Gamespot’s Mark Walton has posted up a preview of his recent hands-on time with Sonic Colours‘ Planet Wisp stage. The preview is very positive, so much so that he claims the game “is a marked departure” for Sonic, due to the lack of gimmicks which many in the press have rated the Sonic series down for in the past.
Sonic Colors is a marked departure for the little hedgehog that could; you don’t turn into a werehog or wield a giant sword. In fact, there is a distinct lack of gimmickry about the game, which instead offers a purer 3D experience not seen since the likes of Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast. There are tons of fast loops to roll through and springs to leap from, as well as new wisp power-ups that have been tuned to fit in with Sonic’s breakneck speed.
Walton reveals that Planet Wisp is in-fact the opening stage of the game and as seen in gameplay videos at Gamesom, looks very familiar to the opening stages of older Sonic titles.
Our hands-on focused on the opening stage, named Planet Whisp. Like the opening stage of earlier Sonic games, it featured familiar visuals, with lush green plants, waterfalls, and simple badniks.
Walton informs that players will need to use the B button on the Wii Remote to get around turns and that doing so will not only make you drift, but gain a speed boost too.
To make our way around the huge banked curves, we had to hold down the B button, which gave us a burst of speed in the corners and made Sonic’s famous red sneakers glow bright yellow.
Walton then goes on to explain the three Wisps that he got to try out, namely the Rocket, Lazer and Hover Wisps that we know all too well by know. This is the first time we’ve heard of the Lazer and Hover Wisps presence in Planet Wisp, so it seems SEGA have been updating the stages to incorporate more stage exploration with the games variety of Wisp power-ups, which can only be a good thing.
In Walton’s final thoughts, he seems very impressed with the games Wisp power-ups and how they build on Sonic’s gameplay when compared to past gameplay styles like Sonic Unleashed‘s Werehog. The visuals also get the thumbs-up from Walton.
What stood out the most from our time with Sonic Colors was how much the power-ups have been integrated into the lightning-fast platforming that has become a hallmark of the series. Unlike the mindless werehog combat of Unleashed, the wisps serve to enhance the core gameplay experience and not drastically change the pace. The visuals in Colors also look good, and Sega has put a large amount of detail into the backgrounds, with the lush foliage-filled Planet Whisp looking particularly impressive.
For the full preview, head over to Gamespot.
Almost makes me regret getting rid of my Wii. ALMOST.
Honestly though I do look forward to Colours, but it’s not high on my list of priorities at present. Christmas, perhaps, but it’s promising that so many people have had great things to say about Colours. Don’t wanna jinx it, but I think we’re finally turning (or drifting) a corner.
*black clouds roll in quickly overhead, lightning flashes* …Damn.
Yay, some good news. 😀
Colors is receiving really good reception from people who have played the game so far. I hope it stays that way after the game comes out in November.
Ooh, B button to drift and boost simultaneously? Hope it works like All-Stars Racing
@ Marco: I’m quite interested in that statement. I’ve not seen any other preview mention gaining a boost from drifting.
Opening stage means the first stage in the game?
I’d thought that Tropical Resort is the opening stage
I love how these critics bring up comparisons of Sonic Adventure as a good thing, and then tear Sonic Adventure apart.
I’m really excited for this game. Everytime my hype dies down, Sega unleashes more awesomeness to bring my hype back up. This may very well be the most fun I had with a Sonic game since Sonic Adventure
It already passed Unleashed’s daytime stages in my book. ^_^
Normally a flash of lightning from a dark cloud foreshadows doom and disaster, but in my experiences, it’s nothing more than a prelude to an awesome game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2efo2AiMII
I CAN’T WAIT! I hope it’ll be as great as everyone says! Then again, there’s no Sonic game that I dislike except for Sonic and the Black Knight.
Yes! Although I find it hypocritical to dislike the sword, guns and werehog (what else was there really? Does the whole genie thing REALLY even count?) but yet they LOVE the Wisps. Not that I’d disagree with liking the wisps. It’s just hypocritical. xD
Also, Sonic and Tails sound the same only slightly different. I like them. They’re not exactly the same nor are they drastically different, and the 2 are great actors.
I’m sure this game and games to come will be very pleasing over the next 5 years at least. =) I never had a big problem with the games. I don’t even go nuts over Sonic 06! I do find them less interesting than others, some corny or some as having bad controls but I never get all like “THIS GAME IS TOTAL CRAP”. So I find something to like about each one, some more than others.
But Colors has finally surpassed their average and more. So it should be great. For me if not for others at least! ^_^
And cheers for Sonic Adventure Badniks! It’s a stupid name but has creative designs and are affective AT THE SAME TIME! LOL
PS:
I almost forgot. Thank you Shadzter for once again providing me with something great. Keep up the work!
Something about the game really DOES remind me of Sonic Adventure. It has that excitement about it.
i get a warmy /Christmas/cosy feeling looking at this game lol basically feels like a good Christmas game.
oh..reviewers, how you turn into bigger fucknuts by praising Sonic Adventure, only to say it’s shit the next day. Fuck you.
..in other news, I still need to get a Nintendo Wii as I have Colors pre-ordered.
Hmm…so Planet Wisp is the first stage, I always thought it was Tropical Resort…I guess that’s very fitting since SEGA love making most of their first stages all grassy-like =D. Well, I guess we’ll never know the true order of these stages or how many zones there are until we play the final version, since SEGA keeps on modifiying Sonic Colours.
That reminds me, I NEED TO PRE-ORDER THIS QUICKLY!!
Planet Wisp is the first stage?
Weird, I thought it would be Tropical Resort since it’s like the entrance to the park 😛
Wait, it does make sense.
Planet Wisp is World 4. I played it at Gamescom. When I chose Planet Wisp it said “World 4 Act 1” (In German, though)
‘In fact, there is a distinct lack of gimmickry about the game, which instead offers a purer 3D experience not seen since the likes of Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast.’
Stupid critics. They speak as if Sonic Adventure didn’t have gimmicks. If Werehog was a gimmick in Unleashed, then so too were Knuckles, Tails, Amy, Big, and E-102 in Sonic Adventure. Don’t act like they weren’t. Honestly, they’re just making themselves look bad now, not the Sonic games.
Werehog was repetitive, but so was fishing with Big. So was… well, you know what I mean. It wasn’t THAT bad.
Having said that… Sonic Colors is looking absolutely fantastic. Way to go, Sonic Team. I can’t wait to get my hands on this game. 🙂
Dude, Sonic turning a corner and speeding up? That’s realistic physics! It’s called angular momentum
This is nice to hear, I’m hoping this game will do well with reviewers and ‘the little hedgehog that could.’ I find that very fitting lol.