Sonic Unleashed vs. Sonic Colors Extra Round - Final Thoughts

[Jack / Joker]

Colors' bosses were short, pathetic and easy to master. But I suck at games, so that pleases me. At least I don't have to do any fucking QTEs for most of the bossfight instead of the satisfaction of hitting the boss myself :3 and of course, any game with Dark Gaia's HD battle in it is a definite loser to me. Plus, that big Egg Carrier-ish boss was so much fun, visible damage really affects a boss fight to me. Colors' bosses were nothing spectacular, but they weren't terrible. Well, at least not as much as some of the Unleashed bosses.

 

It's pretty neck-and-neck honestly, but Colors had three bosses I quite enjoyed (the spacecraft bosses and Egg Nega Wisp), whereas Unleashed had two (Egg Dragoon, and that one in Shamar I can't be fucked remembering), so uh... yeah.

 

Colors. Barely.

Edited March 24, 2013 by Starscream

[Tani Coyote]

Colors' bosses were generally too easy for me; the most challenging one was the underwater captain one because of that homing missile being a pain in the rear to get to hit on target. I found it sort of neat how most of them are powered up versions of a prior boss, but overall, you had 4 actual bosses.

 

Unleashed's Day bosses were all pretty much the same but augmented with extra powers, but the Night ones were far more interesting because they each had a gimmick that had to be used to weaken them. Then you had the immensely challenging battle of Dark Gaia, which is structured so much even that you can't fight Perfect without fighting normal first. Let us also not forget one other boss type: the Egg Cauldron. It really mixed it up due to the quick responses one had to make with one's fingers to avoid getting torn apart by firepower.

 

Overall I think Unleashed was superior in having more variety, even if the Werehog bosses barring Dragoon aren't that fun to fight. However, Colors' bosses are just such a breeze at this point I don't really feel any fun beating any besides Egg Nega Wisp. On the other hand I can quite enjoy all of Unleashed's day bosses...

 

...up until Perfect Dark Gaia's 60 button mash. What the hell, Sega, what the hell.

[Old dead account]

This is a tough one for me as well.

Unleashed's bosses teeter from really great to downright terrible. I remeber the Sonic bosses as being very tedious and frustrating all because of the amount of QTEs and the cheap deaths of the wall running 1hit KOs especially the one in Adabat. The werehog's bosses I remember being pretty fun but they could have been funner without the damn QTEs, with the exception of Egg Dragoon which was easily the best part of the game because it's just an epic fight. Dark Gaia's phases differ. The golem section are dowright fucking terrible and control like ass, the level segments are meh and have that annoying invisible timer. Now the perfect dak gaia fightstarts off pretty onteresting with a section akin to doomsday zone except for that fact that the meteors actually hurt you...the fuck? Then after Chip breaks through DG's shield after that little dialogue with sonic that could easily be misinterpreted by a dirty mind, you break through tentacles to destroy the shield, and while a bit tedious it is the best part of the fight even with the horrid camera angles. Then the shield is down and you kick DG's ass with...QTEs... Y... A... B... LB... RB... A... SnoreHOLY SHIT X 60 times! It's not that hard just really stupid. And that's it.

Colors' bosses don't really range for me, they're all just OK personally. Ferris wheel is easy, Captains are interesting yet also pretty easy, and the carriers are alright...aaaaaand repeat. Egg Nega Wisp was pretty good... Not much I can really say about these bosses.

Between extreme ranges on the scale and and straight forward meh and the fact that I don't like to just not vote, I think I'll go with the winner by a slight margin.

Unleashed

(Sorry Colors, can't win me over on everything)

Edited March 24, 2013 by Prince Solaris

[Celestia]

I'll have to go with Colours again, I find the bosses a lot more fun and interesting. It is a shame that they're rather easy, though. I think in terms of actually hitting them and such they're fine, but they go down in such a small number of hits it doesn't feel all that satisfying when you beat them. (Generations had the same problem, unfortunately.) Still, I think the chase bosses (those carriers and the Nega Wisp) are some of my fave bosses in the entire series. Those Captain bosses were really cool, too ... if Colours had a more complex story I could have seen that robot playing an important role.

 

Anyhow, I don't mind the Unleashed bosses too much, at the very least they're more difficult which is nice. I just didn't find them as enjoyable. And Colours' final boss is way, way better, but that probably goes without saying.

 

But yeah, have to say Colours on this one.

