I didn't say Sonic Colors was "the best Sonic game ever". I actually made it a point to say I did not yet think it was as good as the classics. Sonic Adventure had it's own level specific gimmicks, but who really gives a fig when each level in the game is basically one straight path with a few minor detours and the coding's all buggy? I certainly don't.
One straight path? Sonic Adventure 2 had a lot of straight away paths, but Sonic Adventure 1 has a lot of hidden extras and different routes to take. It was easy in that case, as a lot of characters shared some of the same levels so they would open up a bit. Still, that was 1998 for Sonic Adventure, and Sonic Adventure 2 was designed with more of a score attack mentality than anything I think. They can do a lot more now, and for the record I think they have done a lot of good things to improve the controls after these games, though I think Adventure 2 still plays fine regardless.
The wisps are a lot cooler then any of SA's "level gimmicks" and add a level of exploration to the game play that simply didn't exist in the Adventure games.
My issue with the wisps is that they are just masks over basic level design that do not change outside of art. I do not think they are terrible or anything, but I do not see how you can say this stuff is way better than being sucked into a tornado with a hodgepodge of platforms in it in Windy Valley Zone, how the Sky Deck Zone tilts in all different directions altering the play field entirely, or how Twinkle Park Zone had those karts. All of this is not the most amazing stuff in the world, but they help make the experience more unique. Every level in Colors is bound to have the quick step straight away sections, pulleys and grind rails, and with most of this stuff you do not even have to press any buttons or hold anything. Nothing in the Adventure games was like that.
Something Shigs brought up is how the exploration has been helped by the player having to unlock the different wisps. Why are you not able to get to every section right from the beginning of the game like in the Genesis games? Most people who play these kind of games only play them once, so the majority of people are going to miss almost all of the level?
The game works very well, the wisps are very diverse and creative so far, nothing impairs the game's speed and sense of exhiliration. The game punishes you with alternate paths instead of insta-death bottomless pits. There is a decent amount of jumping, dodging, and avoidance in the 3D areas, so it's more then just "boring straight aways", and Planet Wisp was actually a pretty decent example of that. This game does a LOT right. It's true, there are no level specific gimmicks, but I fail to see how that's a game killer. It's not in the least, when we've got levels that have, so far, each specialized in the usage of specific wisps. And finally, the game being mostly 2D (even though it's far more evenly split then "90%") does NOT in any way detract from the fact that this is Sonic's best console game since his Genesis games.
Words like "Dodging" and "Avoidance" only make it so much more obvious to me that they are not dropping their twitch-based design that many of the newer Sonic games have now. All of the games designed around this are not very good so it is not helping me agree at all.
My problem with most of it being 2D is that the game is labeled as a 3D game. If they wanted to make a good 2D game they should have just worked on Sonic the Hedgehog 4 instead.
The game could be better, that's a fact. But being great instead of neigh infallible doesn't mean the game is suddenly mediocre. Sonic Colors, bar some incredible screw up in the later levels, is a great game. Therefore, as far as I'm concerned, he's back. And hopefully, his anniversary game will reflect and improve upon the design we see here, with level specific gimmicks and more platforming during the 3D sections.
Not saying it is mediocre, just trying to ague with how you just tossed the Adventure games to the side after only playing like three levels of this. Seems extremely harsh even with all of the problems those games have.
There is a lot of stuff I like, I think stuff like how the rocket move sends you into the sky diving motion from Unleashed is very clever, and there looks to be a level where you actually can go in the water without dying and there are whole platforms under there... I have missed that kind of setting in Sonic so much.
The fact is that they still obviously do not really know what makes a Sonic game a
Sonic game anymore. I mean seriously, he cannot roll still. WHY!? :cry:
