Sonic Colors for the Nintendo DS is almost everything that you would hope for in a portable Sonic game. The action is fast paced, delivered as a classic 2D side-scrolling adventure. Unlike Sonic the Hedgehog 4, the game acknowledges the existence of Tails as Sonic's quintessential tag along sidekick and has cameos and references to other characters in the Sonic universe. The game also offers added variety over Sonic 4 through the use of Wisps, which give Sonic a variety of speedy unorthodox boosts. Level design is both creative and massive, giving gamers a plethora of ways to work their way through each board while making full use of both DS screens. However, much like Sonic 4, the major downfall of Sonic Colors is the short game length.

The story isn't anything new for those familiar with Sonic. Dr. Eggman has purportedly turned over a new leaf. He's opened up an amusement park using the scrap parts from his past robotic creations. But, that's obviously not the case and Sonic expects treachery. Before long, a not so diabolical plot unfolds where Dr. Eggman tries to enslave a group of multi-colored aliens called Wisps and harness their powers for his evil design. Queue evil laugh.v

The game starts off in the amusement park to get you used to the level style. Instead of just using the bottom or top screen for gameplay, Sonic will actually move seamlessly between the top and bottom screens. So if an upwards hill begins on the bottom screen, you should look at the top screen to watch out for enemies. By utilizing both screens, standard loops will appear larger than they would be if you played it on your TV. The effect can be a little jarring at first. You'll have to get used to a smaller sonic running around a huge board. However, if you've got a DSi XL you'll be in good shape.

After the amusement park, you will open up five new worlds each of which have their own Wisp attached to them. Each world only consists of two Acts and a boss battle. It's more than a little upsetting to know that the design team cut down the game to such an appalling low number of levels. You'll also get a few additional missions per world, but these are more or less time trials that don't need to be played. The actual boards offer a lot of variety, using anything from gelatin mold springs to various waterfalls. There are also the classic underwater acts, where you must get catch an air bubble for breath.

The Wisps are a nice addition to Sonic's repertoire of moves. Each Wisp has its own unique power. The standard blue Wisp will let you dash across the screen at lightning speed. The orange wisp lets you act like a rocket and propel yourself upwards, while Red Wisps will makes you puff into a ball of fire or let loose a giant explosion. Not all the Wisps are fun to use. The Yellow Wisp moves underwater and is almost uncontrollable. Similarly, the Cyan Wisp acts as a laser that bounces everywhere you don't want it to go. Once you use these two Wisps, don't expect to hold onto your rings for too long. It's almost as if the game adds in spiked monsters exactly when you have to use these Wisps' powers so that you lose all your rings. It will happen especially often towards the end of a level so that you fail to hold onto rings, which grants you access to bonus stages. Utilizing the Wisps can be a little too structured. It would be nice if you had the freedom to use any Wisp at any time, but more often than not you will primarily use the Blue Wisp to perform dashes and whichever Wisp was uncovered on that board.

There are seven bonus stages, which house the seven elusive chaos emeralds. These offer a nice change of pace to the old-school chaos emerald collection stages, where gamers fall around a spinning board. In Sonic Colors, you must race through three laps collecting red, orange and blue balls to meet the target score. These are the only "3D" boards. You interact with Sonic through the stylus, where you move Sonic left and right as he runs forward on auto.

The boss battles are somewhat anti-climactic. The first three bosses are ridiculously easy. The other bosses will take a little time to figure out the pattern, but once you figure it out you will be able to beat the boss in a few minutes. It wouldn't be such a big point of contention if there were just a few more Acts to blaze through.

Although the game is short, you can get some added value in multiplayer. The game allows you to compete on a single card against other gamers, which is a definite bonus. It's in this mode where you will get the most value out of Sonic Colors.

Overall, Sonic Colors is an awesome game. It's just way too short. Thankfully, if you have a few friends who own a DS you can get some added Sonic boosts through multiplayer.

Final Grade: B