[Shane]

Colours wins this round. I love love love fighting the Egg Nega Wisp and the game has a lower amount of tedious boss fights than Unleashed.

 

I generally enjoyed Werehog bosses much more than Hedgehog bosses.

 

On the last subject: When I chose Unleashed, it was because the topic was plot/story. If it were writing I'd have chosen Colors by a huge landslide.

[Aquaslash]

I'm extremely late to the party but whatever.  I think I'm going to try to keep things simple, bar for one particular aspect later on, which is going to be totally predictable.

 

1. Art Design: Unleashed.  It's very PIXARY and in the best way.  Helps that the 360 packs more punch.  Colors gets massive props for Sweet Mountain Zone though.  Best zone in recent times.

 

2. Music: Draw.  There's no such thing as a console Sonic game with bad music.  Unleashed has every night stage, and Colors has Aquarium Park, Asteroid Coaster, Planet Wisp, and Sweet Mountain. 

 

3. Enemy Design: Colors.  Was there really a contest here?  Variety, spice of life something something.

 

4. Story: Colors.  Unleashed was probably the most boring story I've ever suffered through in a Sonic game.  Colors on the other hand proved wonderfully why Sonic games are best not taking themselves seriously.  Straightforward, hilarious, and hands down the best Sonic/Tails interaction ever.  It made me like Tails again!  Also the hairline bit just may be the best line in a Sonic game ever.

 

5. Bosses: I swear, I'm not dick riding Colors on purpose!  Unleashed had the Werehog bosses, which while pretty decent, had the most badass finishers ever.  When Sonic body slammed the Gaia Phoenix, did a primal roar, and then pounded his fists like "who's next", I was trippin balls like Mr. Torgue.  As much as I want to give this to Unleashed for those alone, Unleashed just happens to have Dark Gaia. Dark Gaia has to be the worst Super Sonic fight there's ever been, and that's saying something coming from me, because I really freakin hate FinalHazard.  Colors bosses are pretty generic, but it has Nega Wisp Armor, which is probably the best Final Boss since Metal Overlord (cause I haven't played Darkspine's fight yet).  I could go TL;DR about how awesome that fight is, but I'll just say FINAL COLOR BLASTER and call it a day.

[Nix]

Colors wins this one for me.

 

The day time bosses in Sonic Unleashed are guilty for being almost exactly the same across all 3 bosses, while the Night bosses are all unique; however their fun for me ranged from fairly decent (Dragoon) to incredibly shitty (Snake thing whose name I forget, and the fucking block pushing one).  While Sonic Colors is guilty of reusing bosses, the variety it had between the 3 types was nice.

 

Then there's the final boss for each.  

 

Colors gets points for the final boss actually being Eggman for once.

 

Colors also gets points for not using Super Sonic.

 

Colors gets even more points for not being complete and utter shit.

 

I ranted in another topic a long while ago about how incredibly shitty the whole Dark Gaia fight is.  From his Imperfect form to his Perfect form, he's just awful.  You have to make a mad dash towards him while he chucks shit and lasers at you; fair enough, but the Light Gaia Colossus controls terribly.  Its left and right movement is incredibly slow, just barely giving you adequate time to dodge obstacles (until you get close to Dark Gaia, where it just becomes bullshit).  You can opt to not dodge and just punch out the obstacles, but the Colossus' wind-up time for the punch is so goddamn slow and the obstacles' moment of vulnerability is so goddamn small you might as well not even bother.  Oh yeah, there are quicktime events too, BECAUSE THOSE ARE SO MUCH FUN.

 

You also have some Sonic segments sprinkled about, which are pretty much Eggmanland again... except now there's a fucking timer, and the game expects absolutely nothing but perfection.  So that's not fun.

 

Then you have Super Sonic!  Oh cool, it's like Doomsday except with really terrible 3D controls... and then you get to the shield and what the hell is this?  I get to fly around the shield and destroy some tentacles with some of the worst turning controls I have ever experienced.  Well, after I finish this shit I can deliver the coup de grâce to the bastard... IN GIANT ASS QUICKTIME EVENT FORM, OH MY.  PRESS X 60 TIMES YOU SAY?  SOUNDS GREAT!

 

Fuck.  That.  Shit.

 

The Nega Wisp Armor was easy.  But goddammit it was fun.  Homing attacking the hell out of him, and at the end of the chain zooming in on Sonic landing the blow on Eggman.  Dodging his arsenal of attacks using the skills you learned and used previously.  Polishing Eggman off with one final color power.  It was just satisfying all around.

