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Welcome to Eggman’s Incredible Interstellar Amusement Park! Where you can enjoy five planets for the price of one!

Dr. Eggman: This amusement park was constructed entirely out of a sense of remorse for my past transgressions, and is in no way associated with any sort of evil plot or premeditated misdeeds.
Sonic: Well, that's a relief.

Released in late 2010, Sonic Colors is a main series installment of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, exclusive to Nintendo's Wii and DS platforms. Though the Wii and DS versions have slightly different stories to each other, the general premise of the game is the same.

After apparently developing some remorse for his past indiscretions, Dr. Eggman supposedly turns a new leaf and builds an intergalactic amusement park up in space, made up of several planet-sized attractions. However, the amusement park is actually an assembly of planets that Eggman has pulled together, so that he might be able to capture the alien inhabitants here, known as Wisps, and harness their colored energy for his latest nefarious experiments. A Wisp named Yacker informs Sonic who, accompanied by Tails, embarks on a journey through the many attractions of Dr. Eggman's amusement park to free the imprisoned Wisps inhabiting each planet and thwart the doctor's Evil Plans.

Much like Sonic the Hedgehog 4, this is one of Sega's answers to the fanbase's pleas for a better Sonic game. While Sonic 4 focuses on the classical gameplay aspects, Colors focuses on the constant speed that had become a staple of the Dimps-developed 2D Sonic games. The Wii version's stages are reminiscent of Sonic Unleashed's daytime stages (behind-the-back high-speed 3D sections combined with classic 2D — or "2½D" — platforming segments, though with a higher concentration of 2D sections), whereas the DS version is essentially Sonic Rush 3 under a different name (and, like that series, was developed by Dimps). In both versions, Sonic undertakes the high-speed platforming action he's well-known for. He can also harness the energy of the Wisps himself to activate special powers and clear new paths through the stages (though this gimmick is surprisingly not as prominent as one would expect from a Sonic game).

Sonic Colors' script was written by Yasushi Otake, with the localization being led by Ken Pontac and Warren Graff, writers Happy Tree Friends and MadWorld. The duo would become a mainstay in the series until 2017.

On May 27, 2021, an Updated Re-release of the Wii version of the game was announced for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PC (via the Epic Games Store) and Xbox One called Sonic Colors Ultimate with an updated and re-recorded soundtrack. Developed by Blind Squirrel Games, it was released on September 7 of the same year, with a Steam release arriving on February 6, 2023. In addition, a fully-voiced two-part cartoon, Sonic Colors: Rise of the Wisps, is accompanying the release of the game. You can see the animated short here.


Help yourself to the complimentary tropes found in this game!note 

  • 11th-Hour Superpower:
    • Final Color Blaster in the Wii version, which delivers the final blow on Eggman's Nega Wisp Armor.
    • Super Sonic in the DS version, who is required in order to confront the corrupted Mother Wisp.
  • 100% Completion: The game keeps track of the Red Rings the players collect and the S Ranks they achieve. The former also unlocks bonus stages, but the latter are just for bragging rights, though they do unlock achievements in Ultimate.
  • Action Commands: Appears in a few spots in the DS version and to get AMAZING airtime off ramps in the Wii version. You only have to press the jump button in the latter case, though.
  • Actor Allusion: The Japanese version announcer will announce "Final Color Blaster" (or actually in Japanese, "Final Prism Blaster"). Many savvy fans will suddenly have Kamen Rider Double pop up in their head.
  • Adaptation Expansion: The DS version expands on the story a bit compared to the Wii version, as it incorporates the rest of Sonic's friends into the story (the Wii version by contrast, focuses only on Sonic & Tails), and adds a new True Final Boss exclusive to the DS version in the form of Nega-Mother Wisp.
  • Adaptational Late Appearance: Due to the DS version having only one Wisp unlocked per area, some of the Wisps are found later on than in the Wii version:
    • In the Wii version, the Cyan Wisp is the first non-White Wisp that Sonic and Tails come across and its ability is unlocked as early as Tropical Resort. In the DS version however, Sonic and Tails don’t encounter it and unlock its ability 'til Aquarium Park, one of the later zones in the game.
    • The Yellow and Orange Wisps, which are both first encountered in Sweet Mountain in the Wii version, doesn’t appear in the DS version 'til later on in Planet Wisp and Starlight Carnival respectively, with the Red Wisp replacing them as Sweet Mountain’s primary Wisp.
  • Adapted Out:
    • Despite appearing in the opening cinematic, the Pink, Green, Blue and Purple wisps are all notably absent from the DS version, instead being replaced by the DS exclusive Red and Violet Wisps.
    • Neither Rotatatron (the boss of Tropical Resort) or Refreshinator (the boss of Planet Wisp) are in the DS version, instead being replaced by Globotron and Drillinator respectively.
    • Miis were taken out of the Sonic Simulator in Ultimate, as that version is multi-platform and not a Nintendo console exclusive.
  • Added Alliterative Appeal: Rotatatron's Japanese name, Big Boy (which it is still called in the cutscene preceding the battle).
  • Advancing Wall of Doom:
    • In Planet Wisp Act 2 (DS version), a giant mechanical digger chases Sonic as he is stuck in Yellow Drill form. Sonic must dig deeper into the mountain while dodging layers of solid rock to escape the machine.
    • In the DS version of Asteroid Coaster, a recurring obstacle is a sentient T. rex skull that chases Sonic through the level at high speed. If Sonic fails to escape its jaws, it will defeat him regardless of how many rings the player has acquired.
  • Affectionate Parody: Of recent Sonic plot and dialogue conventions. In fact, the game doesn't give you really any indication that it will be serious. The very first cutscene has lots of humor. In fact, the page quote up above is from the first cutscene in the game.
  • Airborne Mook: The Buzzers make their first appearance on a Console game since Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
  • All Your Colors Combined: Final Color Blaster, the finishing move on Eggman's Nega-Wisp Armor, has Sonic harness the power of all the colored Wisps at once for one super-powerful attack.
  • Amusement Park of Doom: The setting of the game takes place in an intergalactic version of these, made by Dr. Eggman. The dangerousness of the park is constantly lampshaded by Eggman's Announcer Chatter.
  • Announcer Chatter: With two announcers: Eggman and another, unnamed announcer who calls your attacks. The latter also does this for Eggman's Wisp attacks.
