The Colors, Ultimately, Feel So Right: Sonic Colors Ultimate (PC/Switch/PS4/XbOne, 2021) Review

 NOTE: This review is… KIND OF part of a retrospective of the Sonic franchise. Feel free to read the other Sonic reviews I’ve done here - https://expithecat.blogspot.com/search/label/sonic%20retrospective

Well gang, Sonic Colors Ultimate is out, and being the certified virgin I am, I decided to pre-order it, beat it, and well… now time for the review!

I’m going to preface this by saying that I will be reviewing this as a remaster. I reviewed the original game not so long ago, which you can read here. This review won’t take the form of my more traditional reviews where I separate gameplay, presentation, story, history, and so on into their own categories and will largely just be comparing this game to its original Wii counterpart - talking about what I think it does better, what it does worse, and how I feel about it as a remaster and modern port of, well, one of my favorite Sonic games and potentially one of my favorite games of all time.

In case you didn’t already know, this year marks the 30th anniversary of the Sonic franchise - 30 years since ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ released on the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. And with Sonic still being a pretty major media icon, who has only become more prevalent in recent years with the 2020 movie in addition to the release of games like Mania and Forces, I think most people can agree that there would be some form of celebration with such a milestone.

While the game was officially announced in the Sonic Central stream on May 27, 2021 - alongside a new classic Sonic compilation and a teaser for a separate upcoming game - rumors were circulating about a Sonic Colors remaster in the month or two leading up to it, with the game being listed on a portfolio page for IK Sample - a German voice dubbing studio that has worked with previous video games including Sonic titles. And while I do tend to take video game rumors with a grain of salt, this was a fairly reputable source, and the announcement of Sonic Central didn’t come as a huge surprise. 

Still, I was definitely excited - if you read my review, I stated that Sonic Colors was my first 3D(-ish) Sonic game and easily one of my favorites in the series, and now that it was going to get a remaster on modern hardware, I was definitely interested in getting the game. 

I know there were some people who were a bit miffed by the idea of Sonic Colors remaster - particularly with the desire for a modern Unleashed port, and while I do think that Sonic Unleashed would benefit from a modern port of some kind - especially on PC - I think Sonic Colors being remastered does make sense. Remember, Sonic Colors was one of the more well received modern Sonic titles, and also one of the easiest Sonic games to really “grasp” - which makes the game more appealing to newer fans brought on by the movie as well as games like Mania and Forces.

Not only that, but you also have to remember that Sonic Colors isn’t the most accessible Sonic game hardware-wise. What I mean by this is that Sonic Colors is still only available on the Nintendo Wii. There is also a DS version, but that obviously has entirely different gameplay and level design. The only other console you cAnd on top of that, with the Wii being discontinued, you can really only get it on the used market or through piracy. Meanwhile, while Unleashed isn’t on PC or Switch, you can still buy it and play it on the Xbox One and Series S/X, as well as through PS Now. And obviously Generations is available on those same consoles, as well as PC.

So I think you get what I’m saying - out of the Boost and 2010’s games, Colors was the one most in need of a modern port in terms of accessibility, as well as one of the easier games to grasp. The only other major Sonic releases in that decade that haven’t been ported to other systems are Sonic Lost World, which even then has a PC port, and the Boom games - which, let’s be real here, I’m not sure Sonic Team will ever port to modern hardware.

(also i personally enjoy colors substantially more than unleashed, even with just the day stages of the latter. don’t @ me.)

But okay, the game was officially announced, and as time went on, people began pointing out issues with the game as more footage dropped - some noticed seams in the terrain and skybox, others weren’t happy with the amount of bloom and brightness in the stages. However, I was pretty happy with what I was seeing from the game - for the most part I was happy with the remastered visuals and added features like the Rival Rush mode and customization options. There were aspects I was concerned about, but at the point, I generally liked what I saw and in July pre-ordered the Nintendo Switch version.