Edited March 29, 2013 by Nix

[Dizcrybe]

This is gonna be a tough one, especially since I have yet to actually finish Unleashed.

 

The Daytime bosses in Unleashed were kinda samey looking back on it. All of them are pretty much "run forward, avoid stuff, boost into boss". The Werehog bosses are a bit more complex, being a lot more puzzley in how you're supposed to do them.

 

Honestly, sometimes the Day bosses were a real pain in the dick, mainly because of Sonic's less-than-stellar control at high speeds. Some of the Werehog bosses to be annoying, but for different reasons. The others I remember being pretty okay.

 

Now on to Colors. Colors I think had the better bosses. Sure, they're a bit on the easy side, but they're far less annoying. Sweet Mountain's boss was really creative, IMO, being built like part of an actual level.0 Plus, I even genuinely enjoyed myself with the Starlight Carnival boss.

 

Thing is, though, while these bosses are great ideas, they're used twice each. The Aquarium Park version of the Capt. Jelly fight isn't as bad with this, since it incorporates underwater physics, but the other two? Yeah. Funnily, the bosses here are still more varied than the Daytime bosses in Unleashed.

 

I'm gonna have to give it to Colors, but not by a large amount.

 

EDIT: Huh, not that tough in retrospect.

Edited March 25, 2013 by Big McLargehuge

[Tani Coyote]

I could go TL;DR about how awesome that fight is, but I'll just say FINAL COLOR BLASTER and call it a day.

 

Huh, in retrospect, you have a pretty good point there. It was epic music with an epic finisher, and to make it even better Eggman explodes in a giant cloud of fireworks. It just makes the victory seem all the more triumphant, especially if you finish him just in time for the "I'll Keep. On. Running!" segment to play when you knock him out. The music just fits so very well at that moment, since it really picks up just after he explodes...

[Diogenes]

I'll be honest, this isn't even a competition; pretty much all of Colors' bosses are simple and janky in some way, and while Unleashed's aren't exactly spectacular they hold up a lot better.

I'll give Colors credit for having a more satisfying final boss, tho', even if it's pretty simple.

[Tani Coyote]

I'll give Colors credit for having a more satisfying final boss, tho', even if it's pretty simple.

 

Yeah difficulty's cool and all (and a major plus for Unleashed over Colors and Generations), but too much of it just becomes frustrating. Dark Gaia has caused me considerable head trauma due to how many times I have smacked my controller into my face out of the rage of it all.

 

It's a delicate balance, keeping something from being too easy yet not too difficult...

[Faseeh]

Unleashed.

 

You had the grand scale in the bosses. Perfect Dark Gaia, you knew shit was going down. Colors, while an unique suprise, was quite bland due to the whole, QUICKSTEP only thingy. 

 

Unleashed also managed to make every boss similar so they didn't threw you off, like some of Colors' over-platforming concentrated bosses. But it still had variety and you didn't slow down, it was just like normal gameplay.

[Kiah]

Round 5: Bosses:

 

I'm going to have to go with Sonic Colors this round. Sure the boss battles were easy and simple, but I honestly don't like my boss battles to be all complicated...so this combination of easy and simple bosses suits me just fine.

 

Looking back at the bosses in Sonic Colors, who were full of detail and were very colorful (pun intended  ):

 

 

Debut boss Rotatatron

 

Refreshinator

 

Frigate Orcan

 

Frigate Skullian

 

Captain Jelly

 

Admiral Jelly

 

Final boss Egg Nega Wisp

 

All of these bosses were fairly easy to defeat. Not very challenging, but fun nevertheless, especially in using the various wisps during the battle to change things up in order to defeat the bosses.

 

Elaborating further on the final boss battle of the Egg Nega Wisp:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL1wjHa0ZA0&feature=player_embedded

 

It was short, simple, sweet, yet very satisfiying, as it was good to see the final showdown be Sonic vs. Dr. Eggman once again and not the infamous Monster of the Week like we've been getting. Dr. Eggman is Sonic's main adversary, so seeing these two throw down against one another at the end of the game is the way that it should be in a Sonic game. And there was no Super Sonic, that being a nice welcoming change for the final boss battle as well. I liked how the Egg Nega Wisp used several the Wisps forms against you in the battle. And I love the Final Color Blaster after massive damage is done to the Egg Nega Wisp and the wisps are freed, as that move screams victory.