  • Anti-Grinding: You can't get infinite points when using the same wisp over and over, though you can get many nonetheless, insofar that spamming the drill can be a good way to get an S rank... if you don't take too long. After a certain time, depending on the stage, any bonuses you get are nullified.
  • Arbitrary Skepticism: The genius fox with helicopter tails finds it hard to believe that a supersonic hedgehog onboard an amusement park space station surrounded by chained planets is able to absorb energy from aliens to briefly change into alternate forms.
  • Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Inverted.
    Tails: Oh, there you are. Where'd you run off to?
    Sonic: I did a little shopping, grabbed a bite to eat, and trashed a giant killer robot.
  • The Artifact: Although the Jade Wisp is added as a power-up in Ultimate and got quite a bit of advertising, it has a few inconsistencies due to the remake nature. It makes no appearance in the opening, is not among the wisps on the title screen, and is not among the rest of the wisps used in the Final Color Blaster.
  • Ascended Glitch: Virtually all of the physics exploits that allow the player to skip large segments of levels in unintended ways that were present in the original version were left in in Ultimate; in addition, Tails has new voice lines that only play when the player goes out of bounds.
  • Asteroid Thicket: Theme park within a show example: Asteroid Coaster.
  • Automatic New Game: A textbook example; pressing the "start" button on a fresh file immediately sends the player into Tropical Resort Act 1. Not even a cutscene until Act 2 is finished.
  • Awesome, but Impractical: Super Sonic, while fun, disables Wisp powers, which makes getting a good rank with him very difficult in most Acts. You do get Super Sonic bonuses while in that state, comparable to the Color Bonus.
  • Badass Boast: Sonic likes to make a point of yapping on about how hard he's gonna kick each boss's ass... even if they don't respond to his boasts in any way whatsoever. At one point Tails catches him doing this to an already dead robot and mocks him for it.
    Sonic: You guys don't talk much, do you?
  • Bad Is Good and Good Is Bad: One may initially assume that getting three 7s on the slot machines in the Sonic Simulator would result in winning the jackpot, while getting three Eggman faces would hurt you. However, since the Sonic Simulator and by extension the slot machines are made by Eggman, it's the other way around.
  • Bait-and-Switch Boss: Eggman initially sets up the mind-controlled Tails as the boss of Starlight Carnival or Sweet Mountain (whichever comes third), but instead you wind up fighting one of his ships when he runs out of mind control juice and Tails gets released.
  • Beat the Curse Out of Him: Nega-Mother Wisp turns back into Mother Wisp after Super Sonic defeats her in the DS version.
  • The Berserker: Void (the DS-only Violet Wisp's ability) and Frenzy (the Wii-only Purple wisp) turn Sonic into one, able to absorb/chomp through nearly anything in his path.
  • Big Bad: Dr. Eggman, finally averting The Man Behind the Man common within the console games. He's even fully visible in his egg pod during the final boss fight!
  • Big Brother Instinct: Sonic's protective nature to Tails shows up more than once near the end of the Wii version.
  • Big Eater: The Frenzy Wisp form, which looks like a giant set of crocodile jaws and chomps through enemies and obstacles alike. And it grows larger the more it devours, if you manage to keep it going for a while it becomes huge. On top of that, the more it eats and the bigger it gets, it soon becomes able to chomp through things even faster, making it that much easier to get him to the next level in terms of size, until you're able to mow through everything without any trouble.
  • Bilingual Bonus: At the ending, the hexadecimal codes of the translator translate pretty well into English.
    THANK YOU FOR SAVING US / YOU ARE WELCOME / ...IF YOU CAN READ THIS YOU'RE A GEEK
  • Black Comedy: Several of Eggman's more hilariously callous P.A. announcements, which wouldn't sound out of place if it was GLaDOS making them:
    "Please refrain from pressing buttons on the starships. On occasion, one might jettison you into space. If this happens, your next of kin will be billed for the replacement hatch."
    "If you experience explosive decompression, please try to avoid staining the seat cushions. Those things are expensive!"
    "We seem to be losing pressure on level seventeen. Please hold your breath against the harsh vacuum of space until you pass out from oxygen starvation. After that, you won't care. Enjoy the ride!"
  • Black-Hole Belly: Sonic literally becomes one of these upon absorbing Violet Wisps. Anything he sucks up into his void is consumed, never to see the light of day ever again.
  • Blatant Lies:
    Eggman: "Would Sonic the Hedgehog please report to the security office? Sonic the Hedgehog, please report to the security office. We've found your... ehh... your keys! Yes, that's it, we've found your keys! No need to be ready for a trap, since we only wish to return your keys."
    Eggman: "Please do not be concerned if you encounter any screaming aliens. The screams are how they communicate. Really. I promise."
  • Bond Creatures: The Wisps have this property, allowing Sonic to merge with each one to briefly transform into a composite creature with the same colour and texture as the Wisp but with hedgehog-like characteristics.
  • Bonus Stage Collectables: In the Wii version, the Chaos Emeralds can be collected by clearing all three stages in one world of Sonic Simulator. The DS version has collectable Emeralds as well, though they are obtained through more traditional Special Stages the player can access by clearing an Act with at least fifty rings.
  • Book Ends:
    • With the title screen of all things. The shot of Sonic running through space with all eight Wisps flying beside him is mirrored at the end of the Nega-Wisp Armor fight, right before the Final Color Blaster.
    • Also, Sonic and Tails' adventure begins and ends in the hyper-accelerating elevator from the world to Eggman's interstellar amusement park. Only, the way back down is a lot more epic.
  • Boss Remix: The use of an orchestrated version of Reach For The Stars in the later part of the Nega-Wisp Armor fight in the Wii version (for the DS version, it only plays at the very end of that boss fight and the Nega Mother Wisp fight).
  • Bottomless Pits: Present in a lesser quantity than other Sonic games. Most of them are marked by a "!" sign on screen, as long as the Navigator option is turned on. (The game features a lot of pits that Sonic has to drop down in 2D segments, and it'd be slightly annoying to know what to avoid and which pits are safe without this option.)
  • Bottomless Pit Rescue Service: Ultimate features a new mechanic called "Tails Save". Throughout the game you can collect medallions with Tails' face on it, which will add to a stock above the life counter on the HUD. If Sonic falls into a pit while a medal is in his stock, a medal will be consumed and Tails will swoop in and carry Sonic back to the last safe platform, averting death and loss of Rings.
