One thing that you will hear a lot among both critics and Sonic fans' reviews is that Sonic hasn't been doing too well. A lot of his games were mediocre at best, with a few poor ones being released as well. Sonic Unleashed was the first mainstream Sonic game for a short while that took steps in the right direction, with only the werehog preventing the game from reaching its full potential. It seems that Sega have listened to the criticisms and have continued to take steps forward to improve the Sonic series with Sonic Colours, released for the Wii and DS.

The story is incredibly basic; Eggman has developed an amusement park claiming that he has turned over a new leaf. Sonic and Tails remain suspicious and investigate, finding that Eggman is indeed back up to his old tricks; he has been capturing aliens (known as Wisps) with unique powers in order to develop and utilize a mind-control weapon. It's short, it's sweet and it's not over the top compared to previous Sonic games. The story also features a lot of humour, some of which is a tad on the cheesy side, but a fair amount of it is genuinely funny.

The gameplay is a dramatic improvement over Sonic Unleashed in many ways; the stages are based on the much-loved day-time stages found in Sonic Unleashed, with improved controls and stage design. The controls feel comfortable and work fairly well; they still do feel a little bit sensitive but that problem only really has an effect on one or two stages in the game. As in Sonic Unleashed, you can boost – however instead of using Rings to charge your boost meter you need to collect Wisps. The boost is also reminiscent of the 360 Unleashed, not the Wii version, meaning you can boost for as long as you hold the button down and have enough in your meter as opposed to it being restricted to a short period. This game also introduced a double jump which can come in handy.

One thing that many people claim has 'plagued' 3D Sonic games is that there would always be some sort of 'gimmick' attached. This game is no exception, but the gimmick most certainly isn't bad, nor does it take away from the experience. In fact, it completely enhances it. There are several different types of Wisps you can find in the levels you explore, some of which merely fill up your boost meter and some gives you different abilities. It is really fun to be able to utilize these different powers to try and find different routes in each of the stages. Powers include being able to rocket upwards, bounce off of surfaces like a laser, burrow through soft grounds and many others, some of which are exclusive to the Wii version.

There are seven different areas to explore, with six acts in each (barring the last area) and all of which are designed well. Not every stage will require you to use the Wisps, but there are a few that do. Not all of the stages are very long, either, but they're still fun to play through.

After completing all six acts in each area you face down a boss. While the bosses are very fun to battle and are overall quite unique in design, they are very easy to beat. The only boss that is even remotely challenging is the last boss, but compared to other Sonic games, it isn't that difficult. Another issue I have with the bosses is that they seem to be rehashed. For example, the boss for Tropical Resort turns up again on Planet Wisp with only a few modifications that make it a little bit more challenging, but the strategy is still the same. The boss for Asteroid Coaster doesn't even attempt to hide that it's a slightly more challenging rehash of Starlight Carnival's boss, with the surroundings looking more like that stage than the stage it's supposed to be. I wish there could have been different bosses for each stage.

Outside of the story, there's also the Game Land, where you can collect the Chaos Emeralds. These stages are very basically designed, and only require you to get to the end of each stage. They're not as good as the main stages in the game but they're still reasonably fun to play, either on your own or with a friend. There are three acts that you will have to pass in order to get each Chaos Emerald, but you cannot simply access these acts whenever you want, you have to unlock them. In every stage in the main story, there are five red rings, some of which are in plain view and easy to collect, while others are slightly more well-hidden. Simply blasting through the story mode is an easy task, but collecting every one of these rings is a real challenge worthy of any seasoned gamer, and the reward is one that many Sonic fans will be pleased about.

Graphically, the game is a huge improvement over the Wii version of Sonic Unleashed, with everything looking much crisper and more colourful. The stages are a joy to look at, and there is barely any slowdown. The music is also a huge joy to listen to, sounding very similar to the sort of music you would expect to hear in a classic Sonic game, and it also uses a lot of unique sounds and instruments. The voice-acting is also very good in this game. All of the characters barring one have received new voice-actors; the new actors for Sonic and Tails did a very good job and fit their characters very well.

All in all, Sonic Colours is a very good game and is yet another step forward for Sonic games. Initially I found it a very easy game that also suffered from very short length, however after taking into consideration the red ring challenge and another mode where you can go through every level in the game without returning to the hub, it has got its challenges. With that being said, I consider Sonic Colours to be a worthwhile addition to any Wii owner's collection.