Review by: Danielle Riendeau

After years of disappointment, and several awful Sonic games that all promised to be the second coming of the badass blue blur, Sonic Colors has come and finally reversed the curse. The first title to really make good on the lightning fast platforming that allowed Sega to do “what Nintendon’t” since the early 90s, it’s finally safe to say that the hedgehog is back.

Finally, Sonic Team has taken a few cues from the big N (a little ironic, given that aforementioned 90s-era marketing slogan, no?), and put together a platformer that combines Sonic’s speed and score-attack goodness with Mario’s power-ups and multiple paths. Even the theme has been lifted not-so-subtly from the plumber’s latest adventures – Dr. Robotnic/Eggman has chained together several funky themed “planets” to form a twisted intergalactic theme park.

As Sonic, it’s your job to blast through the myriad stages, collect rings, beat bosses, and, as always, defeat the Eggman. There’s a story, which involves saving alien wisps (these are your power-ups), from enslavement, and while no one over the age of eight will love it, it’s light-years better than the cinematic abuse that littered the last ten years of Sonic games (improved voice acting and breezy Saturday morning cartoon tropes help).

Stages are quite plentiful, and remind one of tighter versions of the “daylight” (read: good), levels from the last Sonic Team installment: 2008’s Sonic Unleashed. Mostly consisting of 2D platforming that plays blindingly fast, with enemies and traps aplenty, the action is perfectly paced and blended with short 3D sections to keep things interesting.

In the biggest change of pace from previous titles, Sonic now wields an impressive arsenal of power-ups (these are your wisp friends). Ranging from an awesome “laser” power up that turns you into a hyper-fast beam of light (you’ll use mirrors and other environmental objects to get at hidden areas and such), to a purple “frenzy” wisp that turns you into an enemy-chewing berserker, they’re all real game-changers. Everything on offer adds to the gameplay and allows diligent players access to alternative (and often ring-rich) routes through levels, awarding exploration and experimentation as much as the traditional approach rewards speed.

If power-ups weren’t enough of a radical change for you, just wait until you see Sonic butt stomping and wall jumping just like another famous mascot. This isn’t to say that Colors is a Mario rip-off – not by any means, but the increased mobility does make for a better (and deeper) set of tricks for you to employ as you set about besting the hyper-active obstacle courses on offer.