Sonic Colors is the first good game starring Sonic the Hedgehog in 15 years.

A few months ago, long-suffering Sonic fans were pinning their hopes on Sonic the Hedgehog 4 , a downloadable game that turned out to be a mess. No one could have guessed that Sonic Colors , which Sega released Tuesday for Wii, would turn out to be the game that saved Sonic’s blue bacon.

Sonic Colors is a no-nonsense Sonic game and it lets you know this immediately. There’s no elaborate opening cut-scene in which Sonic jabbers away about this or that. Just press Start and you’re immediately given control of Sonic as he zips through the first level, just like in the old days.

While Sonic the Hedgehog 4 was a base appeal to nostalgia, Sonic Colors looks like a modern-day game and also aces the old-school gameplay.

Sonic Colors is just you, Sonic and lots of high-speed running and –- for the first time in a long while –- jumping.

Most, if not all, Sonic games over the last decade and a half have had very little platforming. Sonic Colors , on the other hand, has tons of levels where the player is forced to negotiate jumping from platform to platform in a 2-D perspective.

The irony is that Sega has alleviated the problems of 3-D Sonic games by making them 2-D again, in gameplay if not graphics.

The jumping isn’t perfect, however. Sonic’s midair movement can sometimes be floaty and twitchy, which resulted in quite a few frustrating deaths that didn’t feel like my fault. At least Sonic retains his forward momentum when he jumps, unlike in Sonic 4 where he would stop on a dime in midair if you let go of the stick.

Sonic Colors boasts great level design. Not only are the levels all visually interesting, thanks to the detailed and colorful graphics, but the camera and the world shift from 3-D to 2-D and back in an elegant and cohesive manner.

There are also branching pathways, as in the Genesis Sonic games, that can sometimes lead to alternate goals. Red rings, which unlock hidden goodies when collected, are hidden throughout each level as well. The levels don’t feel static; they feel like they have untapped secrets just waiting to be found if you experiment a little bit more.

Wisps — little cuddly aliens that give Sonic temporary new abilities when he picks them up — add to this feeling. On your first trip through most of the levels, you will find that some areas are blocked off because you haven’t yet unlocked the necessary Wisp. Your second time through, you’ll find all sorts of new areas you couldn’t access before.

Wisps add variety to the levels without disrupting the fluid rhythm of running and jumping. I can definitely see careful Wisp usage being a key to nailing speed runs through the levels.

Unfortunately, Sonic Colors stumbles near the end. The later levels start to incorporate trial-and-error design, and the placement of checkpoints becomes annoyingly infrequent. It’s the exact kind of design that Sonic the Hedgehog 4 used, where things are moving so quickly into your field of view that you don’t have enough time to react to them.

One aspect of good game design is introducing a new play mechanic in a nonthreatening situation so the player can get accustomed to using it. The first two-thirds of Sonic Colors follow this maxim, but the game loses it in the final few levels.

On the other hand, I always felt immensely satisfied when I finally plowed through a frustrating level — but only because it meant I never had to play that level again and could instead focus on replaying the many good levels.

Sonic Colors is a giant leap forward for Sega’s mascot. It represents the first time in more than a decade that I have enjoyed a Sonic game. Some obvious improvements remain to be made, but don’t mistake Sonic Colors for yet another poor 3-D Sonic game.

WIRED Excellent music, colorful graphics, fun and varied level design.

TIRED Later levels are filled with cheap deaths; somewhat twitchy jumping controls.

$50, Sega

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