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: Tails, albeit very briefly, when Eggman zaps him with a mind control beam and plans to force Sonic to fight him. Eggman's master plan is to do this to the entire planet.
  • Bragging Rights Reward:
    • Super Sonic, unlocked after you collect all 180 Special Rings and clear all levels in the Sonic Simulator. By that point you there isn't must left to do, other than replaying the levels for better ranks. And not only does enabling Super Sonic takes away the player's ability to use Wisps (aside from White Wisps), but many of the levels don't have enough rings to allow the player to transform.
    • In the DS, you get Infinite Boost as an Option. But don't plan on using it on VS Mode or Time Trial.
  • Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick:
  • Breaking Old Trends: This is the first 3D Sonic game that doesn't use the "Egg __" naming convention for Eggman's vehicles.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: Sonic does this when he learns the aliens are called Wisps.
    "I'll just stick with aliens, if that's okay with everybody."
  • Breather Episode: After the immensely serious and dramatic tone of the past three mainline Sonic games (Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), and Sonic Unleashed), this game returns to a much more lighthearted and comical tone similar to the earlier games.
  • Brick Joke: Eggman encourages visitors to leave all their belongings in their vehicles, "as they will be perfectly safe and in no way will roaming bands of robots break into it." He later announces that a white hovercar shaped like an egg has been broken into, realizing too late that it was his own vehicle.
  • Brief Accent Imitation: Eggman mocks Cubot by imitating his cowboy accent.
  • Brutal Honesty: Roughly half of all Dr. Eggman's announcements in this game are this.
    Eggman: "Please feel free to fill out a brief survey after your visit. Your opinions matter to us! — Unless you didn't have fun. Then we don't care."
    Eggman: "Please avoid breaking the glass, as it is the only thing between you and ten million gallons of freezing wet death."
    Eggman: "We seem to be losing pressure on Level 17. Please hold your breath against the harsh vacuum of space until you pass out from oxygen starvation. After that, you won't care. Enjoy the ride!"
  • Buffy Speak: By Sonic, when he and Tails are exploring Planet Wisp.
    Sonic: "You know, as alien as this place is, there is something very... Eggman-ish about it."
  • Button Mashing: The Quick Time Events from Unleashed have been simplified to this. All you have to do is mash A until the announcer shouts "AMAZING!"
  • Calling Your Attacks: Played with, as it's the announcer doing it, rather than Sonic himself (LASER! DRILL!). This is even done for Eggman's Wisp attacks in the final battle (again, with the announcer doing it, instead of Eggman).
  • The Cameo: Characters from other Sega games appear as avatars in Ultimate.
  • Captain Obvious:
    Orbot: "I think that's the wrong chip."
  • Character Customization: One of the touted new features for Ultimate is the ability to earn and unlock cosmetics to apply to Sonic, such as changing the colors and patterns of his shoes and gloves or changing the visual effects, colors, and sounds of his Boost and Homing Attack.
  • Character Portrait: Used in the DS version cutscenes, much like the Sonic Rush titles.
  • Chekhov's Gun: After you beat the first boss in both versions of the game, its arm will get stuck into Eggman's mind control cannon, causing it to backfire when he tries to fire it. In the scene where it ends up stuck, it is focused upon for a few seconds, making it clear that it is going to be important later on.
  • Circling Birdies: The star variation pops up when one is jumped on by another player in Co-Op Mode.
  • Color-Coded Characters: The titular colors refer to the Wisps and the powers they can bestow: Boost (white), Spikes (pink), Burst (red), Rocket (orange), Drill (yellow), Hover (green), Laser (cyan), Cube (blue), Frenzy (purple), Void (violet).
  • Color-Coded Multiplayer: In Game Land (co-op multiplayer mode), players can choose between being blue, red, green, pink and black "hedgehogs".
  • Combination Attack:
    • Usable in the co-op mode.
    • Appears twice during the final boss fight:
      • The boss itself, the Nega-Wisp Armor, will sometimes mix attacks — Cube/Spikes or Cube/Laser are the most common.
      • The Final Color Blaster, which is all of the Wisps joining Sonic in one supercharged Homing Attack/Sonic Boost.
  • Comedic Work, Serious Scene: This is generally the most lighthearted and comedic 3D game in the series, but the scene where Sonic and Tails discover the machine that Eggman uses to convert what looks like thousands of aliens into energy is one of the game's more dramatic and upsetting moments, especially when Tails comments when he hasn't seen Yacker lately.
  • Comic Trio: Eggman (schemer), Cubot (follower), and Orbot (straight man) form this.
  • Conspicuously Light Patch: In Asteroid Coaster Act 1, there are asteroid rings floating in the open space areas, one of which are brighter than the others in each ring. Guess which ones can be homing attacked on.
  • Continuing is Painful: Unlike the more recent Sonic games, your score doesn't reset to zero when you are killed. Unfortunately, neither does your time; it continues from where it was when you died, and can significantly damage your rank. And since once you reach a certain point timewise in a level, you cannot earn any more points at all.
  • Continuity Cameo: The DS-exclusive Red and Violet Wisps are briefly shown in the Wii version, appearing among the crowd of Wisps in the cutscene after Terminal Velocity Act 2.
  • Continuity Nod:
    • The Miles Electric from Sonic Unleashed reappears as a translator.
    • The top of the satellite holding all the planets together has what looks a lot like the Death Egg, or at least the ARK.
      • The mind-control cannon's firing sequence in the DS version looks suspiciously like the ARK's.
    • Sonic also has all the new moves he gained in Unleashed from the get-go. Wall-jumping, stomping, air boost, etcetera.
    • The planets are literally chained to the amusement park. Eggman fails to fire a giant cannon at the earth, but manages to hit the moon. The moon is totally fine from the small blast, though, due to its being a mind-controlling ray, instead of a laser cannon.
    • When the Nega-Wisp Armor explodes in the Wii version, an Eggman head appears in the explosion as fireworks, akin to Sonic CD's bad ending.
    • The DS version of Tropical Resort Act 1 has a hang-glider section, akin to the one in Altitude Limit from Sonic Rush. It is skippable on repeat playthroughs, though.
    • The planet, as depicted below Terminal Velocity, looks the same as Unleashed.
    • In the DS version, completing Mission 2-1 leads to a cutscene with Tails asking Blaze how Marine is doing. An S rank in Mission 2-3 earns one of Blaze and Silver saying how easy it was for them to beat Orbot and Cubot, that it felt like they had teamed up before and been partners somewhere, some time.
