Sonic Colors: Ultimate

 Switch
Metascore
67

Mixed or average reviews - based on 16 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
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  1. Nintendo Insider
    Sep 22, 2021
    70
    Sonic Colours Ultimate might offer a few extra bells and whistles over the Wii original but with it a bunch of bugs and rough edges too. It’s a real shame, as SEGA had a chance to take what remains one of the hedgehog’s best 3D adventures to date and make it even better. In the end, what we wound up with is a messy update that gets the job done but that’s about it.
  2. Pure Nintendo
    Sep 20, 2021
    70
    While there are issues, both in the game itself and the porting, Sonic Colors Ultimate is a fun enough time.
  3. iMore
    Sep 10, 2021
    70
    This classic Sonic game offers some really fast-paced courses to run through, but the port can be very glitchy. It also looks and plays like a dated game. Unless you're a major Sonic fan, you might want to stay clear.
  5. The Mako Reactor
    Sep 6, 2021
    70
    Sonic Colors Ultimate brings a very good game featuring an amazing soundtrack to modern systems with visual enhancements, but it is let down by some glitches and an overall lack of polish in its current state on Nintendo Switch.
  6. Pocket Tactics
    Sep 13, 2021
    60
    I’d say there’s a great Sonic game here, and newcomers will find plenty to love. But if you own it already, maybe wait for a sale.
  7. Atomix
    Sep 10, 2021
    60
    Sonic Colors Ultimate tries to offer a remastering of the original Wii, but fails in multiple areas. Although the base experience is still fun, this job leaves a lot to be desired.
  8. Vooks
    Sep 10, 2021
    60
    At the end of the day, Sonic Colours Ultimate does offer a decent Sonic adventure. Everything you'd expect from a modern Sonic game is here: speeding through different acts, alternate pathways, hidden collectibles, great design, and, yes, unbalanced gameplay and a couple of bugs. If you're a hedgehog diehard, Sonic Colours Ultimate is most definitely worth a look, but if you aren't, then take this one with a blue grain of salt.
  9. MGG
    Sep 3, 2021
    60
    Finally, although Sonic Colors Ultimate is a very dynamic game and very pleasant to play, it still suffers too much from the flaws of the original game as well as from the various problems specific to Sonic 3D games. In spite of a handling that should certainly be reviewed, the game offers interesting gameplay elements as well as a particularly attractive artistic direction. But this new edition does not offer any real interesting novelties. Moreover, the game suffers from major technical problems on Switch.
  10. Nintendo Force Magazine
    May 13, 2022
    50
    Everything about Sonic Colors should work, but like so many 3D Sonic games before it, its ultimate potential remains just out of reach. There's fun to be had, and the high points are incredibly cool, but the shoddy gameplay boils the entire thing down to a surprisingly mediocre experience that's tragically unworthy of what this concept deserves. [Issue #58 – March/April 2022, p. 74]
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  11. NintendoWorldReport
    Sep 7, 2021
    50
    I had re-played a bit of Sonic Colors on Wii recently to reaffirm how much I enjoyed it, and this remaster simply does not feel like an upgrade. At its best it feels just like the Wii game, and at its worst it’s an obvious step down. There is some minor added content like cosmetics that are unlocked through new collectibles, but they simply can’t outweigh all the problems introduced in this version. The original version of this game is a personal favorite to this day, but Sonic Colors Ultimate on Switch is just a disgrace that only succeeds at worsening Sonic’s already poor reputation.

Awards & Rankings

21
#21 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2021

User Reviews

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User Score
5.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 123 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 55 out of 123
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 123
  3. Negative: 56 out of 123
  1. 2bitplayss
    Sep 12, 2021
    2
    i wanted to give this game a second chance but....
    i never understand that people call this the best 3d sonic game while this game is a 2d    i wanted to give this game a second chance but....
    i never understand that people call this the best 3d sonic game while this game is a 2d game with 3d sections lets be real. and you have games like adventure 1 and 2 heroes unleashed and generations
    this game has block like level design and the wisps arent fun to use [maybe drill is but]
    this game isn't really a good boost game there is so mutch stop and go platforming that just doesn't work if they wanted to make it good they should have done what sonic lost world did if they wanted stop and go platforming. sure unleashed and generations has some platforming but you can boost through them with timing and there not that long.....

    ultimate made the game even worse with al these glitches and i get so annoyed that people are defending this but still bashing 06 this game is more broken than that.. 06 only had physics stuff and random jank moments but this game has a ton of lighting glitches and overal is just broken . like safe file's getting corrupted

    remix soundtrack is okay although the original tracks are better
    cosmetics are neat altho nothing special they shouldd have done things like soap shoes or chips bracelet. but its okay

    rival rush is just a time trail so nothing that cool i wish you could play as metal sonic if u finished all of them.