To get this out of the way though, you may be wondering why I pre-ordered the Switch version - after all, I also own an Xbox One X and a PC, and it was made pretty clear that the Switch version would be the most downgraded due to being capped at 30FPS and of course having a low resolution. And, well, I have two reasons for that. 

One is, well, portability - the fact that I can play Sonic Colors while at my college campus between classes is pretty nice, but the second is that, well, I obviously played Sonic Colors on the Wii growing up, and since I grew up on not just that but Nintendo systems in general, I just kind of felt like Colors would feel most at home on a Nintendo system like I had growing up. I will say I may get the Xbox One or PC versions of the game in the future (from the YT footage I’ve seen, this game looks pretty damn good at 60FPS) and I will talk about the issues with the Switch version, but I wanted to explain why the Switch version ended up being my first choice.

I also gotta admit, y’know… I really wanted that Baby Sonic keychain.

But anyway, in the few days leading up to it’s release - particularly after the ‘Digital Deluxe Edition’ came out a few days ahead of time - there were definitely a lot of reports of glitches and bugs - especially in the visuals and sound department. The Nintendo Switch version especially was getting a lot of flack, with that version having problems with visual bugs that could potentially cause seizures or harm to anyone with sensitivity to flashing lights or colors. For obvious reasons, I won’t post any footage here, but you can probably find them pretty easily if you desire. Just be warned and proceed with caution. 

The game overall did receive fairly positive critical reviews - with the PS4 version (the most commonly reviewed one) currently sitting at 74 and the Xbox One version sitting at a 75 on Metacritic, being almost the same as the Wii original which sits at 78. Still, the glitches were becoming pretty apparent and notable, and by the time the game officially launched, with Blind Squirrel announcing a patch and asking for players to report any glitches.

However, I still kept my pre-order, and got it on the day the game officially came out on September 7th. Just wish Amazon Prime didn’t take so long and I didn’t have to wait until an hour before I had my evening class starting. I’ve proceeded to play through it and frankly… I’ve found myself enjoying it. I mean, it’s definitely flawed, but I still enjoyed it.

As I said previously, I’ve already reviewed Sonic Colors - which, while not perfect, is still one of my favorite Sonic games and potentially one of my favorite games of all time. As expected, the core gameplay of Sonic Colors in Ultimate is largely there - same movement, same level design, same level themes, and so on. However, there are some additions that have been made to the original.

I would say the two most notable additions to the gameplay are the Jade Ghost Wisp from Team Sonic Racing, as well as the Rival Rush mode. Now, I know I said the level design was the same as the original but that’s not entirely true - while a lot of the level layouts are mostly the same, they have been tweaked somewhat to accommodate for the Jade Ghost wisp - primarily with the addition of new pathways and routes that can be taken advantage of by the wisp.

The Jade Ghost wisp itself is able to “lock on” to certain points in order to pass through walls and solid objects, and in turn using it allows the player to travel through new routes and areas and/or find goodies like Park Tokens and Tails Saves. Sweet Mountain Act 4 I feel is an example of a stage that really takes advantage of the Jade Ghost wisp - allowing the player to skip the “elevator” section entirely and reduce the time needed to go through the level.

This is probably the most interesting addition to the gameplay in my opinion - when the stages take advantage of it, it definitely adds to the gameplay and offers something new while not entirely reconstructing the game’s original levels. Not all the levels incorporate the new Jade Ghost, but the ones that do give the game a new level of replayability.

The Rival Rush mode is the other most notable addition, in which you race Metal Sonic through some of the levels in the game. Basically, imagine the Metal Sonic race in Sonic CD, but instead incorporated purely into some of Sonic Colors’ levels. I think this is also a neat addition, and I am happy that it is provided as somewhat of a bonus to the original game, although I do wish there were more levels to it. Unfortunately, only one of the stages in each of the six main worlds have a ‘Rival Rush’ mode, making this addition feel underutilized - which is a shame because I do feel like it does have potential in making the player think on how to progress Sonic Colors’ levels as fast as possible. It is a neat addition when it’s there, but I kind of wish more if not every level in the game had a Rival Rush mode available.

