Thank you _so_ much. I just played through the whole "original" game by following this, and it was a BLAST. And it makes _so much sense_! Unleashed and Generations would've been considered way too gimmicky and 2D if _they_ had made you play all their gimmick stages as regular acts, too! I always adored Colors' themes and aesthetics, but felt the level design held it back from being much better than a very average game. I feel like you've given me the blueprint for the game I would've LOVED that I KNEW was in there, so again, THANK YOU. I made a cheat sheet of where the original acts are: Tropical Resort: 1: 1&2 2: 3 Sweet Mountain 1: 1&2 2: 3&5 Starlight Carnival 1: 1 2: 5 Planet Wisp: 1: 1&4 (the video said 3&4, but I think you might've misspoke) 2: 6 Aquarium Park 1: 1&4 2: 6 Asteroid Coaster 1: 1&2 2: 6
You turned into a 6 year old for that last paragraph. Also he's not a classic elitist as shown by him liking boost game play. Not to mention Adventure elitists also exist. Because of that time to have some fun. BTW, I used to feel that SEGA should halt production of and recall all Adventure Sonic content (Which would be a horrible business decision by the way) and not release any new Adventure Sonic for the next 20 years for my revenge fanta... I mean as punishment for the vile way you Adventure Sonic elitists acted. But then I realized that this would be cruel and mistreatful to many genuinely good and decent Adventure fans whose voices are unfortunately drowned out by ThE LiKeS oF YoU. Regardless, some form of punishment for the disgusting behavior (Which is not present in ANY other form, for any other part of the fanbase) of you Adventure elitists is nessitsary (because internet troll are high concern for a video game company) and as soon as a suitable punishment that does not affect genuinely good Adventure fans (such a punishment is not in SEGA's power) is thought up, should be implemented. Now I would like to be a 6 year old for a moment and go. THAT HOW YOU SOUND (minus my self awareness). By the way could you not find a place any more suitable for this reply like the actual post.
Colours would need this structure, a hub world and the character missions from the ds version. If it was that way it would be one of my favorite games ever made
My idea would be to mush the acts into 2 acts somehow, and new maps for the missions. Hub world sounds good, they should have taken notes from Sonic Unleashed, as it had a really good hub world.
Great video, well detailed and it helped answered my questions regarding Sonic Colours act structure. Personally they should've just stayed with longer main stages instead of splitting them into two. Yes it would've made the game a little bit shorter, but I would've had more fun with Colours (on Wii at least). Still decent game tho.
Been thinking about the whole idea of "structure" in Sonic games a lot recently, and I was lucky enough to run into this video. I've personally been very curious about the way that Sonic levels present their mechanics and set the pace for their games, and it's a bit of a shame that they split some of the acts the way they did (particularly Sweet Mountain). Besides that, I personally did have to rewind a few times because I didn't catch the end of a sentence, or just wanted to make sure I heard everything correctly (since I was watching this video to get information, after all). The subtitles helped quite a lot in this regard. Other than that, it overall felt well-paced, and I especially appreciated how you didn't hang on any particular bit for too long. Great video, and great information you've presented here!
I actually recognized the filter that was used in stg730. It might be a test of how phaser effects should be defined and this one was scrapped in favor of more treble. However this "scrapped" filter later made its way to Gens.
It's actually so much better. It has problems with inconsistent difficulty but besides that does absolutely everything better than the Wii version. Peak Sonic gameplay imo
I'd love to see a mod that restores this original order. Then I wonder how much better the 3D/2D balance would be, such that maybe it would be good enough to actually be considered a 3D game rather than a like 80% 2D game, and how much better realized the claim of "Unleashed without the Werehog" actually would be.
Even still, the 3D sections of Colours are typically less complex than other games. There are more interesting 3D sections, like the Sweet Mountain area that looks like you should be able to quick-step in it, though Colours is definitely a 2D game with 3D sections in my eyes.
For anyone reading this now: there's actually a mod of the Wii version called "sonic: true colors" that rearranges the acts so that they are played in their original order. The levels are still awkwardly split, but when playing the game through the egg shuttle it is a much more fun experience
Loved the video, saw it a few days ago and set the reminder. Very interesting, I'd love to see someone make a mod for either Generations or Dolphin that restores the acts as they were originally intended as well as make it playable from start to finish.
Ah great video! Haven't done anything Sonic related in the near past, wasn't even checking news lately, but this popped up in my sub feed, and I genuinely am glad I clicked on it! Great find, great analysis, overall a fun video to watch! Just one tiny feedback. As someone who watches RUclips videos on 1.5x speed, I didn't feel the need to do that on this video. Well, that's great for me obviously, but I feel it may be too fast for many people. So either pacing down a bit or adding subtitles of your script (if you have any)! But yeah, it's always great to have an extensive and well done analysis on stages by a modder who can catch on to behind the scenes stuff, looking forward to more, if you ever feel like doing more!
I always thought Sweet Mountain had the most good levels in a single zone, so that's why! Also people say Planet Wisp is the worst zone in the game but tbh I had much more fun with it compared to Starlight Carnival which was either an interactive cutscene or other times just boring hover time, the biggest pace killer in the whole game IMO. Despite that, I actually quite enjoy a few of the more gimmicky stages, had tons of fun playing through all of Planet Wisp (Act 5 was the least fun one but still had a good time with it), Act 2 of Aquarium Park, Act 5 of the same zone, it was the least bad of the yellow spring sections and I quite liked it, all of Asteroid Coaster except for Act 4 since it was too easy and not really fit for a whole act of it's own. Tropical Resort's Act 5 was also nice, but it's much better with Spike unlocked. For me, it's not a deal breaker, Colors Wii is still one of my favorite Sonic games but it would've been nicer if the "side acts" were unlocked after beating the boss so you can move on to the next zone instead of having to play all of them in order for the first 3 zones, or side missions like in Colors DS. Also Game Land is boring, the time it took to make those stages could've been spent in improving the rest of the game but oh well I guess the multiplayer kinda sorta makes up for it (wasn't the last multiplayer game up until that point Shadow the Hedgehog? It's a bit more justified then but still) EDIT: Just replayed them and they're actually decent, a lot are fairly cool too actually
Yeah I agree, Starlight Carnival is my least favorite zone in the game. It's aesthetic is really dope, but in terms of gameplay it lacks true 3D sections and has gimmicky 2d sections. That's why I really liked the track they made out of it in Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed, it made for a really cool racetrack
Planet Wisp is awesome honestly but Starlight Carnival isn't that bad and had a lot of genuinely good gameplay to it. Act 4 of Asteroid Coaster was difficult for me at first...and took a while to figure out how to beat it. Eh...Game Land is pretty fun not boring.
