Super Sonic Galaxy

[Neo]

I hear the jap version of Sonic 06 has no trace of crystal mouthless hedgehogs or princesses giving tongue.

[Kogen]

I heard Elise has a bulge in it and Knuckles has to sacrifice his soul in order to defeat the Ilblis Muslim Trigger Monster.

[Blount]

I got an impression it was a spinoff as well, to be honest. The cartoony story and brevity are more in line with what you'd expect from a side-project like Rush, Rivals, or the storybook series, and that's the context in which I see it (and also Unleashed). It's not a re-imagining of the franchise like Sonic 06 or Sonic Adventure, nor is it a direct sequel like SA2 or Sonic 4. It's exclusive to the Wii, which was ignored completely for 06 and shafted with Unleashed. The fact that the DS version is clearly a continuation of the Rush series muddies the waters even further.

That depends on your definition of spin-off. When it comes to story, the DS version is clearly a spin-off because the extra characters make no sense (plus the whole thing reeks of Universe B anyway). The Wii version seems to be the second step in gearing the main games into a less serious tone with a minimal cast, something that started with Unleashed. I wouldn't consider it a spin-off, though. It's a self-contained plot, just like it always should be - it's pretty clear that Sonic has lost any matter of coherent continuity long ago, so shifting to self-contained games is probably for the best.

[Esrever]

I assume Colours was created to fill a gap in the release schedule intended for a third storybook game. When Black Knight tanked and the Wii Unleashed sold well, I think they decided to switch gears and give us this instead of Sonic in Wonderland or whatever the hell else they might have been considering. I think that's how we wound up with a game that borrows some of the mechanics from Unleashed without actually playing like a sequel or spinoff to it.

Of course, it's miles better than Unleashed, and other "big" tentpole games like Sonic 2006 or Heroes... but it does have a smaller feel to it. Budget-wise, it definitely seems more in line with the storybook games in terms of the quantity of stages, art assets, music, CG cutscenes, etc etc.

[Radrappy]

The game definitely feels cheaper at times, especially during boss fights. Thankfully the artistry goes a long way to compensate for what was obviously a modest budget.


As for whether or not it is a spin off, I do believe it was mentioned once in an article/interview that this was part of the "main series" of games. Up till this point, the difference in quality between the "spin offs" and "main" series games was so small(as in they all blew) that it hardly mattered which entry belonged to which anyway.

It's not a re-imagining of the franchise like Sonic 06

Oh that was a re-imagining alright. Cue PPA gushing at how the level design in 06 was actually marvelous.
I think really, Unleashed was a crucial turning point tonally and artistically for the franchise. Say what you will about the actual game, some great art decisions were made. Shortening sonic, keeping his mouth consistently on one side of his face, adjusting his proportions to better resemble those of the megadrive games, and doing away with the SERIOUS anime storylines basically reversed most of the design damage that started with SA1 and climaxed in 06.

on another note, I really really hope that Sonic Free Riders is the last of the riders games. Now there's a spin off series that needs to fucking die.

[Kogen]

Sonic Unleashed never had a 'serious anime storyline' ? I think you forgot about the part where the flying purple dog fairy turned into Megazord and fought Satin in the centre of the world in order to balance the Gods of light and darkness - all of this through the power of love.

As for this being a spinoff, what others said about the overall size and budget seem accurate. The next main game is coming next year for the 20th anniversary. This is just something to have out at Christmas. Quality does not really matter in this regard (I would not be surprised if the next big game is worse considering the people working on it).

[Radrappy]

Sonic Unleashed never had a 'serious anime storyline' ? I think you forgot about the part where the flying purple dog fairy turned into Megazord and fought Satin in the centre of the world in order to balance the Gods of light and darkness - all of this through the power of love.

I did attempt to forget all that, yes.

[(...)]

I hear the jap version of Sonic 06 has no trace of crystal mouthless hedgehogs or princesses giving tongue.

With the localisation point, I was referring to dialogue rather than plot points. Shadow with guns or Elise making out with a dead rodent notwithstanding, I doubt the original scripts ever featured lines like "look at all those Eggman's robots!".

Meanwhile, Colours, which had very little actual plot, sold its story almost entirely on the dialogue.

[Dr. BUGMAN]

fought Satin in the centre of the laundromat in order to separate the Gods of light and darkness - all of this through the power of linen.

[Crowbar]

With the localisation point, I was referring to dialogue rather than plot points. Shadow with guns or Elise making out with a dead rodent notwithstanding, I doubt the original scripts ever featured lines like "look at all those Eggman's robots!".

Again, do you know this for sure?

[Arcade]

I dont get why Sonic cant have a spinoff game as long that is fun, this is on my chistmas list, but I still cant decide, DS or Wii version? maybe I will just get Epic Mickey and leave this for next year...

