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Setup & Timing
Navigating through Sonic Colors' interface is simple and easy to understand. The openeing credits are easily skippable (cinematic and all). Getting into the Single-Card Download Multiplayer is as easy as selecting "Versus Mode" and then "Single-Card Play". Total download time runs approximately one minute.
Menus & Navigation
Maneuvering through the menu system was just as easy. The menus, which take both touch and button inputs, are clearly labeled, and tappable areas are sufficiently separated. When tapping on menu options, a quick tap willhighlight the option while a long tap will go straight to selecting it.
Ease Of Use / Play Control
The controls in the Single-Card Download multiplayer portion of Sonic Colors are entirely button-based, which is not a bad thing; touch controls for this mode wouldn't (couldn't?) add anything to the gameplay. The buttons are quick, responsive, and accurate, as is expected. Some of the moves have a very narrow timeframe in which to hit the correct button combination, but otherwise everything reacts exactly as it should.
Category Score: 13.5 / 15
Content
Graphically, Sonic Colors is at least on par with its speed-platfroming predecessors, Sonic Rush and Sonic Rush Adventure. Classic Sonic-styled music accompanies the sound effects and it sets the mood and sounds good. Feature-wise, the title's Single-Card Download options are limited to only which stage of three (or a random stage selection option) you race on. There are no alternate characters or even colors to choose from. there is nothing else to select.
Overall Fun
A good Sonic game can be hard to find. Failure after failure on the TV-bound video game consoles ("Sonic Riders" series and "Sonic & The Black Knight", anyone?) have led people to lose faith in the blue speedster. On the Nintendo DS platforms, however, Sonic hasn't flopped yet. Looking at Sonic-specific titles (not crossover "Sonic & Sega..." or "Mario & Sonic..." titles), there are five games: Sonic Rush, Sonic Rush Adventure, Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood (non Single-Card Download), Sonic Classic Collection (no Single-Card Download), and now Sonic Colors. Each and every one of these five games is considered to be good or great.
In Sonic Colors, the Single-Card Download feature is a two-player one-on-one race. While the game is not a racing title, it is a running title, and the race Mini Game gives players a good idea of exactly how the game plays. Being a Sonic title, the race is not a straight-up speed fest: there are enemies to watch out for, and you still have to collect rings as health. There are also several different areas where players can select slightly different routes. The controls are spot-on, the races are short (but fun), and while the Wisps (the Colors aspect of Sonic Colors) aren't in the demo (it would be kind of hard to work them in), the Mini Game is still Sonic goodness. A downloadable Demo would have been nice, and hopefully one can be included in a sequel (if one comes to pass). I'll definitely be bringing this title out again in the future.
Allow players to select a character from a list, or at least to select alternate Sonic color combinations (after all, why not pun off the Sonic Colors title?).
Offer stages that have bigger differences in visual appearance and graphical style.
Provide a single-stage (or longer) downloadable Demo.
Overall Single-Card Download Rating: 87 / 100 (a.k.a. 43.5/50)
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