Forces has a structure. Almost every zone has: - Modern Act (all zones) - Avatar Act (all zones) - Tag team Act (all zones except Death Egg, City and Chemical Plant) - Classic Act (all zones except Metropolis) - Boss act (except Chemical Plant) So it's Unleashed/Generations (zones with 1 act per style + boss) with more gameplay styles and, unfortunately, cut content. I'm sure those holes would be filled with: - Death Egg tag team (escape together) - Chaos boss fight (Classic, City) - Metal Sonic in Chemical Plant (Avatar, notice that end of Stage 2 looks like arena) - City tag team (replaced by Metal boss fight in the final game) - Metropolis Classic (quoting Eggman, "backup generator under Metropolis") - Shadow boss (in Episode Shadow)
oh my god someone finally said it. Sonic Colors is one of my all time favorite sonic games, and its not the wii version. I will also point out the wii wisps feel like gimmicks. but the ds wisps feel like gameplay extensions. in the wii version you grab a wisp to either complete some slow mandatory platforming, or clear a path to continue on, or collect a red star ring. on the ds, there are only a few that are mandatory, and its almost always "grab the wisp and then use it in the right section for a shortcut" they never break the flow or pacing of the stage
Yoooooo this was such a cool video! I knew of how the main game acts were split up & their distribution in each zone, but not their names & certainly not about the multiplayer zone names. Makes the name "Sonic Simulator" fit two-fold now! I'll have to see how the Game Land stages compare to the stages they're based on. Funny that the Unleashed Stages that are remixed aren't even in the Wii version of Unleashed. I do prefer the structure & extra content of the DS version, but at the time for the Wii version, it was cool to have a slightly different take on the Unleashed gameplay (particularly for the "old" Act 1s & 2s). And Super Sonic! I used to like the DS version a lot more but when I started learning more in-depth stuff about the Wii version I began to appreciate it some more too. Maybe would've felt a little better paced if it were structured like Colors DS or Generations HD. I digress tho! Good games, & again really informative video! Speaking of the DS version tho, the unused filtered version of Terminal Velocity seems to resemble the arrangement used in the DS version. So that could give an idea of what the base song sounds like, but that wouldn't explain why it's named as if it were act 3. Weird!
this was an amazing video I wasn't expecting, and i had the same experience as you with colors. makes me wonder if someone could do every original act, like you did with reboosted or the aquarium park mod
I will say it's kinda unorthodox but it doesn't get in the way of me enjoying the game personally. I think complaints that Colors/Colors levels were too short stem from people playing the game like Unleashed, rushing to end and trying to beat stages as fast as possible. I think where Colors faults here is that it doesn't encourage players to really backtrack and get the most out of the levels, because that's the ideal way to enjoy this game. Great video however!
To be fair I think that is because of how Colors was presented. Back in the day Colors was said to be unofficially by fans "The day stages without the Werehog" so it is no wonder people were expecting more or less the same thing.
That and. No. Colors does encourage people to backtrack and get the most out of the levels that is what the Red Rings, Ranks and Point system is there for. People just don't wanna try for the S- Ranks. The Red Rings are the things people are more likely to collect for Super Sonic but Sonic Color's Rank system is underatted. With the points and rank system the player has to hurry through the levels while stringing together the different pathways (if your getting the ranks the right way and not just spamming drill in the same place for more points) in order to reach the point requirement for the S-Rank. While unlike the other games under a time limit which vary depending on the stage. So you have to rack up as many points as possible while racing to the finish, you need to know where to boost, and when to boost to get to the goal the fastest way and rack up the points as fast as possible.
Maybe the full stages will be finally realized with the "Rival Rush" mode in Ultimate. Most stages in Colors are not designed to race with another opponent, so maybe they will take the most viable stages, combine them, and leave out all the fluff so Sonic can race Metal.
really would like to see the stages fixed in a mod for either dolphin, wii or ultimate, most likely ultimate, but it'd definitely show these levels are pretty on par with the unleashed daytime stages
I wished they stuck with the 2 Acts and Boss structure with some bonus levels as supposed to the random 6 Acts that they did. I wouldn't have mind if the game was short at least it would have more consistently fun.
"every act loads from one giant level" This is true, but also not true. There is a glitch you can do in certain levels to get to the previous or next act, with no enemies loaded and poor collision. This is most likely there so the devs can make the acts look like they are all connected, or so its easier to design levels.
Excellent video, dude. I still really love Colors and the hate it gets from mostly younger members of the fandom feels very unjustified. Back when this game first released, it was the first console Sonic game since the original releases of Adventure 1 and 2 to get near-universally positive praise. It was seen as a pretty big deal at the time to get a new mainline Sonic game without many baffling design decisions. The way Sonic Team broke up these Acts is... understandable when you look at where the series was at the time. Gamers back then, even more than now, had an unreasonable mindset that if a game didn't last a certain length then it must not have been worth playing, despite well made games being infinitely replayable if you enjoy them enough. Sonic Team were smart not to add a second major gameplay style that would have taken time away from developing Sonic's gameplay and probably wouldn't have been well received anyways. It was always pretty obvious that Sonic Team reused a sections of levels in order to get 6 Acts per Zone, but I didn't know they specifically planned for a 2 Act structure originally, so this was cool to learn. Hope you make more interesting videos like this. You feel like a natural at this.
