Reviews// Sonic Colours

The music that accompanies the action is pure, addictive ear candy. From orchestrated pieces to jazzy rhumbas to cheesy techno-pop, I guarantee that you'll be humming these tracks shortly after playing the game. It's easily the best Sonic the Hedgehog soundtrack in years. Alongside the themes, SEGA has done an impressive job directing new voice actors Roger Craig Smith (Ezio in Assassin's Creed II) and Kate Higgins and the writing is absolutely spot on.

Some may cringe a little at the overall child-friendly nature and cheesiness of the jokes, but Sonic is a kid's game after all. It's nice to see some really good writing that targets its chosen audience and at the same time doesn't make it seem too 'Teletubby' for older fans. It certainly works better than Sonic 2006, which tried to cater more for older fans and ended up being hilariously awkward as a result.

Of course, I've talked about the Wisps and how well they tie into the overall gameplay, but that doesn't mean to say that Sonic himself has been made redundant – or that you even need to use the Wisps at all for the most part. Sweeping from 3D linear action to 2D platforming on regular occasions, Sonic Colours feels like the game Sonic Unleashed should have been.

Sonic's not too fast and gameplay isn't dependant on you spamming the boost button and pressing a direction every now and then. The inertia is perfect, and it's like SEGA has remembered that Sonic is a platformer first and foremost, and a speed-fest second. That's how it should be. You're rewarded for zipping along like a blue-arsed fly, but there's also real cause and value to stop and enjoy the scenery, or to overcome some tricky platforming segments. And barely a frustrating bottomless pit to deal with, too!

With Wisps offering multiple pathways, there's a lot of replay value in the design here. Especially when you try to hunt down those red emblems (I won't spoil why you need them all, but it's pretty great), discover the best ways to obtain those 'S' ranks (which actually do make sense this time around) and tackle the 2-player Sonic Simulator and continuous Challenge mode.

Ultimately, it's clear that Sonic Colours has taken the best bits from Unleashed, and made those even more fun to play. Is it how I'd like to see future Sonic games developed? Maybe. It's certainly a great platform to build from in terms of 3D games, but there's little physics-heavy, momentum-based gameplay here regardless.

And while SEGA has repressed most of its level design diarrhoea from past games, some of it does seep through towards the end of the game where you're having to be reliant on guesswork to overcome high-speed segments. They're rare instances though, and it doesn't stop Sonic Colours from being a highly enjoyable experience.

SPOnG Score: 93%

Sonic Colours is easily the best Sonic the Hedgehog title in the last decade. Lessons were learnt from Sonic Unleashed and gameplay isn't split into multiple different gameplay styles. The result is a game full of concentrated happiness on a disc. Is it wrong for me to use a totally predictable cliche'd phrase to round this up? It is, isn't it? It's been brewing for ten years. Sod it, I'll just say it – Sonic is back.