But the gameplay additions don’t stop there, and that leads me to probably my favorite addition in this game - the homing attack mechanic. 

“Expi you dumbass there was a homing attack in the original”

Yes, yes, I’m aware. But if you play this game, you may notice that a green circle shows up for a split second when you homing attack. That isn’t just for the sake of aesthetic, rather if you time your homing attack with the appearance of the green circle overlapping the reticle, a short sound bite will play and you are rewarded with a bit of Boost energy. This may seem like a small change, but I feel like it does add to the gameplay by adding a bit of nuance in the timing of the homing attack rather than just spamming the jump button, and I do honestly wish this homing attack reappears in newer Sonic titles - including the new, rumored ‘Rangers’. There’s just a satisfying feeling to nailing the timing of the homing attack while still keeping it simple for newcomers.

There’s also the customization feature which I actually do like a lot, even if it’s not necessarily deep or full of options. You may notice as you play this remaster that there are Park Tokens scattered throughout the stage, and as expected, these have a purpose to them. Pressing on the ‘options satellite’ will bring you to an overhauled settings menu, and while on the “Player Progress” tab, if you scroll down to ‘Customize’, you will find a bunch of different options for customization - which includes different gloves and shoes for Sonic as well as ‘Auras’ that surround Sonic, changed appearances for the ‘Boost’ and different player icons. You can then spend these Park Tokens on these different appearances and combine them to pretty much make your own personal, well, Sonic.

It’s pretty much just an aesthetic feature, but I do like this addition. The Park Tokens do add some replayability to the levels by allowing the player to look for and collect them, and in addition it does give a bit of personalization to the game which I’m sure was an aspect of Forces with it’s Avatar feature that appealed to younger audiences or just people who liked to create their own characters… like, y’know, me. I guess I kind of wish the Avatar feature made a return here but it’s not really a big deal and the fact that customization features are here at all is pretty nice.

Probably the most controversial major change to the gameplay though is Ultimate’s new life system. When footage and screenshots of Colors Ultimate started to come out, some noticed that Sonic’s ‘lives’ icon had been replaced with Tails’ face, leading to some speculation that Tails would be a playable character in the game. As much as I’d liked to have seen that, that wasn’t the case - instead, Tails’ icon in the HUD represents the amount of ‘Tails Saves’ you have. You can collect them throughout the levels, and if you fall into a bottomless pit or whatever, Tails will bring Sonic to the first area of solid ground before the bottomless pit the player fell from. I know I’m not doing a great job of explaining it, but you get the idea.

On top of that, you have unlimited lives in this game like Forces and unlike the original - most of the 1-ups in the levels have been replaced with either Park Tokens or Tails Saves, and as such you can basically die as much as you want without worrying about getting a Game Over.

Now, here’s the thing - I don’t necessarily mind this feature for the most part. I think additional accessibility options and ‘easy modes’ should be praised in order to increase enjoyment towards younger audiences or just people who haven’t experienced the game at all in general. And considering Sonic Colors, as it is, is a pretty easy game (playing on the Wii a few weeks ago I got so many lives that they might as well have been unlimited), I’m not necessarily sure this really changes much about the Colors’ difficulty, at least towards veteran Sonic fans who have played this game multiple times.

But I do kind of understand the frustration with this new lives system being mandatory and not served as an option. Some did feel having a limited amount of lives in the original made the game more challenging, and without the option to have that as part of the game, that little bit of extra challenge is now gone. I think the best way to have handled this to please everyone would be the Crash 4: It’s About Time approach - having an option to play with a limited amount of lives (the ‘Classic’ way) or with unlimited lives.

That said, at the end of the day, the new lives system that Colors Ultimate adds isn’t really that big of a deal to me and not something I find myself losing sleep over.

But the first thing most will notice about Colors Ultimate compared to the original are the enhanced visuals. Which I gotta say… Colors as it was was a pretty damn looking game, especially for the Wii, and I feel like Colors Ultimate actually makes it even prettier. Textures are now at a higher resolution compared to the original, the lighting is changed and bloom is added to make the visuals really ‘pop’ out and really sell the level themes and feel of them.

