Sonic the Hedgehog has had a particularly storied history in video games since his debut in the 1990s. While many of his classic 2D side-scrolling titles are still fan-favorites, the Blue Blur began running into trouble once he made the leap into 3D. This spiraled into an era where it seemed that Sega couldn't do anything right by the character.
However, Sonic Colors was an exception to this rule and was one of Sonic's most beloved modern titles. Sega has recently announced an upgraded re-release for the Wii title on modern consoles, bringing back one of Sonic's greatest hits in celebration of the franchise's 30th anniversary. Here's what made Sonic Colors such a great game and why the Ultimate version will be even better.
Sonic Colors
Sonic Colors originally came out in 2010 for the Nintendo Wii, with a separate version also being developed by Dimps for the Nintendo DS handheld. The game was in many ways a back-to-basics approach for the franchise, which had fallen on hard times for several years by then. Going back to the drawing board, Sega took the piling fan criticisms to heart to make this game the franchise's best in a while. Sonic was the only playable character, and while the game was at heart a 3D platformer, it would occasionally switch perspective to a more classic-style sidescroller. The DS version, on the other hand, was completely a sidescroller.
The plot has Sonic once again facing off against Dr. Eggman, who attempts to enslave the alien Wisps. Sonic can team up with the Wisps to gain various powers, such as transforming into a laser or gaining even greater speed than usual. He can further enhance his acrobatics via the Boost system introduced in the previous game, Sonic Unleashed. This emulated the speed of the classic games more accurately than any previous attempt. When combined with the sidescrolling elements, the game felt like Sonic always should have in the third dimension.
The outer space theme was noted by some as being highly reminiscent of the still recent Super Mario Galaxy, which made sense, given that Sega was looking toward Sonic's former rival in order to get the series back on track. When combined with the game's pulse-pounding soundtrack, Sonic Colors more than succeeded in being the best Sonic game in years. Critics and fans alike highly enjoyed the game, with its speed, level design and even voice acting considered to be far superior to previous 3D entries in the series.
Sonic Colors: Ultimate
In the May 27th Sonic Central Sega event, Sega announced that the game would get a second chance to become even more popular via the upcoming remaster, Sonic Colors: Ultimate. This updated version will be released for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC. Being on modern consoles that are all far more powerful than the Wii will obviously bring a prettier coat of paint, but that's not all that the game will boast.
Other additions will be the new Jade Ghost Wisp power-up from Team Sonic Racing, costumes based on the live-action Sonic movie, and upgraded multiplayer options, including the villainous Metal Sonic. This will serve to only make an already excellent game even better, and being widely available on pretty much every modern console will allow the game to reach more audiences than it did back when it was stuck on the comparatively niche Wii. However, eager fans will have to wait as the game doesn't come out until September 7th later this year.