  • Co-Op Multiplayer: Game Land can be played with two players simultaneously controlling two Virtual Hedgehogs. The Wii version also allows you to unlock the ability to play as Miis. The mode can be played in either 1.5 Player mode, where the two players can swap who is in control at any time, or 2 Player mode, where both players can move around individually. Either way, both players can work together to reach the goal.
  • Crate Expectations: Planet Wisp and Tropical Resort have a few of them which are easily destroyed. In Aquarium Park, crates can be pushed to destroy enemies.
  • Creative Closing Credits: Sonic can destroy the names of the people who were involved in making the game during the credits, not unlike that of New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Good thing, too—they're well over twelve minutes long.
  • Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Eggman's reformation may be fake, but look at the stuff he's done trying to cover it up. The dude built a Space Elevator, for goodness' sake... and then builds a theme park at the top. Reed Richards Is Useless, maybe?
  • Damn You, Muscle Memory!:
    • Good luck getting used to the controls if you've played Sonic Unleashed for the Wii.
    • For that matter, adjusting from playing Unleashed and Generations on an HD console to Colors using Remote + Nunchuk is no picnic either.
    • Sometimes, Sonic has a Double Jump. Sometimes, Sonic has a Homing Attack. This fact might kill you many times over.
    • Going directly from the Rush Series the the DS version of this game might be a huge pain, especially if you were good at remaining in the air. The controls and mechanics have only a few similarities to the Rush games', mostly taking after the console version instead.
    • The default controls in Ultimate aren't the same as the original, nor do they match up to the previous Sonic games released on the PlayStation and Xbox consoles, which can be confusing for returning players. Thankfully, controls can be customized.
  • Dark Reprise: The second part of the Nega-Wisp Armor theme is a remix of "Reach for the Stars". It starts ominously, but becomes a Triumphant Reprise during the chorus.
  • Dead Character Walking: There is an infamous glitch which crept from the infamous Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) to the otherwise excellent Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations which makes Sonic, if he receives mortal damage while on a autoscrolling sequence, still slide with his dead body on the track. He can even be controlled sometimes with the directional pad!
  • Deadpan Snarker: All characters are much more prone to sarcasm than in previous games, but Tails in particular stands out:
  • Deconstructive Parody: Sweet Mountain is one for food-themed stages, with Eggman remarking on rides being out of order due to melting, baking-themed rides not being suitable for anyone sensitive to temperatures over 350 F, and the grossness of licking the rides.
  • Demoted to Extra:
    • Longtime Sonic regulars such as Amy, Knuckles, and Shadow are completely excised from the Wii version, but in the DS version, they make short appearances in the cutscenes between levels and sometimes give Sonic missions.
    • The Chaos Emeralds also go from being a central plot point of the series to an optional sidequest, but only on the Wii version. On the DS port, gathering all of them allows you to access the True Final Boss and also to witness the Golden Ending.
    • Whereas the Cyan Wisp is one of the most common wisps and appears in all the zones in the Wii version, the Cyan Wisp in the DS version only appears in Starlight Carnival, Aquarium Park and Asteroid Coaster.
  • Denser and Wackier: The story and dialogue overall is much more cartoony and surreal than recent titles, especially compared to the previous Darker and Edgier titles in the series. The occasionally insane dialogue is toned down slightly in the DS version, but still extremely lighthearted and whimsical in tone.
  • Descending Ceiling:
    • Toward the end of Starlight Carnival Act 1, there is a segment where the ceiling slowly lowers until it crushes Sonic underneath. If you have enough Boost power, you can just barely bypass it if you run through at full speed, but there are a few safe zones in the middle that you can hide in to avoid getting crushed, and proper use of Blue Cube can unlock some alternate routes.
    • There's also an example in Aquarium Park Act 1 where there's spikes lining the ceiling, and the platform you're on rises towards them. Thankfully, you don't get crushed.
  • Developer's Foresight:
    • As Super Sonic cannot use Wisps, turning on this feature retools the levels to make them completeable without Color Powers.
    • In Ultimate, as mentioned under Ascended Glitch, new voice lines for Tails were recorded specifically for if the player manages to go out-of-bounds or otherwise skip level sections in ways that, in the original Wii game, were clearly unintended.
    Tails: "...WHAT just happened?"
  • Die, Chair, Die!: Destroying some of the objects found in the level (whether by lightly bumping into them or running at high speed into them) yields you some points.
  • Dissimile:
    Eggman: "The unfiltered starlight from the lovely constellations above you is full of deadly radiation! Help yourself to our complimentary SPF 3000 starblock. And by "complimentary", I mean quite expensive."
    Eggman: "Welcome to the Sweet Mountain. Insulin will be provided at a marginal extra cost. And by "marginal", we mean enormous."
  • Double Jump:
    • Not counting his Werehog form in Sonic Unleashed, this is the first 3D Sonic game since Sonic R where Sonic can use this ability.
    • In the Quick Time Events, Sonic can jump multiple times while The Announcer shouts "Good! Great! Awesome! Outstanding! Amazing!"
    • With the Red Wisp, Sonic can perform an infinite number of double jumps as long as he has the Wisp power.
    • Sonic has learned to jump underwater infinitely.
  • Double Take: An implied instance of this was given in one of the PAs in the opening level, where Eggman tries to report to the owner of a silver levitating vehicle that it's been broken into and presumably vandalized, only to discover just as he's repeating himself that the vehicle he's describing is in fact his Egg Mobile.
  • Duct Tape for Everything: Eggman claims that the space-age polymer holding the starships in Starlight Carnival together is not duct tape. It may look and feel like duct tape, but it's actually a highly-advanced material called "space tape".
  • Dynamic Loading: This is achieved in part by hiding the level loading underneath the title screen for each level, which the player expects to see for a few seconds just as is traditional with the series. It flows so naturally that one hardly notices.
  • Eat the Camera: Sonic does this in the opening sequence in Frenzy or Void form.
  • Energy Weapon: The Cyan Wisp can turn Sonic into a laser beam, able to shoot through enemies and bounce along electric coils and crystals. The laser-spamming bosses are present too, like standard in Sonic series.
  • Either "World Domination", or Something About Bananas: When Tails tests out his translator, it brings up a "translation" that isn't even remotely contextual to what's actually said. Cue Face Palm from both Sonic and the alien. The translator works correctly in the DS version from the get-go, though.
