Many stages will have you guiding Sonic along relatively flat, runway-like paths that give him plenty of room to go full throttle, while quick reaction times are often needed to deftly dart around or attack any obstructions that may come up in his path. Gameplay in Sonic Colors follows the often divisive ‘boost’ formula that most modern 3D Sonic games have taken after, and while there are some notable cracks in its design, it often manages to properly sell that sense of manic speed that the developers were clearly going for. At the very least, it’s refreshing to play a Sonic game that doesn’t take itself too seriously or get bogged down in actually trying to tell an emotional story. It’s not a terribly in-depth story, but many of the jokes still land well and the pleasantly lighthearted nature of it fits the freeform style of gameplay. It doesn’t take long for them to find out that he’s exploiting a secret race of aliens called Wisps to power the park (and an evil space laser), so they endeavor to travel to all the planets to free the Wisps and save the day. The narrative primarily sticks to the classic duo of Sonic and Tails, as they travel to Eggman’s new outer space amusement park to investigate any signs of nefarious wrongdoing.