 

As for Sonic Unleashed, the boss battles were varied and weren't simple to beat, being very challenging to give it credit. Perfect Dark Gaia just had way too much button-pushing for my liking. Overall the final boss battle didn't feel very engaging nor fun. Of the boss battles in Sonic Unleashed, there were 2 boss battles that I enjoyed that stood out to me:

 

Egg Beetle

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMPx7QJ1brM

 

This battle may be a boost-fest, but I found it fun. Most people may not like all the chatter, but I enjoyed the banter back and forth between Sonic and Dr. Eggman in the boss battles, especially here where Dr. Eggman does all that menacing talk throughout the battle, only to have Sonic scoff at him and basically say he is nothing but talk after defeating him. I love it!

 

Egg Cauldron

 

 

I personally liked this aerial battle between Sonic, Tails and Dr. Eggman. As challenging as I found it, really testing my coordination (which I failed miserably!), I still found it enjoyable, and different, as this battle didn't involve your usual daytime boosting.

 

Nevertheless, as much as I liked these these 2 boss battles, they weren't enough to sway me in voting in Sonic Unleashed's favor as I just didn't find the boss battles in Sonic Unleashed fun overall and rather tedious, although challenging.

 

So with this victory it looks like I've jumped back onto the Sonic Colors' bandwagon! But worry not, Sonic Unleashed...I'm pretty sure at some point I'll be back!

[Emmett L. Brown]

Point goes to Sonic Colors for me. Its bosses aren't exactly spectacular, but they are for the most part more fun to play.

 

Dark Gaia is pretty damn epic, I'll admit, but I never feel excited to fight him. I'm more like *sigh* "time for the twenty-minute boss fight". It drags on for way too long and wears out its welcome by the second fly-very-slowly-towards-him phase. A much better idea would have been to use each playstyle featured in the boss only once. You fly towards him as the Gaia Colossus, only once, then Sonic runs across the ruins to hit Dark Gaia's weak spot, only once, and then Sonic turns Super for the last part which can be left unchanged. I liked flying towards Perfect Dark Gaia as Super Sonic. It reminded me of a 3D Doomsday Zone. If only the camera reliably panned left and right so I could see where I was going before running into boulders during the shield part it would've been perfect.

 

Egg Nega Wisp is just awesome. It's challenging enough that I lost a couple of lives on my first go, but still fun enough that I enjoy replaying it after mastering the fight. It's short, sweet, epic, doesn't change the control scheme for the last boss, and is everything I want out of a final boss in a Sonic game. Bonus points for F I N A L L Y breaking the annoying trend of Eggman being disqualified for final boss.

 

I am willfully ignoring the Colors DS port final boss.

[Tani Coyote]

This battle may be a boost-fest, but I found it fun. Most people may not like all the chatter, but I enjoyed the banter back and forth between Sonic and Dr. Eggman in the boss battles, especially here where Dr. Eggman does all that menacing talk throughout the battle, only to have Sonic scoff at him and basically say he is nothing but talk after defeating him. I love it!

 

I think by this margin the different versions probably would get different opinions; as I recall in the Wii version Eggman fights you in all three day bosses, whereas in the HD versions he only fights you in the first and lets Orbot handle the rest. I always found that part of the bosses really, really weird. Doesn't Eggman want to be the one to claim credit for finally defeating Sonic? Seems unlike him to send robot goons to do the job for him.

[Chaos Warp]

This is a tough one, but my vote will have to go to Colours. While the Unleashed bossfights were harder and had a better sense of scale, Colours simply has more boss variety. You've got a giant ferries wheel boss in which you have to run around it to hit it's centre, a pirate ship where you have to progress along the ship to make it crash and hit the captain, a massive battleship you have to chase along a never-ending path, and finally the awesomeness that is Egg Nega Wisp (Final Colour Blaster is the best Final Boss Finisher in Sonic History by the way, we need more epic boss finishers like that). To be honest the bosses are neither game's strong point but my vote will still have to go to Colours. 

[ArtFenix]

I'll make it brief: overall Unleashed bosses are so much better than Colors!

 - Perfect Dark Gaia HD sucks (the beginning Doomsday-like part totally rocks though!)

 - Perfect Dark Gaia Wii/Ps2 rocks

 - Egg Nega Wisp rocks

 

The winner: Sonic Unleashed for not reusing same bosses so shamelessly and for having challenge in them.