    AT THE END OF THE DAY if u enjoy this game thats fine i guess i mean games like unleashed aren't going anywhere so il just stick with those i guess i just have to accept that this game isn't for me

    i guess if u like bland blocky platforming this isn't the worst out there    … Full Review »
  2. Niles2K14
    Sep 12, 2021
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. I pre-ordered the Digital Deluxe edition, so I ended up getting the game early on September 3rd for my Switch Lite. Personally, my experience with the game was mostly smooth. I completed the story, got all 180 red rings, got the 7 Chaos Emeralds, got S-rank on all stages and completed Egg Shuttle. Thankfully, my game never corrupted my save data nor given me seizures. My copy was somewhat stable and I say "somewhat" for a reason. Despite completing most of the game, it still has a ton of technical issues and crashed on me a bunch of times whenever I try to complete Rival Rush in Aquarium Park or Asteroid Coaster. Once I beat Metal Sonic and go through the Results screen, the game crashes.

    Coupled with the game crashes, I dealt with random glitches where dash panels don't work like they're supposed to, Tails Save breaks the 2D-3D transition sections, audio and music cutting in and out at sporadic points, framerate issues during busy stages like Aquarium Park and a lot of graphical issues and pop-up when it comes to platforms, rings and various background details. Then there are the loading times, which last close to 12 seconds, which is unacceptable considering the original Colors' loading times were shorter. In terms of gameplay and level design, that's where I express issues with Colors as a whole, both the original and remaster, because of its overall design. Sonic still controls how he did in Unleashed, where he moves and steers like a car. His physics are further tank-like in order to make him manageable at high speeds when racing through levels. In the boost formula, Sonic is specifically designed to go through level design that involves racetrack-like design. The boost formula is after all a glorified racing game since the emphasis is on speed and quick reflexes and being able to find the quickest routes to the goal. Colors, however, deviates from that design philosophy and puts Sonic in level design that's completely counterintuitive to his gameplay and physics.

    Instead of the levels being mostly in 3D and involving extensive use of the drift and quick step, Colors' game design is predominately in 2.5D and involves a lot of platforming, exploration and puzzle-solving elements, especially when Wisps are involved. Sonic's controls, however, clash with that sort of level design and leads to a lot of frustration and cases where Sonic feels too stiff and tank-like to work with platforming, let alone puzzle-solving. Coupled with that, he moves too fast at points, which makes it easy to run into enemies or fall off into bottomless pits during moments of precise platforming. It's the kind of game design where the original developers (Sonic Team) had zero clue what they were doing when designing the game or how the gameplay and level design could complement each other.

    Then, when you add in Blind Squirrel Games' incompetence into the mix with the abundance of glitches and graphical and audio issues, Colors Ultimate is honestly a horrific mess of a game and ends up being one of the worst Sonic games in recent history in my opinion. In the end, Blind Squirrel Games has a lot of work to do in patching this game and getting rid of as many glitches as possible. It's a shame because I did enjoy parts of Colors Ultimate despite my issues with the game's overall design. I like the game's creative usage of the Wisps and also the addition of the Jade Wisp. The Jade Wisp adds a bit more replay value to the game and has you exploring parts of levels you hardly were able to explore in the original Colors. It's an interesting twist. I also like some of the graphical enhancements, Rival Rush and the customization options in terms of the controls and Sonic's cosmetics. Movie Sonic's boost and aura are my go-to favorites to use. Even with the customization options though, there's still a lack of options in terms of mapping the drift to the Left and Right triggers and the quick step to the L and R buttons and also the music. You can't toggle listening to just the remixes or the original music. You're stuck with listening to both the original and remixes despite Generations, for example, offering far more options to the player in terms of what music to listen to in stages and bosses and that game was released back in 2011. It's inexcusable and yet another case of terrible decision-making on Blind Squirrel Games' part.

    I can go on and on about the game's lackluster story and how I hate its childish and ridiculous tone and unfunny jokes, but this review has gone on long enough. To wrap this review up, this remaster is a disaster through and through and is full of horrific design choices. I recommend that people stay clear of this game until Blind Squirrel Games releases enough patches to fix this broken mess. Until then, avoid this game like the plague, especially the Playstation 4 version since that version can corrupt and delete save data, which is beyond unacceptable.    … Full Review »
  3. POTAT0YEET
    Sep 13, 2021
    2
    Sonic Colors wasn't even that amazing when it was first released on the wii. But this "remaster" is just pathetic. The sound mixing isSonic Colors wasn't even that amazing when it was first released on the wii. But this "remaster" is just pathetic. The sound mixing is headache-inducing, the game is littered with bugs, and the bloom is just too much in some areas. Don't play this, PLAY UNLEASHED. UNLEASHED FOREVER BABYYYY … Full Review »
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