I know there are some that don’t like the enhanced visuals - particularly with the bloom - but I dunno, I personally think it looks really nice, even just on the Switch version which is obviously downgraded from the others. Just looking at Tropical Resort, for example - on the Wii version, it does look really nice, but comparing it to Colors Ultimate, I do feel like it is a bit too saturated on the Wii version and Ultimate really makes the stages’ colors stand out more while giving more of the ‘night’ feeling to the stage. 

In general, I feel like Colors Ultimate looks a lot ‘cleaner’ - even with the higher resolution aside, I really feel like the new models, higher resolution textures and lighting improve upon the original stage themes which really makes them feel more… realistic? For lack of a better word, while also still keeping to the Sonic style. I definitely think it captures the feeling of the stage themes even better than the original did.

In addition, the PS4, Xbox One and PC versions also support 60FPS and 4K resolution, compared to the original game being at 480p and 30FPS. Course, I only have the Switch version which is still capped at 30FPS and runs at 900p in docked mode and 600p in portable mode, which I feel is sort of odd considering this is a port of a Wii game, a console the Switch is definitely more powerful than the Wii, especially seeing some of the other Wii and Wii U ports the system has to offer. I must say though, although it’s not too big of a deal since I’m used to the game being at 30FPS on the Wii, this game definitely looks really smooth at 60FPS from the footage I’ve seen on YouTube

The soundtrack also has some changes - while most of the original themes are intact, there are also remixes of the original themes, and in Colors Ultimate, each of the stages have their own unique theme - some utilizing the original mixes while others have their own new version. In addition to that, the game’s vocal tracks - Reach for the Stars and Speak with Your Heart - are remixed. The Reach for the Stars remix I really like - it was already a song I loved, but I feel like they made it even better and more heartfelt. Colors Ultimate uses the same mix that was played at the 30th Anniversary Sonic Symphony - which honestly, the first time I heard it, it outright almost made me cry.

I do enjoy most of the new tracks - my favorites being the new remix of Reach for the Stars as I mentioned and Act 1 of Tropical Resort, Aquarium Park and Starlight Carnival. I don’t like most of the stage themes quite as much as the originals, but I still think they’re pretty good and since the original tracks play in certain acts anyway, I can’t really complain. The only theme I’m not so fond of is the ‘Rainbow’ mix of Speak with Your Heart - as someone who loved the original I kind of felt like this remix didn’t quite pack the same ‘punch’ the original did and was a bit more forgettable. Maybe I’ll warm up to it over time but at the moment it didn’t really impress me.

So, Sonic Colors Ultimate sounds pretty great, right? I do think the additions to the gameplay and enhanced visuals almost make this an improved remaster.

Keyword there though is… almost. Because I can’t deny, Sonic Colors Ultimate definitely has issues. Particularly, glitches with the visuals and audio.

Probably the most noticeable visual bug about this game was easily the pop-in - and boy, there’s a lot of it in this game where it wasn’t in the original. I feel like a lot of it was in the backgrounds, but there were still times where I noticed parts of the level not appear until I got close - the first example that comes to mind is the Rainbow Dash rings (haha, MLP reference) in one of the Planet Wisp acts. I can’t remember which act it was in particular, but either way, there’s a high chance you’ll notice pop-in if you play the game or even just watch gameplay of it. Sometimes you may even find visual artifacts within the background with even that popping in - which is most noticeable in the first few seconds of Aquarium Park Act 1.

But in addition to that, there’s also definitely some problems with the sound mixing. In my experience, I just found it to be… inconsistent. Sometimes the ‘Wisp’ music will play when I use them, other times it won’t. Sometimes the full ‘Level Complete’ music will play, other times it’ll stop after the intro. And sometimes the sound effects will be really quiet, then other times I’ll want to literally throw my ears out the window. 