[Blount]

Get the Wii version and the DS demo. The Wii version is a good game, whereas the DS demo is an attempt to disguise how terrible the actual game is by presenting you one of the only good levels from it.

[Kogen]

Is it really worse? I was sure Rush minus holes was better than Unleashed's 2D stuff. Reviews are higher, too.

[FlashTHD]

whereas the DS demo is an attempt to disguise how terrible the actual game is by presenting you one of the only good levels from it.

Funny, from the early parts of it I tried recently, I figured it the other way around. (not that the rush games generally work with a very high quality cieling, but)

[Blount]

Is it really worse? I was sure Rush minus holes was better than Unleashed's 2D stuff.

Well, yeah. Colours for the Wii is far better than anything that came out of Unleashed. Besides, less holes doesn't make the DS version less boring or frustrating. I don't like having to drill my way through a whole level. Plus the game is too short and the side-missions are either stupidly easy or unforgivably hard. The dialogue and extra characters are corny as hell, too.

Reviews are higher, too.

I don't think you want to use that argument. Reviewers also gave the Dimps version of Unleashed higher scores than the Sonic Team one. Not that the latter was good, but I wouldn't pick the game with less levels, more Werehog and unmanageable controls. I'd compare this disparity to the one between both versions of Colours - DS has less levels, overuses Wisps (and removes many powers in the process) and doesn't control as well.

[Arcade]

So, I guess the DS version is not Rush adventure 2, thats bad.

[Radrappy]

eh you know what, the wii version of unleashed is actually a better put together game. I have spent equal amounts of time with both and can say with all confidence that the HD version is a sloppy mess. The wii version is at least occasionally functional.

[Crazy Penguin]

The Wii Sonic Colours is significantly better than the DS edition. I'm inclined to say that Rush Adventure is better than Colours DS, but I'll need to replay the former to make a proper judgement.

[FlashTHD]

In defense of Colors DS, the Special Stages (cheaply recycled engine though it is) are alright and being able to play the versus mode's exclusive stages against an AI bot is a very slick little extra, the kind I wish they'd do more often. I dunno, even for Sonic Rush it feels pretty polished to me - does it get that much worse after the early stages?

[Isuka]

With the localisation point, I was referring to dialogue rather than plot points. Shadow with guns or Elise making out with a dead rodent notwithstanding, I doubt the original scripts ever featured lines like "look at all those Eggman's robots!".

"Waaaa, Egguman no robotto ga ippai~~!!"

Silv's comment on 3D Sonic games is the cleanest exposure of what I attempted to say several pages ago, and I'm also waiting for one of those done right. Done, somewhat ironically, like Wii's Colors: no fat, all fun.

Well, although it seems like we are still far from a general consensus on exactly which version of Unleashed sucks the least, it looks like you all Wii owners who got this one had a mighty good time with it. I'll try it out next time I go to my friend's place. It might not be my true 2D Sonic fix nor my 3D one, but I'm starved enough to give the Rush/ Unleashed formula another go.

[Arcade]

Sonic Rush Adventure is actually fun, just a bit short, even with the replaying of stages to get materials. Sonic and the secrets rings is actually a decent game, only is a racing game, and is still my favorite sonic racing game.

[(...)]

The Wii Sonic Colours is significantly better than the DS edition.

Agreed.

I'm surprised no one else has picked up on this yet, but the DS version has all the physics/momentum features of Sonic 4 (like if you do a running jump and let go of the d-pad). It is better than Rush though, as there are less bottomless pits and there are almost no cheap deaths in the level design.

I think it's worse than Colours Wii and 4 though, mostly because of the boost. While the level design is smooth, the game is far too rewarding of boost, so you can just hold Y and fly through the levels for the most part, which gets a bit repetitive.

[Emperor Omochao]

Once you get the hang of using all of the different wisps, Sonic Colours DS becomes a very fun game. And all those multple paths that people wanted, well, they're right there in the game. Plus there's all these gimmiks for when you're in various wisp forms that help uncover new routes (e.g using the fireball wisp on the ferris wheel allowing you to blast open new paths). Comparing Rush 1, 2 and Colors to the Advance series there has been a massive, massive improvement.

Still not too crazy about the bosses though... its not neccessarily difficult, just a bit too messy and chaotic.

[Kogen]

I found it for 20-something dollars and overall I can only say this is awkward. It presents itself as a 2D Sonic game, yet I am not familar with anything. I literally keep getting hit because I try to roll into enemies where I am expected to hold Y or something to kick them. It is as if they purposely went out of their way to alienate anyone who is an actual fan of the series.

Also invisable walls and double jump being the same as homing attack is lolol.

[Crisis]

I'm having similar control issues. I'm supposed to hold down the jump button if I want to keep spinning as I fall? Is there any reason why I'd want to unspin?

Double jump seems to have floaty momentum and mapping it to the homing attack button meant that, at first, I could only get Sonic to go where I wanted about 1/3 of the time. That's worse than Sonic 4.