After watching, and rewatching, this video, I've come up with an idea that could have potentially helped Colors in the long run. They should have delayed it until 2011, and released it as the Wii's answer to Sonic Generations. That way, they could have made more interesting stages to pad out the game with. And for getting a stage in Sonic Generations, they could have done a poll, similar to the one they already did for Generations, that asked the fans which of the Colors stages looked the coolest/most interesting.
What they should have done for Ultimate is *Bring the full 2 acts as the first 2 acts *In those 2 acts incorporate elements from the "side acts" (for example, have the sprinkler in tropical resort act 1's first 2D section) *Have 4 entirely new acts using the level length and design from Unleashed and Generations
No, that was a DS-exclusive idea. The way the levels in the Wii ver are split up clearly happened relatively late into development (probably no earlier than 6 months before release) and if Sonic Team wanted to have all those character cameos in the Wii ver that would have been planned in the very early concept phase of development and they wouldn't have budged on it since making new 3D models and getting the voice actors for all the characters would be a huge deal.
I think they did this because when there was 2act only, they felt that the wisp were underused or their placement is cramped. So they splitted the act to get more space to the wisp.
It actually looks more like Colors was supposed to have 3 main acts and at least 3 sub acts, with at least one sub act being a unique level design with the a similar background but still short and gimmicky. Only Sweet Mountain seemed like it was two acts split into two. The rest felt like acts that last around 3-4 minutes normally if you're not speedrunning. The two acts combined would feel like there is one long act and then a shorter act, which would cause an imbalance. The mandatory sub acts lengthen the game but not in a different sense alone they last like around 1-2 minutes, barely padding like other past Sonic examples. But in the post game they lengthen the overall game through its red rings. Replaying the games I also notice how some parts of the sub acts are parts that flows better than their respective area in the main act without the Wisp. Sweet Mountain Act 6's platforming with the yellow blocks in the first section flows better than the slower platforming section in its respective counterpart in the main act.
Well, considering the rumors of a Colors remaster, I wouldn't mind if the remastered version dose this structure instead of just port the game straight up. I guess you can call it a director's cut? Even then, I probably would still prefer the DS version, which is a version a lot of people sleep on.
@@Darkslayer1534 yea, I agree with him, the game actually takes advantage of Sonics speed and has better, and more consistent level design. The bosses are also better, the only thing I would say is pretty lackluster in DS is the special stages, but the writing and character cameos are quite nice.
That's the definition of Hypocresy! Well, I don't care because I don't want to suffer through lots of Dimps moments in a handheld game(bottomless pits in Starlight Carnival and questionable enemy placement.)
There are some leaks saying that they will restructure the levels to the original 3-Acts formula. And also add in brand new cutscenes so it will resemble the DS version.
@@simonlow0210 Sadly doesn't seem like they are; Sam Procrastinates did a video with side by side comparisons of the Wii version (on original hardware, not Dolphin) versus the remaster and Starlight Carnival had the same map so it's possible they just upscaled the textures and cutscenes and added new content on top of that. If they didn't however, and kept the 6 Act structure by having 4 side missions, maybe make the smaller ones be labeled as Act 1-2, 1-3, etc. And have the main ones be Act 1 and 2.
@@LeopoldLitchenstein Yeah, I saw the official screenshots, and it seemed to be mostly upgraded graphics, some extra skins and a Tails added in. A little disappointed, but not too bad. :)
@@simonlow0210 Only time will tell. It would be a lot of work but to me it'd be worth it because if the stages weren't all split up the way they were, this game would have been even better. Maybe have 3 main Acts made up of the combined stages for each area, plus 3 new side missions for the remaster? It can be done, but it would take a lot of work and who knows if they put forth the effort. In any case if they didn't do it then the PC version will do so with mods.
2:59 I feel so good as someone from Hong Kong when I can understand Japanese without having to learn it because the characters used in the comment is mostly Chinese words lol
The music is more evidence of the original intent. There's music in Act 3 that sounds more like Act 2 music and Act 2 music that sounds a bit out of place and gimmick-y.
The more I rewatch this the more it pisses me off that they chopped up levels that could've been almost as good, if not on par, as stuff from Unleashed and added the most basic of basic platforming with dumb gimmicks to pad the game out.
This was an amazing video! But I feel like at some parts I'm forced to put on subtitles because you speak a little too fast paced. You've probably already fixed this by now Since this video is 4 yeas old... But say If I was living in 2020, I would recommend that you should annunciate your words
Hi man! I loved ur video, don’t you mind if I take the information exposed here and translate it to make a Spanish version of it? I will give u the credits!
The DS version is definitely a bit "Messier" in terms of level design. There's a fair amount of cheap hits/deaths and it's lacking the strong visuals and audio quality in the Wii ver but it's still a very solid title.
How is it any different than Rush and Rush Adventure? It's even easier than both of them. In fact, people usually say they like Rush more than Rush Adventure and Colours, even though it's the hardest Dimps DS Sonic game with the most cheep shots and the least story. You saying it's too hard does not make any sense to me. It's level design is way better than the Wii version's, where alternative paths are all hidden behind Wisps you unlock after you complete that level and platforming over bottomless pits rains galore.
Good video, very interesting to be honest, but I want to ask you a question, can I translate your video into Spanish?, So that more people who do not speak English can learn about this game. I'll give you the credits you deserve at the end of the video.