  • Escape Pod: "In the unlikely event of an emergency, please find the nearest escape pod. For anyone not named 'Eggman', your escape pod can be found back on the planet, still being assembled in the factory."
  • Escape Sequence: Terminal Velocity is basically Sonic running back to Earth while the park is consumed by a black hole.
  • Everything's Better with Rainbows:
    • When the two Robo-Sonics perform their Combination Attack, a rainbow-colored trail appears behind them.
    • During the final battle, the Wisps all activate their powers at once, creating a rainbow-colored vortex that shoots Sonic at the Nega-Wisp Armor like a missile.
  • Every 10,000 Points: Averted for the first time in the series (except games with infinite lives, like the storybook games). Collecting 100 rings does not give you an extra life (no, not even when you touch the checkpoints). However, getting an A-rank will give you a free life at the score tally screen, and an S-rank will give you three.
  • Evil Sounds Deep: In the DS version, the Nega Wisp Armor uses a deep, corrupted version of the announcer's voice when using color powers.
  • Excuse Plot: Colors story is very simple: Eggman creates an amusement park powered by cute aliens, and Sonic has to stop him. There's no bigger Central Theme, no sub-plot or Character Development, and not any internal conflict for the characters. It's a pure game about Sonic fighting Eggman, with a lot of humor.
  • Exact Words:
    Eggman: "No aliens were harmed in the creation of this park. They were all harmed after the park was created."
  • Exposition Fairy: Both Tails and Yacker fill this role. Yacker relays information to Tails for translation during cutscenes to help Sonic and Tails figure out what Eggman is up to, while Tails offers a more traditional version, giving the player tutorials during gameplay if they choose to turn on the Navigator feature at the start of the game.
  • Expy: Orbot and Cubot strangely resemble Decoe and Bocoe from Sonic X, as well as Scratch and Grounder from Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.
  • Extreme Omnivore: When Sonic absorbs a Purple or Violet Wisp, he seems to become one of these It's difficult to tell whether he's actually eating everything in his way or just crushing it with his jaws, though.
  • Face of a Thug: The Nega-Wisps may look threatening and dangerous, but their anger is channeled towards Eggman, not Sonic. While they may be ferocious and violent (as reflected by the powers they give) they are still just as helpful to Sonic as the normal wisps and are still good hearted deep down. The only exception to this is the Nega-Mother Wisp, the True Final Boss of the DS version, who actively attacks Sonic until he turns her back to normal.
  • Face Palm:
    • Sonic and Yacker (face tentacle in the latter's case) do one—in unison, no less—when Tails' translator isn't working properly at first.
    Tails: Okay, he says his name is "Talks-a lot" and he's from a far-away soda and where flowers water them with dances.
    • Tails gives one when he catches Sonic talking to a broken robot, though it's more amused than exasperated. Sonic then does one shortly after when Tails refuses to drop the "talking to dead robots" subject.
    • Eggman does a face palm when he remembers why he changed Cubot's voice chip.
    • Orbot makes a face palm too when Cubot thought Eggman literally wanted them to get cheeseburger and a shake.
  • Fake Longevity: Digging through the game's code reveals that most of the acts were originally designed as gimmick-based optional challenges that recycle the "proper" acts' level geometry, similarly to the side missions in Unleashed, Generations and Forces. They were turned into mandatory acts in the final game to pad the campaign's length. Similarly, most of the "real" acts were split in two to increase the total number of levels. For instance, early gameplay videos show that the first two acts of Tropical Resort were initially the same level.
  • Falsely Reformed Villain: Dr. Eggman claims that working on his interstellar amusement park is an atonement for his past misdeeds, and denies that it is a coverup for any sort of evil plan. To the surprise of zero on-screen characters, it is.
  • Fartillery: On the other end. Alluded to in this conversation:
    Tails: At first I thought that Yacker was talking about how Baldy McNosehair was using burps to do it.
    Sonic: Hmmm, he is pretty gassy. Maybe the smell would knock 'em out. I dunno, something doesn't seem right with that.
    Tails: That's what I said! It made no sense. Then I made a tiny adjustment and realized he was saying "generators."
    Sonic: So no burps? That's a relief.
    Tails: Tell me about it.
  • Fast Tunnelling: The Yellow Wisps, used to get to secret rooms and alternate routes through a given level.
  • Failure Is the Only Option: Terminal Velocity - Act 2. It's impossible to get to the 'end' and get a rank on it, since the black hole sucks Sonic in, no matter what you do. Good thing the Wisps bail him out of it, though.
  • Fighting Your Friend: Subverted: Eggman's mind control ray on Tails runs out of energy just before he and Sonic can fight.
  • Final Boss: Dr. Eggman, at least in the Wii version. On the DS, the True Final Boss is Nega Mother Wisp.
  • Finishing Move: The Final Color Blaster, used on the Nega-Wisp Armor: UNLIMITED COLORS! LASER! DRILL! SPIKE(S)! ROCKET! CUBE! HOVER! FRENZY! FINAL COLOR/PRISM BLASTER! URAAGHHH!
  • Fixed Camera: The solution for the seemingly never ending camera issues of the previous games.
  • Flashback: In the Wii version, a flashback, shown at the beginning of the game, showed how Sonic and Tails got to the Incredible Interstellar Amusement Park. On the DS, this scene is instead shown where it chronologically belongs.
  • Flash Step: The Quick Step, as in Sonic Unleashed, though it's now limited to designated areas.
  • Flying Car: Some can be seen in the background of Tropical Resort. In a couple of places, some even have springs on!
  • Food Porn: The basis for Sweet Mountain Zone. The level has Sonic running through loops made out of donuts, digging through layers of cake, using long strings of liquorice as grind rails, making his way to the top of a giant burger... All of which are carefully detailed.
  • Foreshadowing:
    • The cutscene after the first boss shows one of it's arms have attached to the mind control ray Eggman intended to use, foreshadowing the events of the finale.
    • An optional cutscene in the DS version has Sonic, Tails, Shadow and E-123 Omega sneak into Eggman's base and find out the existence of Project Mother, foreshadowing the later appearance of Nega-Mother Wisp.
  • Funny Octopus: The Wisps vaguely resemble squids, thanks to their tentacles and large eyes.
  • Fusion Dance: How each of the power-ups work—Sonic combines with the Wisp to gain its powers.
  • Fun with Acronyms: Best Boss Beating Ever.
  • Flight:
    • The Orange Wisp turns Sonic into a rocket, allowing him to blast straight up into the air, destroying enemies and obstacles along the way.
