every world sounded beautiful, electric, and chaotic all in the best ways.

So far, I make the game sound like a masterpiece, but as I said earlier, this game is plagued with glitches. There are problems on the PS4, PS5, and mainly on the digital deluxe version of the switch. I played the physical version on the switch and also encountered a considerable amount of bugs.

First, whenever I became a wisp, the music cut out, and I was left playing in awkward silence as I progressed through a level. Furthermore, the visuals are great … most of the time. For one, we get no upgrade on cutscene graphics; they still look the same as they did on the Wii in 2010, (partly because the cutscenes only push 30 frames per second as opposed to 60). Moreover, some of the last levels of the game have major backdrop issues.

At times, the background scenery is so unacceptably blurry, I can’t even comprehend how it made the final cut. Gameplay graphics are fine (save for the last level backdrops) but for everything else visual-related, I expected way more, and what I got felt like a lazy attempt to finish the game and get it on the shelves regardless of quality. Nevertheless, the glitches in the physical version pale in comparison to the digital version. Folks, SEGA has seemingly managed to do the unthinkable with the switch digital deluxe version, they outdid “Cyberpunk 2077”.”

Those of you who have heard of the issues with that game know exactly what I’m talking about. Watching the result of the game digitally on YouTube is like going through a bad acid trip (don’t worry, I don’t actually know what that’s like, just a figure of speech). Digitally, the game is plagued with next-level glitches, sporadic colors flashing on the screen, crashes, and character models that shape-shift unexpectedly. Basically… it’s a mess.

Overall, MY opinion of this remaster is that it is a flawed but enjoyable ride. I must make this clear: I cannot speak for everyone else’s experience as it seems that everyone has a different one depending on what console they are using. Slight glitches, bugs, and questionable visuals at times were very noticeable but didn’t 100 percent bog the game down for me.

If you’re planning on getting this game, just be aware of what you are potentially in for (in other words, think before you spend the money).

 

Jury declares: Buy at your own risk