The wii version always felt incomplete. Apart from the acts being split into 2 acts but also the game is missing a super sonic boss fight something the DS version has
Teddy boy You think so? I feel they would’ve handled every stage just like Planet Wisp in Generations, minus Classic Sonic. I think you have it the other way around. If anything, this game essentially feels like a Wii Version of Generations repurposed into something completely different, but Sonic Team B didn’t have the time to think about the levels through and through.
Probably a lot different. I kind of feel like a lot of the level design was filled with 2-D because most people would use the Wii Remote and its D-Pad. Believe me, after using the Wii Remote in Mario 3D World, it is not at all fun to use in a 3-D space.
It would be a very different game as it was specifically designed to crater to what Sonic Team saw as the "average Nintendo fan" rather than Sonic fans do to its Wii exclusivity. If Colors would have been a multi platform release would Iizuka not have order such a strong focus on Nintendo fans leading to the game overall being foundationally different designed than the one we got.
@@rynobehnke8289 Colors and Lost World would be vastly different if they weren’t under Nintendo. The Mario comparisons speak for themselves. People especially didn’t like blocky 2D stuff going on. It seems like they got the ‘New Super Mario” designers to design Sonic levels. Explains the short & basic 3D, and the huge focus on gimmicky-blocks in 2D.
The difference comes throw 2 factors here Pacing and Requirements. A 2 act many gimmick mission game only requires the main acts to be completed while having the missions be mostly optional site contained that people that don't like such gimmicky things can just ignore. While with a 6 gimmicky acts setup does every player to unlock the next stages and finish the story has to play through the gimmicky stages that can feel out of place. Its also bad for the Pacing as now instead of 2 long decently sized stages and 3 or so gimmicky quick side contained are it now 6 usually rather small stages and isntead of getting to choose if you want a gimmicky break between the 2 action filled stages does the play now have to take this break when ever it wants and as the proper stages are now just as short as many of the gimmicky stages do the interrupts become just as plentiful as the times you actually play the proper stages(pretty much the same issue people have with there mandatory Werehog interrupts in Unleashed and the mandatory Treasure hunting and mech stages in Adventure 2 which are mostly also dislike) And on a less objective level do also expectation come into consideration as when all stages are called act (number) than does this create the expectation that all are of about the same quality and uniqueness but because the gimmicky mission reuse level geometry and are usually less well designed for most than the proper stages does the balance of the games stages fills wrong.
Thank you _so_ much. I just played through the whole "original" game by following this, and it was a BLAST. And it makes _so much sense_! Unleashed and Generations would've been considered way too gimmicky and 2D if _they_ had made you play all their gimmick stages as regular acts, too! I always adored Colors' themes and aesthetics, but felt the level design held it back from being much better than a very average game. I feel like you've given me the blueprint for the game I would've LOVED that I KNEW was in there, so again, THANK YOU.
I made a cheat sheet of where the original acts are:
Tropical Resort:
1: 1&2
2: 3
Sweet Mountain
1: 1&2
2: 3&5
Starlight Carnival
1: 1
2: 5
Planet Wisp:
1: 1&4
(the video said 3&4, but I think you might've misspoke)
2: 6
Aquarium Park
1: 1&4
2: 6
Asteroid Coaster
1: 1&2
2: 6
@@epsilonalphaargo1948 .....What... was.... that....?
@@epsilonalphaargo1948 I think this is the wrong comment.
@@epsilonalphaargo1948 They never said anything about the Classics or Adventure games.
@@epsilonalphaargo1948 Ah. That must explain things. Thanks for clearing things up.
You turned into a 6 year old for that last paragraph. Also he's not a classic elitist as shown by him liking boost game play. Not to mention Adventure elitists also exist. Because of that time to have some fun.
BTW, I used to feel that SEGA should halt production of and recall all Adventure Sonic content (Which would be a horrible business decision by the way) and not release any new Adventure Sonic for the next 20 years for my revenge fanta... I mean as punishment for the vile way you Adventure Sonic elitists acted. But then I realized that this would be cruel and mistreatful to many genuinely good and decent Adventure fans whose voices are unfortunately drowned out by ThE LiKeS oF YoU. Regardless, some form of punishment for the disgusting behavior (Which is not present in ANY other form, for any other part of the fanbase) of you Adventure elitists is nessitsary (because internet troll are high concern for a video game company) and as soon as a suitable punishment that does not affect genuinely good Adventure fans (such a punishment is not in SEGA's power) is thought up, should be implemented.
Now I would like to be a 6 year old for a moment and go. THAT HOW YOU SOUND (minus my self awareness). By the way could you not find a place any more suitable for this reply like the actual post.
now what I'd like to see is a mod (maybe even a Generations mod if need be) to allow playing of the originally intended full acts.
And Sweet Mountain Acts 1 and 2.
gameman5804 still in the works
Sonic colors need to be longer by make it still has 6 acts and make this acts longer And it's will be better if they make it with different themes
@@gameman5804 bit late to the party but you got a link for that one?
It exists now twitter.com/TGCritique/status/1413263368111198208?s=20
Colours would need this structure, a hub world and the character missions from the ds version. If it was that way it would be one of my favorite games ever made
My idea would be to mush the acts into 2 acts somehow, and new maps for the missions. Hub world sounds good, they should have taken notes from Sonic Unleashed, as it had a really good hub world.
Missions in sonic games are pure lazy. I hate doing them. They’re just fillers to make the game last longer. Collect 300 rings, wtf?
@@LilXancheX Than just don't do them.
Great video, well detailed and it helped answered my questions regarding Sonic Colours act structure. Personally they should've just stayed with longer main stages instead of splitting them into two. Yes it would've made the game a little bit shorter, but I would've had more fun with Colours (on Wii at least). Still decent game tho.
Been thinking about the whole idea of "structure" in Sonic games a lot recently, and I was lucky enough to run into this video. I've personally been very curious about the way that Sonic levels present their mechanics and set the pace for their games, and it's a bit of a shame that they split some of the acts the way they did (particularly Sweet Mountain).