    • Green Hover lets Sonic float and perform Ring Dashes.
  • Gameplay and Story Segregation:
    • One can easily tell that during Terminal Velocity Act 2, Sonic is supposed to be running at top speed, but since it's a playable act, it sure doesn't look like it.
    • Inversely, the first two levels give Sonic access to the white Wisps for the boost and end with him hitting containers in order to free them despite him not becoming aware of their presence or capture until confronting Orbot and Cubot, which is particularly odd since they did omit use of the cyan Wisp until after the first cutscene. The DS version actually averts this one, though, with the boost being unavailable the first time through Tropical Resort Act 1 and the level having a Goal Ring instead of a container.
    • The Purple and Violet Wisps are corrupted aliens who have been drained of their energy in Eggman's factory. The manuals note that they are animalistic and have violent tendencies, such as hissing when someone approaches their capsules. Gameplay-wise, they seem no less intelligent or docile than the other Wisps, as they acknowledge Eggman as their sole enemy and happily agree to lend Sonic their power.
  • Giant Enemy Crab: The Big Chaser is a robot that resembles a giant hermit crab. It pursues Sonic in Aquarium Park Act 4 and Terminal Velocity Act 1 and cannot be attacked. The player must use the Boost to put some distance between it and Sonic to avoid its punches, though doing so will cause the robot to retaliate by firing laser across two of the three lanes that Sonic can run through.
  • Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: The Wii version has an odd miniboss fought at the end of Asteroid Coaster act 6. Said miniboss is the only one in the entire game, looks nothing like any enemy Sonic has ever encountered before or since, and it doesn't even have an official name.
  • Go for the Eye: The Rotatatron and Refreshinator robots have a single large eye in the center of their bodies that Sonic has to hit to defeat them. The same is true for the Nega-Mother Wisp, a DS-only optional boss.
  • Gratuitous English: Sonic in the Japanese version - it's practically tradition for him, after all. The names of the Wisps are in English in both versions (both colour and name - for example, "Yellow Drill" is still "Yellow Drill" in the Japanese version, though "Pink Spikes" (plural) is "Pink Spike" (singular) in Japanese). The level names are unchanged between versions, too (even Game Land and Options Satellite have the same names in both versions).
  • Gravity Is Purple: The Violet Void power up turns Sonic into a violet-colored, living black hole.
  • Gravity Screw: Starlight Carnival and Asteroid Coaster both have sections where gravity is inverted, forcing Sonic to run on the levels' ceilings.
  • Green Aesop: Finally makes its appearance as the main theme of a Sonic game again in over 10 years. Eggman's using living creatures to power his machines and even some enemies, his most well-known trick from the Genesis days. It's most blatant in the Planet Wisp area, especially if you saw the intro movie, which showed off just how happy those cute little alien squids were before Eggman came along and messed with them. Lampshaded by several of the park PA announcements.
    Eggman: "The foliage you see was pilfered from various environmentally-fragile climates. Please enjoy them, as they are the last of their kind."
    Eggman: "This exotic aquarium contains many rare and endangered species. Enjoy them with a delicious soy glaze at the Bucket O' Sushi restaurant!"
    Eggman: "We here at Eggman's Incredible Interstellar Amusement Park consider ourselves the universe's first fully "green" amusement park! ...Although the green is from all the nausea and vomiting, but still — green is green!"
    Eggman: (in high-speed "disclaimer" voice) "Some displacement of indigenous population and destruction of natural resources may occur. Eggman Enterprises not responsible."
  • Ground Pound: Unlike in the HD versions of Sonic Unleashed, he can now do the Stomp from the beginning of the game. The Blue Wisp grants a more powerful version that destroys all enemies and Wisp Blocks on screen.
  • Guide Dang It!:
    • Some of those red rings are next to impossible to find without at least exploring the stage you're on.
    • You can only obtain one chaos emerald per world in the DS version, and Terminal Velocity does not have an emerald. For most people, it will never dawn on them that the last emerald is actually located in the versus section of the game. Unless they are smart enough to glance at the upper screen as they fiddle with the world selection.
  • Gullible Lemmings: Knuckles in the DS version gets tricked yet again, having been lured offscreen into one of Dr. Eggman's traps, though by the time Sonic and Tails find him he's escaped and chasing Orbot and Cubot. He was lured to the theme park by Rouge writing him a letter in the doctor's name.
  • Hailfire Peaks: Sonic Colors is made of this trope.
  • Hard Levels, Easy Bosses: The regular levels naturally get more difficult later in the game, with tighter platforming sections and labyrinthine design to enforce exploration with the Color Powers. However, the later bosses are simple re-skins of the first three with just one or two new attacks thrown into the mix. They all still have the same weakness and patterns and can be beaten fairly easily once the Wisps are acquired.
  • Hard Light: In Starlight Carnival, Sonic must run across roads made of solid neon lights to travel between spaceships.
  • Have We Met?: Silver and Blaze have an interaction like this in the DS version as a Mythology Gag to Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).
  • He Knows About Timed Hits: Used in the tutorial for both versions.
  • Helpful Mook: One of the enemies is shaped like a pot and normally drops spike balls, but can also drop a lot of rings depending on the level.
  • Hesitation Equals Dishonesty: Many of Eggman's PA announcements, like the one in the Blatant Lies trope.
  • High-Speed Battle: Like in Sonic Unleashed, three of the game's bosses are this sort of battle: the Frigate Orcan in Starlight Carnival, the Frigate Skullian in Asteroid Coaster, and the Nega-Wisp Armor, but only in the Wii version.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: Eggman's plan is foiled when the arm of a robot he sics on Sonic at Tropical Resort gets stuck on his brainwashing weapon. When he tries to fire the weapon later in the game, it implodes, sucking up the entire theme park in a black hole.
  • Hover Tank:
    • The Wii/Ultimate-exclusive Green Wisp's power is to turn Sonic into an organic version of this, which also allows him to fly across trails of rings.
    • The DS-exclusive Violet Wisp is a mix of this (aside from ring trail abilities) and the ability to suck a lot of things up.
  • If You Can Read This: In the final cutscene Tails translates Yacker's speech on Miles Electric, which is in Hexadecimal format. The first two lines of hex translate exactly to what Yacker was saying. But the additional bit at the bottom display reads, "If you can read this, you are a geek."
  • Inconsistent Spelling: This game is called Sonic Colors in American English regions (including Canada) and Sonic Colours in British English ones.
