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Free Sonic wisps figurine when you pre-order at Argos! Get your figurine of Sonic and the whisps which appear in Sonic Colours, delivered free with your copy of the game of the day of release.

We get some hands-on time with blue blur's latest adventure at PAX Prime 2010 in Seattle, Washington.

What we're talking about: Sonic Colors, the latest vehicle for Sega’s iconic high-octane hedgehog, and a long awaited return to series roots.

Where we saw it: At the Sega booth on the PAX Prime 2010 showroom floor in Seattle, Washington.


What you need to know:

Sega wants to make it known that this is a Sonic game made for the fans, with a primary focus on the breakneck pace and colorful, creative charm that made the blue blur a worthy competitor to Mario’s throne in his 16-bit heyday. That means no werehogs, magical swords, melodramatic inter-species romance subplots, nor obnoxious, needless side characters (sorry, Big the Cat faithfuls.) Tails will play a role in the game’s narrative, but the core gameplay is all Sonic, all the time.

Sonic Colors kicks off when a seemingly reformed Dr. Robotnik invites the heroic duo of Sonic & Tails to a sneak-peek of his brand new amusement park. It isn’t long before the portly professor is up to his old tricks, and it’s revealed that said park is actually a front for the abduction of a set of mysterious and powerful multi-colored aliens known as Wisps.

Focused with a presentation reminiscent of the daytime levels in 2008’s Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Colors offers a slick blend of 2.5D gameplay, with occasional perspective shifts that trail behind the blue blur. When the camera’s behind Sonic, the hero can drift around sharp corners to gain speed and rocket forward.

The Wisps play a key role in Sonic Colors’ grand scheme, pioneering the title’s power up-based gameplay. Each color Wisp corresponds with a unique power set -- an Orange Wisp transformed Sonic into a tier-shattering rocket ship, where another set the speedster off in a ricocheting laser path. There’s a grand total of eight wisps, and while I was only able to test drive the Wii version of Sonic Colors, the handheld DS version will play host to its own unique Wisps, and vice versa.

Sonic Colors is set to span about five unique and colorful worlds, each with roughly five-to-six playable acts.


Point in development cycle: Pretty darn close to completion. Sonic Colors is already incredibly polished, and the few months before its November 2010 release date should give Sega ample time to work out any speedbumps in the road.

My take: Hey, I grew up with Sonic, and even though the blue blur’s most definitely fallen on some hard times in the HD-gen, he’ll always have a special place in my heart. That’s one of the reasons I’m so excited for Sonic Colors -- it’s a return to series roots that innovates and excites enough that the use of rose-tinted nostalgia goggles seem an unnecessary flourish. This is a game made for you, the Sonic fans, and it’s most definitely a labor of love from the folks at Sega, and a celebration of what makes the snarky speedster such a great video game character.