Besides that, I personally did have to rewind a few times because I didn't catch the end of a sentence, or just wanted to make sure I heard everything correctly (since I was watching this video to get information, after all). The subtitles helped quite a lot in this regard. Other than that, it overall felt well-paced, and I especially appreciated how you didn't hang on any particular bit for too long. Great video, and great information you've presented here!
I actually recognized the filter that was used in stg730. It might be a test of how phaser effects should be defined and this one was scrapped in favor of more treble. However this "scrapped" filter later made its way to Gens.
Gosh, I REALLY wish they stuck with 2 acts or do
FINALLY SOMEONE WHO APPRECIATES THE DS VERSION!!
You're the first person I've seen acknowledge Sonic colours on DS. I personally prefer the DS version of the game.
Same
It's actually so much better. It has problems with inconsistent difficulty but besides that does absolutely everything better than the Wii version. Peak Sonic gameplay imo
@@dappershinx9234 a true person of culture
@@megametexe5129 as are you
Wii/Ultimate is still better IMHO.
I'd love to see a mod that restores this original order. Then I wonder how much better the 3D/2D balance would be, such that maybe it would be good enough to actually be considered a 3D game rather than a like 80% 2D game, and how much better realized the claim of "Unleashed without the Werehog" actually would be.
Apparently someone already made that dream a reality, its called sonic true colors and its a mod for the wii version
Even still, the 3D sections of Colours are typically less complex than other games. There are more interesting 3D sections, like the Sweet Mountain area that looks like you should be able to quick-step in it, though Colours is definitely a 2D game with 3D sections in my eyes.
For anyone reading this now: there's actually a mod of the Wii version called "sonic: true colors" that rearranges the acts so that they are played in their original order. The levels are still awkwardly split, but when playing the game through the egg shuttle it is a much more fun experience
WHAT REALLY
Someone NEEDS to make a mod restoring the original acts. I’d love to play this masterpiece with stages longer than 2 minutes.
Loved the video, saw it a few days ago and set the reminder. Very interesting, I'd love to see someone make a mod for either Generations or Dolphin that restores the acts as they were originally intended as well as make it playable from start to finish.
That would definitely increase my enjoyment of them, Colors is still one of my favorites nevertheless.
Ah great video! Haven't done anything Sonic related in the near past, wasn't even checking news lately, but this popped up in my sub feed, and I genuinely am glad I clicked on it! Great find, great analysis, overall a fun video to watch! Just one tiny feedback. As someone who watches RUclips videos on 1.5x speed, I didn't feel the need to do that on this video. Well, that's great for me obviously, but I feel it may be too fast for many people. So either pacing down a bit or adding subtitles of your script (if you have any)!
But yeah, it's always great to have an extensive and well done analysis on stages by a modder who can catch on to behind the scenes stuff, looking forward to more, if you ever feel like doing more!
I always thought Sweet Mountain had the most good levels in a single zone, so that's why! Also people say Planet Wisp is the worst zone in the game but tbh I had much more fun with it compared to Starlight Carnival which was either an interactive cutscene or other times just boring hover time, the biggest pace killer in the whole game IMO.
Despite that, I actually quite enjoy a few of the more gimmicky stages, had tons of fun playing through all of Planet Wisp (Act 5 was the least fun one but still had a good time with it), Act 2 of Aquarium Park, Act 5 of the same zone, it was the least bad of the yellow spring sections and I quite liked it, all of Asteroid Coaster except for Act 4 since it was too easy and not really fit for a whole act of it's own. Tropical Resort's Act 5 was also nice, but it's much better with Spike unlocked.
For me, it's not a deal breaker, Colors Wii is still one of my favorite Sonic games but it would've been nicer if the "side acts" were unlocked after beating the boss so you can move on to the next zone instead of having to play all of them in order for the first 3 zones, or side missions like in Colors DS.
Also Game Land is boring, the time it took to make those stages could've been spent in improving the rest of the game but oh well I guess the multiplayer kinda sorta makes up for it (wasn't the last multiplayer game up until that point Shadow the Hedgehog? It's a bit more justified then but still) EDIT: Just replayed them and they're actually decent, a lot are fairly cool too actually
Yeah I agree, Starlight Carnival is my least favorite zone in the game. It's aesthetic is really dope, but in terms of gameplay it lacks true 3D sections and has gimmicky 2d sections. That's why I really liked the track they made out of it in Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed, it made for a really cool racetrack
If they Combined the first 3 Act and Act 5 of Sweet Mountain, it would make the Ultimate Colors Level
Planet Wisp is awesome honestly but Starlight Carnival isn't that bad and had a lot of genuinely good gameplay to it. Act 4 of Asteroid Coaster was difficult for me at first...and took a while to figure out how to beat it.
Eh...Game Land is pretty fun not boring.
Forces has a structure. Almost every zone has:
- Modern Act (all zones)
- Avatar Act (all zones)
- Tag team Act (all zones except Death Egg, City and Chemical Plant)
- Classic Act (all zones except Metropolis)
- Boss act (except Chemical Plant)
So it's Unleashed/Generations (zones with 1 act per style + boss) with more gameplay styles and, unfortunately, cut content. I'm sure those holes would be filled with:
- Death Egg tag team (escape together)
- Chaos boss fight (Classic, City)
- Metal Sonic in Chemical Plant (Avatar, notice that end of Stage 2 looks like arena)
- City tag team (replaced by Metal boss fight in the final game)
- Metropolis Classic (quoting Eggman, "backup generator under Metropolis")
- Shadow boss (in Episode Shadow)
oh my god someone finally said it. Sonic Colors is one of my all time favorite sonic games, and its not the wii version.