  • Incredibly Lame Pun: Before the final battle, Eggman tries to intimidate Sonic with a speech peppered with amusement park-related puns. It doesn't work.
    Sonic: I know you're trying to be clever with this whole amusement park pun thing, but it's just coming off lame.
  • In Medias Res: The story begins with Sonic and Tails already at the amusement park. In fact, there's no opening cutscene to the game; you immediately play the first two acts upon starting a new file.
  • Intercom Villainy: Doctor Eggman makes funny announcements over a PA system throughout the game and occasionally tries to lure Sonic into an obvious trap.
    Eggman: Would Sonic the Hedgehog please report to the security office? Repeat, Sonic the Hedgehog please report to the security office. We've found your — er... your keys! That's it, we've found your keys. No need to be ready for a trap, since we only wish to return your keys!
  • Interface Spoiler: There are a few cutscenes that only play after clearing all three of the latter Zones, setting up the story for the final Zone. However, in Ultimate, the unlock condition for these cutscenes in the movie viewer in the Option Satellite is simply to clear the final Zone of Asteroid Coaster, potentially allowing you to unlock and view these cutscenes early if you choose to finish that zone before Planet Wisp or Aquarium Park.
  • Invincible Minor Minion: A few acts in Starlight Carnival have metallic Spinas in them, which can be homing attacked indefinitely but can't be destroyed in any way. Instead they must be used as stepping stones via the homing attack to reach higher platforms.
  • Irony: An in-universe example of Situational Irony: after getting defeated, Dr. Eggman gets to hear the exact same "your safety is most important to us" speech he recorded himself just as his amusement park is collapsing into a black hole.
  • Is This Thing Still On?: During one of Eggman's announcements.
    Eggman: "Please beware of the spikes on the Asteroid Coaster, they are sharp. ...Really, we have to warn people about spikes? Like they won't notice the spikes; I mean, come on, the cars are nothing but spikes! Unbelievable! — Wh — uh — my what is still on?"
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: According to the character bios in the Wii version's manual, Pink Wisps can be somewhat harsh, but are actually very kind by nature.
  • Jolly Roger: Sonic has to fight off a robot pirate ship in the Sweet Mountain Zone. The robot pirate ship has a Jolly Rodger flag with Dr. Eggman's logo on it.
  • Katanas Are Just Better: The Egg Pawns in Aquarium Park are based on samurais and wield one.
  • Large-Ham Announcer: Orbot's voice actor also announces the color powers and Sonic's stunts. His lines of "Good! Great! Awesome! OUTSTANDING! AMAZING!" have since become a meme.
  • Law of 100: Traditionally, getting 100 rings would earn you an extra life, but strangely, this is averted in the Wii version.
  • Let's Play: By the goons who did Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). They're having a lot more fun this time around.
  • Level Ate: Sweet Mountain Zone, especially Act 2, parts of which have Sonic going around a giant cheeseburger filled with cake and jellybeans. Eggman's PA Announcements deconstruct food-themed stages a bit.
    Eggman: "We know they may look delicious, but please refrain from licking the rides... That would be disgusting. Do you know where those rides have been?! People have been sitting on those rides! With their butts! ...Okay, go ahead; lick them. Don't say we didn't warn you."
    Eggman: "There's no line at "Bake-Me-Crazy", the ride that simulates what it's like to be baked like a cake! The ride itself lasts an amazing 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Not recommended for our guests who are sensitive to temperatures exceeding 350°."
    Eggman: "We hope you are enjoying this sunny day here at the park. Sadly, a sunny day means that the Choco Coaster is out of order... due to melting."
  • Levels Take Flight: Two stages in the Wii version, one in Starlight Carnival and another in Aquarium Park, have Sonic needing to keep up with some flying device with springs at its top, causing Sonic to constantly bounce. It flies slowly but steadily to the end of the stage.
  • Lighter and Softer: Its general presentation and themes make this the most lighthearted Sonic game in the modern era, with the plot an dialogue not being out of place in a Saturday morning cartoon.
  • Long Song, Short Scene:
    • "Nega-Wisp Armor - Phase 2", in the DS version, at least. The piece lasts for a while, actually. The boss's second phase takes about ten seconds to beat though; you'll probably win just as you realize that it's an arrangement of the theme song.
    • True to a lesser degree with the second part of the Wii final boss theme. The song is three minutes long, but most players will finish off the boss in a minute or less.
  • Marathon Level: The EGG Shuttle (also known as Challenge Mode), which requires you to play through the entire game in one sitting, with no cutscenes, world map or Super Sonic. While Sega's online leaderboards for this mode are designed for score attacks, sites like The Sonic Center have set up time attack leaderboards for this mode too.
  • Market-Based Title: More slight example. While it's called Sonic Colors in both it's Japanese and American releases, it's slightly been retitled to Sonic Colours for the game's European release, as Colour is the British English spelling for the word.
  • Mascot with Attitude: Sonic is much more arrogant and impulsive here compared to his previous characterizations. Almost every line of dialogue out of his mouth is a quip or a joke at Eggman's expense.
  • Mind-Control Device: Eggman's master plan. A ray gun fueled by the corrupted Wisps' energy that he intends to use to brainwash the entire planet.
  • Mini-Boss: In Asteroid Coaster, there is a giant eyeball mini boss at the end of act 6.
  • Mood Whiplash: The player is led to feel joyful at the beginning of Planet Wisp Act 1, with Sonic running through a gorgeous grassy field while calm music plays. This is almost immediately followed by Sonic crashing into Eggman's facility, showcasing how much the doctor has been polluting and devastating the planet, with the song getting appropriately more intense and sad at the same time.
  • More Teeth than the Osmond Family: Sonic's Frenzy form has a lot of sharp fangs.
  • Morphic Resonance: Most of Sonic's Wisp forms share the same design aspects; yellow, pupiless eyes, ears and spiky protusions. All of these design aspects resemble the normal form's eyes, ears and quills to a great extent.
  • Motor Mouth: During the ending, Cubot rambles endlessly about how happy he is to have recovered his true voice, much to Eggman's annoyance.
  • Mundane Made Awesome: The announcer during the Press X to Not Die Button Mashing segments. Apparently, mashing A over and over is "GOOD! GREAT! AWESOME! OUTSTANDING! AMAZING!"