That’s kind of an exaggeration of course, but you get the point. I’m not entirely sure why this is, and it seems like a pretty easy issue to fix, yet here we are. It’s arguably made worse since while you can turn down the audio in the settings menu, you can’t turn down the sound effects and music separately, which I feel like is such a minor thing to get right and has been a feature of games for such a long time so it makes me confused as to why that couldn’t be done.

The worst of the visual glitches though is with the Switch version - which I already talked about, the ones involved rapid color and light changes, which could potentially cause seizures. There has been some debate on how many of the glitches are real with some of the footage being captured from the Yuzu emulator, but I can definitely confirm that a lot of those potentially seizure inducing visual bugs are definitely present on real hardware, and yeah, it’s definitely something Blind Squirrel and/or SEGA need to fix. 

I did want to at least clarify though that they aren’t exactly common - in fact they can only really be activated per se by hopping in and out of each planet a couple times after unlocking the main stages, and you most likely won’t run into them playing the game normally, but they are definitely present, and either way something that needs to be patched as soon as possible. It’s definitely something I could see causing harm to those with epilepsy or other disorders that affect sensitivity to flashing colors and lights.

Many have also pointed out that the Switch version does tend to drop frames, but at the same time, I didn’t really feel like it was as much of an issue as others have been talking about. There were definitely times where I noticed the framerate dropping or just stuttering, but I kind of expected more of it. I dunno, I guess after playing 06 and Unleashed on the PS3, frame drops in other games don’t seem so bad in comparison.

And while most of the bugs just relate to visuals and audio, some have pointed out gameplay bugs as well. A lot of people have talked about the game crashing, but honestly I really only remember the game crashing on me once in my playthrough - while the game was loading out of a level and after I was hopping in and out of the Switch’s home menu. There’s also been reports of people’s save data getting corrupted but that never happened to me personally. Maybe either I’m just lucky or these problems are more of an issue on the other versions of the game. If that’s the case, I guess that’s one area where the Switch finally gets a W.

There’s also been some footage of physics bugging out, or Tails saving you on a 3D plane in a mostly 2D level, but again, I didn’t experience these for the most part. There was one point where boosting off a speed ramp in Starlight Carnival caused me to miss the next platform and made me fall into a bottomless pit but that was the only time I had an issue with the game’s physics. Still, I will say that your mileage may vary depending on which platform you’re playing on… or just how much luck you’re having and if the game feels like working properly.

Conclusion

And in it’s current state, that’s kind of the thing with Sonic Colors Ultimate. In a lot of ways, Sonic Colors Ultimate is an improvement over the original - particularly as far as enhanced visuals, gameplay additions and (in the case of platforms other than the Switch) higher frame rate. But while it does have a lot of improvements, it also has issues that need to be fixed, and while I would probably go back to this version as my main way of playing it, I’m not entirely sure about recommending it at this time. 

I will say this - I’m happier with Sonic Colors Ultimate than I was with Super Mario 3D All-Stars. At the very least I think the changes make this remaster feel more than just the bare minimum like how 3D All-Stars felt. And frankly, if these major bugs do get patched, I’d have no problem recommending this game over the original unless you subjectively don’t like the new visuals and gameplay additions. But the fact that these bugs are present lead me to recommend proceeding with caution, perhaps waiting a bit before buying this game. I’ll also say if you do want to buy this game, you should probably choose to get the other versions over the Switch unless you desire the portability or feeling of playing on a Nintendo system. 

Sonic Colors Ultimate is a weird case. I think the things it does well as a remaster, are definitely improvements over the original version of the game. But when this game doesn’t do things well, it really doesn’t do things well, and the lack of polish throughout this game really keeps the feeling that this game may have been rushed, and I do hope that updates are made to the game so that it’s improvements stand out over it’s many bugs.

Thankfully, SEGA and Blind Squirrel have at least acknowledged the visual bugs and have promised a patch for this game in the near future. But at the current moment, I’d say do your own research and decide for yourself whether Sonic Colors Ultimate is worth buying, waiting for, or not getting at all.