I will also point out the wii wisps feel like gimmicks. but the ds wisps feel like gameplay extensions.
in the wii version you grab a wisp to either complete some slow mandatory platforming, or clear a path to continue on, or collect a red star ring.
on the ds, there are only a few that are mandatory, and its almost always "grab the wisp and then use it in the right section for a shortcut"
they never break the flow or pacing of the stage
Colors DS is so good. Absolutely love it
Awesome video! Super eye-opening, never even thought to consider what you've analysed here.
I think they made the levels in short chunks so that Wii can handle the game without lagging or crashing
Id love to see more videos like this! great facts and i got tons of giggles and laughs from this! keep it up!
0g
Yoooooo this was such a cool video! I knew of how the main game acts were split up & their distribution in each zone, but not their names & certainly not about the multiplayer zone names. Makes the name "Sonic Simulator" fit two-fold now! I'll have to see how the Game Land stages compare to the stages they're based on. Funny that the Unleashed Stages that are remixed aren't even in the Wii version of Unleashed.
I do prefer the structure & extra content of the DS version, but at the time for the Wii version, it was cool to have a slightly different take on the Unleashed gameplay (particularly for the "old" Act 1s & 2s). And Super Sonic! I used to like the DS version a lot more but when I started learning more in-depth stuff about the Wii version I began to appreciate it some more too. Maybe would've felt a little better paced if it were structured like Colors DS or Generations HD. I digress tho! Good games, & again really informative video!
Speaking of the DS version tho, the unused filtered version of Terminal Velocity seems to resemble the arrangement used in the DS version. So that could give an idea of what the base song sounds like, but that wouldn't explain why it's named as if it were act 3. Weird!
this was an amazing video I wasn't expecting, and i had the same experience as you with colors. makes me wonder if someone could do every original act, like you did with reboosted or the aquarium park mod
I will say it's kinda unorthodox but it doesn't get in the way of me enjoying the game personally. I think complaints that Colors/Colors levels were too short stem from people playing the game like Unleashed, rushing to end and trying to beat stages as fast as possible. I think where Colors faults here is that it doesn't encourage players to really backtrack and get the most out of the levels, because that's the ideal way to enjoy this game.
Great video however!
Omar I agree , this is actually my favorite sonic game, it is very fun and visually amazing
To be fair I think that is because of how Colors was presented. Back in the day Colors was said to be unofficially by fans "The day stages without the Werehog" so it is no wonder people were expecting more or less the same thing.
That and. No. Colors does encourage people to backtrack and get the most out of the levels that is what the Red Rings, Ranks and Point system is there for. People just don't wanna try for the S- Ranks. The Red Rings are the things people are more likely to collect for Super Sonic but Sonic Color's Rank system is underatted. With the points and rank system the player has to hurry through the levels while stringing together the different pathways (if your getting the ranks the right way and not just spamming drill in the same place for more points) in order to reach the point requirement for the S-Rank. While unlike the other games under a time limit which vary depending on the stage. So you have to rack up as many points as possible while racing to the finish, you need to know where to boost, and when to boost to get to the goal the fastest way and rack up the points as fast as possible.
Maybe the full stages will be finally realized with the "Rival Rush" mode in Ultimate. Most stages in Colors are not designed to race with another opponent, so maybe they will take the most viable stages, combine them, and leave out all the fluff so Sonic can race Metal.
really would like to see the stages fixed in a mod for either dolphin, wii or ultimate, most likely ultimate, but it'd definitely show these levels are pretty on par with the unleashed daytime stages
How does this video only have 15K views.
This video feels like it should have 100K at least.
it would be nice to have a mod of sonic colors ultimate with all the levels in their orginal forms and order
I wished they stuck with the 2 Acts and Boss structure with some bonus levels as supposed to the random 6 Acts that they did. I wouldn't have mind if the game was short at least it would have more consistently fun.
"every act loads from one giant level"
This is true, but also not true. There is a glitch you can do in certain levels to get to the previous or next act, with no enemies loaded and poor collision. This is most likely there so the devs can make the acts look like they are all connected, or so its easier to design levels.
In my opinion I feel like each World should have been three acts long then a boss fight so all the three of Acts can feel long
Excellent video, dude. I still really love Colors and the hate it gets from mostly younger members of the fandom feels very unjustified. Back when this game first released, it was the first console Sonic game since the original releases of Adventure 1 and 2 to get near-universally positive praise. It was seen as a pretty big deal at the time to get a new mainline Sonic game without many baffling design decisions.
The way Sonic Team broke up these Acts is... understandable when you look at where the series was at the time. Gamers back then, even more than now, had an unreasonable mindset that if a game didn't last a certain length then it must not have been worth playing, despite well made games being infinitely replayable if you enjoy them enough. Sonic Team were smart not to add a second major gameplay style that would have taken time away from developing Sonic's gameplay and probably wouldn't have been well received anyways.
It was always pretty obvious that Sonic Team reused a sections of levels in order to get 6 Acts per Zone, but I didn't know they specifically planned for a 2 Act structure originally, so this was cool to learn. Hope you make more interesting videos like this. You feel like a natural at this.
Bruh the remixes you used are so GOOD
Remixes?
After watching, and rewatching, this video, I've come up with an idea that could have potentially helped Colors in the long run. They should have delayed it until 2011, and released it as the Wii's answer to Sonic Generations. That way, they could have made more interesting stages to pad out the game with. And for getting a stage in Sonic Generations, they could have done a poll, similar to the one they already did for Generations, that asked the fans which of the Colors stages looked the coolest/most interesting.
Really someone should remake this game with the proper structure.
You wouldn’t need a remake to do it
What they should have done for Ultimate is
*Bring the full 2 acts as the first 2 acts
*In those 2 acts incorporate elements from the "side acts" (for example, have the sprinkler in tropical resort act 1's first 2D section)
*Have 4 entirely new acts using the level length and design from Unleashed and Generations
I hope the remaster adds the acts as they were originally implemented as bonus content
Do you think if they went through with the original 2 act + missions structure, they would’ve had the same character cameos as in the DS version?