Edited March 25, 2013 by ArtFenix

[Sami]

For those who want a bit of challenge from the Colors bosses - try going for No Damage S Rank Runs. It's not the most difficult thing ever, but it's engaging enough to be fun.

 

I'd have to choose Unleashed for this one. Fighting the Egg Beetle for the first time was an absolute spectacle, and I felt like such a badass fighting the final form of it in Adabat. Yeah, it's reaction-based and technically just reused, but I don't mind all that much. I didn't care about the Werehog bosses. Never bothered replaying them, and I can hardly remember any of them.

 

Colors was fun, but none of the bosses felt as spectacular as the ones in Unleashed. They were too simple for my liking. Fun, but I didn't get much out of them apart from that.

 

That being said, Colors' final boss is one of the best in the series and Dark Gaia is a fucking trainwreck. 

[Carbo]

I... honestly don't even remember most of Unleashed's bosses. What was it, three bosses? Four? Egg Dragoon was okay setting aside that I'm pretty sure I hated all the other Werehog bosses. Perfect Dark Gaia was an absolute travesty and one of the worst designed bosses in any Sonic game.

Sonic Colors' bosses weren't spectacular either. Egg Nega Wisp was fantastic but I'm not sure I'd be qualified to make a statement, I'd predictably choose Colors again, although I suppose me forgetting those details about Unleashed speaks volumes about what I'd think of them anyway.

[Mysterious X]

Most bosses in Sonic Unleashed were so nice to fight with, some of them needed running in day stages... Well don't we all prefer day stages anyway?

It is kinda similar to Sonic Heroes bosses Egg Hawk and Egg Albatross, just run till you reach them, and unleash the power!

Interacting with Dark Gaia was very enjoyable, I gotta say that the last boss fight was one of my favorite Super Sonic fight of all Sonic games.

 

Sonic Colors had some nice bosses too, but I don't think it has a chance in comparison to Sonic Unleashed.

One point up for Sonic Unleashed!

Edited March 25, 2013 by Mysterious X

[NocturnalTwilight]

I'm going to side with Unleashed. 

 

I really don't remember any bosses from Colors, besides the Egg Nega Wisp. 

 

I guess that's saying something, haha. If I can't remember it, then it probably didn't seem that exciting to me.

 

But, to sum it all up. Perfect Dark Gaia is probably one of my favorite Bosses of all time.

 

Loved the instrumental of Endless Possibility. LOVED IT.

[Spin Attaxx]

Colours wins for me by virtue of the fact that I don't have to bumble around trying to lock onto eyes (I played the PS2 version) and that Eggman vs. Sonic is the final boss and not Super Sonic vs. MOTW, even if the game recycled bosses like crazy.

[Frank Sinatra]

The bosses in Colours were simpler but honestly I found them so much fun to play that i've come back to them repeatedly and it felt more rewarding achieving high ranks. Maybe it's not fair of me to say however as it had been a while since I played Unleashed and even then I only currently have access to the Wii version.   

[Straw Hat]

The Colors Boss battles are pathetic... But they are nice looking.

The Unleashed Bosses aren't all that special, but they are pretty fun. Especially the Werehog bosses.

Nega Wisp was simple, but fun to fight. The Dark Gaia fight was pretty awesome, besides the long ass QTE. The Gaia Colossus portion was better in the SD Version, but the actual Super Sonic portion is better on the HD.

[Kuzu]

Both of them have their downsides really; Unleashed's Day bosses are more or less the same(right down to reusing the first two for the last one), while the Night stages are more varied but border on boring at times(Fuck you Dark Guardian). Colors has more Boss variety, but like Unleashed also reuses it in the last three levels, and all of them are piss easy. Dark Gaia is climactic and epic, but holy hell is it horribly executed; the shield part Sonic controls extremely loosely, and after that segment it's basically one long QTE. Nega-Wisp Armor is....meh, honestly I don't know what everyone seems to love about it; outside of Eggman being the final boss, it's not exactly a memorable boss. It's easy as balls even before you figure out what to do, and it doesn't even use every single Wisp Power.

 

 

I guess I gotta give it to Unleashed, reused designs or not, bosses are meant to be challenging and the bosses of that game delivered that nicely. The Night Level at least make up for a little variety, and Sonic tearing apart the Egg Dragoon is better than any boss in Colors .