No, that was a DS-exclusive idea. The way the levels in the Wii ver are split up clearly happened relatively late into development (probably no earlier than 6 months before release) and if Sonic Team wanted to have all those character cameos in the Wii ver that would have been planned in the very early concept phase of development and they wouldn't have budged on it since making new 3D models and getting the voice actors for all the characters would be a huge deal.
I really wanna hear more of that terminal velocity hidden bgm
7:27 Best 3D control and platforming in the boost games, period.
I think they did this because when there was 2act only, they felt that the wisp were underused or their placement is cramped. So they splitted the act to get more space to the wisp.
It actually looks more like Colors was supposed to have 3 main acts and at least 3 sub acts, with at least one sub act being a unique level design with the a similar background but still short and gimmicky. Only Sweet Mountain seemed like it was two acts split into two. The rest felt like acts that last around 3-4 minutes normally if you're not speedrunning. The two acts combined would feel like there is one long act and then a shorter act, which would cause an imbalance.
The mandatory sub acts lengthen the game but not in a different sense alone they last like around 1-2 minutes, barely padding like other past Sonic examples. But in the post game they lengthen the overall game through its red rings.
Replaying the games I also notice how some parts of the sub acts are parts that flows better than their respective area in the main act without the Wisp. Sweet Mountain Act 6's platforming with the yellow blocks in the first section flows better than the slower platforming section in its respective counterpart in the main act.
I wish someone made a mod combining the acts that were separated
that could be possible with sonic colors ultimate.
They have some for Generations but maybe for Colors Ultimate they'll do the same
I was expecting for them to say sonic killed everyone
Sonic Colors Ultimate Should've Done This But Didn't
I will never see these stages the same ever again
Can you this kind of video on forces? It really does seems that every act is connected to each other in their own zone
@@SKmaric Congrats you picked the 1 example that's false. Park Avenue is just longer Sunset Heights. Red Gate Bridge comes right after.
Well, considering the rumors of a Colors remaster, I wouldn't mind if the remastered version dose this structure instead of just port the game straight up. I guess you can call it a director's cut? Even then, I probably would still prefer the DS version, which is a version a lot of people sleep on.
Let’s hope sonic colors ultimate has those levels combined
Not happening. It's a remaster.
@@arivivith4375 Mods.
That would be retarded so no
@@Soniman001 HOW
An entire analyzes of a game just to end the video to say "play the other version"
Good because the DS one is the best one
Nah
@@Darkslayer1534 yea, I agree with him, the game actually takes advantage of Sonics speed and has better, and more consistent level design. The bosses are also better, the only thing I would say is pretty lackluster in DS is the special stages, but the writing and character cameos are quite nice.
That's the definition of Hypocresy! Well, I don't care because I don't want to suffer through lots of Dimps moments in a handheld game(bottomless pits in Starlight Carnival and questionable enemy placement.)
3:41 What could Prototype be?
edit: I saw footage of it and I think it's Aquarium Part
Who In Sega Thought This Was A Good Idea And Who In Sega Thought Like This? 6 Act With Most Being Side Stages
I'm late to this, but this is a great video man! Really detailed :)
Was live chat enabled during this video's Premiere? If so, would you mind enabling Chat Replay? :-)
sonic colors has the best art direction out of any sonic game FIGHT ME
"Play Sonic Colors DS"
My Man
Okay, so if the Remaster is true...
THEY *NEED* TO REIMPLEMENT THIS!
There are some leaks saying that they will restructure the levels to the original 3-Acts formula. And also add in brand new cutscenes so it will resemble the DS version.
@@simonlow0210 Sadly doesn't seem like they are; Sam Procrastinates did a video with side by side comparisons of the Wii version (on original hardware, not Dolphin) versus the remaster and Starlight Carnival had the same map so it's possible they just upscaled the textures and cutscenes and added new content on top of that. If they didn't however, and kept the 6 Act structure by having 4 side missions, maybe make the smaller ones be labeled as Act 1-2, 1-3, etc. And have the main ones be Act 1 and 2.
@@LeopoldLitchenstein Yeah, I saw the official screenshots, and it seemed to be mostly upgraded graphics, some extra skins and a Tails added in. A little disappointed, but not too bad. :)
@@simonlow0210 Only time will tell. It would be a lot of work but to me it'd be worth it because if the stages weren't all split up the way they were, this game would have been even better. Maybe have 3 main Acts made up of the combined stages for each area, plus 3 new side missions for the remaster? It can be done, but it would take a lot of work and who knows if they put forth the effort. In any case if they didn't do it then the PC version will do so with mods.
2:59 I feel so good as someone from Hong Kong when I can understand Japanese without having to learn it because the characters used in the comment is mostly Chinese words lol
9:41 Little mistake in the subtitles with saying Big instead of Gamma luhmayo of course 6:00p.m. 4/29/2023
No wonder why I had sonic 1 vibes during sonic simulator
Empire city is not in the wii/PS2 version.
Hey bro no more vids ?
It really makes you think how amazing these levels would be if they linked together fluidly like they were intended to!
(cough cough)
PORT TO PC.
Because it wouldn't really be as good just porting the stages to Generations. Especially Aquarium park.
@@spritvio639 or maybe a dolphin code
The music is more evidence of the original intent. There's music in Act 3 that sounds more like Act 2 music and Act 2 music that sounds a bit out of place and gimmick-y.
This is some good content.
I seem to be the only one who prefers 3+ acts to just two acts.
Nice video, I found it really entertaining and interesting.
The more I rewatch this the more it pisses me off that they chopped up levels that could've been almost as good, if not on par, as stuff from Unleashed and added the most basic of basic platforming with dumb gimmicks to pad the game out.
This was an amazing video! But I feel like at some parts I'm forced to put on subtitles because you speak a little too fast paced. You've probably already fixed this by now Since this video is 4 yeas old... But say If I was living in 2020, I would recommend that you should annunciate your words
I had to watch this on 0.75 speed to be able to understand what you were saying without subtitles.
Hi man! I loved ur video, don’t you mind if I take the information exposed here and translate it to make a Spanish version of it? I will give u the credits!
SKmaric Sure! I don’t need the subs, but if u want to put it to help me, it would be great!
Thanks!
2021 and the game is getting remastered possibly
I just got a colors ultimate ad lol
why couldn't having six acts just be an easy mode which would've inconsistent, but would've paid off better in the end better than six acts by default
Why Ultimate didn't restore the two main acts + optional side mission format back?
I think u already know the reason why
I think you got something to say about _Sonic_ _Forces._
you should make more videos like this
1:13
Title: "Sonic Colors"
Game title: "Sonic Colours"
Me: Explain
Colors = US
Colours = UK
@@break-beat-sonic ok
The DS version of colors is too visually cluttered. It really needs a higher resolution to see everything going on.
The DS version is definitely a bit "Messier" in terms of level design. There's a fair amount of cheap hits/deaths and it's lacking the strong visuals and audio quality in the Wii ver but it's still a very solid title.
How is it any different than Rush and Rush Adventure? It's even easier than both of them. In fact, people usually say they like Rush more than Rush Adventure and Colours, even though it's the hardest Dimps DS Sonic game with the most cheep shots and the least story. You saying it's too hard does not make any sense to me. It's level design is way better than the Wii version's, where alternative paths are all hidden behind Wisps you unlock after you complete that level and platforming over bottomless pits rains galore.
@@WaddleDee105 cheap deaths? The game is easy as hell lmao.
This was cool could you try making one about forces, lost world or another game
Sonic colors need to be longer by make it still has 6 acts and make this acts longer And it's will be better if they make it with different themes
What is Game Land 3-3 a prototype of? Does anybody know?
I like sonic colors ultimate soundtrack planet wisp act 1 (ultimate version)
Good video, very interesting to be honest, but I want to ask you a question, can I translate your video into Spanish?, So that more people who do not speak English can learn about this game. I'll give you the credits you deserve at the end of the video.
Sonic colors ultimate can have the two act mission.
The wii version always felt incomplete.
Apart from the acts being split into 2 acts but also the game is missing a super sonic boss fight something the DS version has
Colors Levels are Weird. I'm wondering though, how would Colors have been handled if it got an HD version on PS3 and 360 like Sonic Unleashed?
Probably the same, the weird levels aren't a result of it being on the wii, its the result of the game being too short
Teddy boy
You think so? I feel they would’ve handled every stage just like Planet Wisp in Generations, minus Classic Sonic.
I think you have it the other way around. If anything, this game essentially feels like a Wii Version of Generations repurposed into something completely different, but Sonic Team B didn’t have the time to think about the levels through and through.
Probably a lot different. I kind of feel like a lot of the level design was filled with 2-D because most people would use the Wii Remote and its D-Pad. Believe me, after using the Wii Remote in Mario 3D World, it is not at all fun to use in a 3-D space.
It would be a very different game as it was specifically designed to crater to what Sonic Team saw as the "average Nintendo fan" rather than Sonic fans do to its Wii exclusivity.
If Colors would have been a multi platform release would Iizuka not have order such a strong focus on Nintendo fans leading to the game overall being foundationally different designed than the one we got.
@@rynobehnke8289 Colors and Lost World would be vastly different if they weren’t under Nintendo.
The Mario comparisons speak for themselves. People especially didn’t like blocky 2D stuff going on.
It seems like they got the ‘New Super Mario” designers to design Sonic levels.
Explains the short & basic 3D, and the huge focus on gimmicky-blocks in 2D.
those sonic colors ds sprites
Took me 50 hours to 100% conplete
What's the music at the end called?
6:19 Did he say act 3 instead of act 1
Nope
Interesting..
So a "two acts and many gimmicky missions" is a great game and a "6 gimmicky acts game" is a bad game now?
Yes Cause How Slow And Short They Are
The difference comes throw 2 factors here
Pacing
and
Requirements.
A 2 act many gimmick mission game only requires the main acts to be completed while having the missions be mostly optional site contained that people that don't like such gimmicky things can just ignore.
While with a 6 gimmicky acts setup does every player to unlock the next stages and finish the story has to play through the gimmicky stages that can feel out of place.
Its also bad for the Pacing as now instead of 2 long decently sized stages and 3 or so gimmicky quick side contained are it now 6 usually rather small stages and isntead of getting to choose if you want a gimmicky break between the 2 action filled stages does the play now have to take this break when ever it wants and as the proper stages are now just as short as many of the gimmicky stages do the interrupts become just as plentiful as the times you actually play the proper stages(pretty much the same issue people have with there mandatory Werehog interrupts in Unleashed and the mandatory Treasure hunting and mech stages in Adventure 2 which are mostly also dislike)
And on a less objective level do also expectation come into consideration as when all stages are called act (number) than does this create the expectation that all are of about the same quality and uniqueness but because the gimmicky mission reuse level geometry and are usually less well designed for most than the proper stages does the balance of the games stages fills wrong.
4:10p.m. 4/29/2023
Cool
1:07 such as ah lol
Video 4101 of commenting #BringBackDislikes on every unique video I watch in 2022. Don’t dislike this video.
Yeah i tried the Wii version, didn't like it and just ended up playing the Ds version and loved it.
Sonic Colors Is A Bad Sonic Game But I Still Gonna Get Sonic Colors Ultimate
You talk so fast I had to watch in 0.75 speed