  • Mutually Exclusive Power-Ups: The Wisps. If you have a Wisp and obtain another one of a different kind, the one you had gets released so your new one can take its place. The one exception is the white Wisp, which replenishes your boost meter and can be collected regardless of whether you have another Wisp or not.
  • Mythology Gag:
  • Near Victory Fanfare:
    • In the Wii version, an orchestrated version of "Reach for the Stars" plays when Eggman's Nega-Wisp Armor is down to its last two hits of damage.
    • In the DS version, the same theme plays when Sonic fights his way through the Nega-Wisp Armor in the Final Color Blaster form, and throughout the fight with the Nega-Mother Wisp.
  • Nitro Boost: Aside from the usual boost pads present in the series, this game also has the White Wisp, used as fuel for the Sonic Boost instead of rings.
  • No Animals Were Harmed: Parodied during one of Eggman's public announcements:
    Eggman: No aliens were harmed in the creation of this park. ...They were harmed after the park was created.
  • No Indoor Voice: The Announcer; justified for this very reason.
  • No OSHA Compliance: Eggman has taken so many budget cuts with the amusement park, he doesn't even try to hide it.
    Eggman: Please refrain from peeling off the special space-age polymer holding the starship together. It may look and feel like duct tape, but it's not; it's called — um — Spacetape. Very advanced stuff.
    Eggman: Due to cost restraints, some of the doughnuts in this ride are of the day-old variety. We apologize for this cost-cutting measure, and hope that you enjoy the ride.
    Eggman: Next stop: Planet Wisp. This attraction is currently off-limits, as it is still under construction and may not be dangerous enough for visitors yet.
  • Nostalgia Level: While Game Land is a brand-new environment, some of its levels use layouts based on zones from previous games. Sonic 1 gets the most representation, as Act 1-1 resembling Green Hill Zone, with Marble (2-1), Spring Yard (4-1), Labyrinth (5-1), Star Light (7-1), and Scrap Brain (3-2) all appearing as well. Sky Chase (6-2 and 6-3), as well as Savannah Citadel and Skyscraper Scamper (3-1, 4-2, and 6-1) are also present, as stated by developer notes in the files.
  • Oblivious to His Own Description: One of Eggman's PA messages has him informing the "owner" of "a white hovercar shaped like an egg" that said car was broken into. He only realizes what happened once he repeats the message.
  • Offscreen Start Bonus: Act 4 of Aquarium Park contains a red ring, several other items and an alternate path on the left of the starting point.
  • Ominous Latin Chanting: Both halves of the final boss music use this, although the initial half uses it more.
  • One-Hit-Point Wonder: Sonic is this again without rings, after ditching this mechanic in Sonic Unleashed.
  • Optional Boss: In the DS version, the Nega-Mother Wisp can be fought by collecting all 7 Chaos Emeralds.
  • Our Lawyers Advised This Trope: Once again, parodied by the announcements.
    Eggman: Please keep your hands and feet in the car at all times, because there are tiny asteroids traveling at incredible speed hurtling through space. ...Keeping your hands and feet in the car won't prevent you from being hit, but our lawyers tell us we have to say it anyway.
  • Outrun the Fireball: Sonic has to outrun a black hole after defeating the Nega-Wisp Armor, and actually fails. He only survives thanks to the Wisps' intervention.
  • Painfully Slow Projectile: In Aquarium Park, the Crabmeats shoot very slow missiles at you.
  • Palmtree Panic: Tropical Resort. The dirt even has the same texture as the ground in Palmtree Panic.
  • Phlegmings: Sonic in Purple Frenzy form appears to spew copious amount of dark saliva whilst he's rampaging about.
  • Pinball Scoring: You can easily earn over a hundred thousand points in the first thirty seconds of a level, with the S-rank frequently surpassing the one million point mark. Compare, for example, Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), wherein fifty thousand points was the default bar for top rank.
  • Playing with Fire: The DS-exclusive Red Wisp gives Sonic the power to turn into a fireball, which can charge up energy to launch a Smart Bomb.
  • Post-Final Boss: After the final boss, there is a final level with a black hole that Sonic tries to outrun. It's just a half-minute final run that only consists of Quickstepping or jumping at the right times.
  • Power Copying: Eggman's Nega-Wisp Armor uses Wisp Powers throughout the Final Boss fight. He can even combine two powers together. And the announcer calls out his attacks!
  • Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: Sonic delivers one of these to every boss in the game. This gets mocked and lampshaded later on, as they are all non-sentient robots.
  • Press X to Not Die: Simplified for the air trick sequences, in which all you have to do now is mash A.
  • Racing Minigame: Ultimate has Rival Rush, which involves Sonic racing Metal Sonic to the goal ring. To access these races, you'll need to collect enough red rings in the Stage's acts. Winning these races will earn Sonic a hefty amount of coins and access to certain items in the Options Satellite.
  • Rearrange the Song:
    • An orchestral arrangement of “Reach for the Stars” plays during the second phase of the final boss battle.
    • Ultimate replaces the original version of “Reach for the Stars” with a reworked piano-led version of the song, along with a re-recorded version of the original soundtrack.
  • Recurring Riff: "Reach for the Stars" is remixed and reused in the final boss' second phase, when activating color powers in Game Land, and as Super Sonic's theme.
  • Reflecting Laser: The Cyan Wisps turn Sonic into one. As you aim the laser, it shows you how he'll reflect off of the environment, up to a certain distance.
  • Reformulated Game: While the Wii version takes after Unleashed in terms of gameplay, the DS version is more or less a third Sonic Rush game with the trick system replaced with Wisps and the Tension being swapped out for standardized Boosting. Other changes include some minor plot differences, appearances by Sonic's friends in various side missions, a stripped-down Game Land, exclusive Wisp powers that don't appear in the Wii version, and an exclusive Optional Boss with Super Sonic.
  • Reverse Cerebus Syndrome: After the likes of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) and Shadow the Hedgehog, Sega finally decided that "the franchise had begun to take itself too seriously and the story too profound".
  • Roar Before Beating: Before the final battle commences, The Nega-Wisp Armor utters a loud roar accompanied by the announcer's "FRENZY!".
  • Scenery as You Go: Present throughout Starlight Carnival in some auto-run areas of Acts 1, 3, and 5.
  • Scenery Porn: The general consensus is that this game's graphics are in the same league as the PS3/360 version of Sonic Unleashed. On a Wii that can't do HD. Needless to say, the Ultimate Updated Re Release also looks pretty good.
  • Schizophrenic Difficulty: The difficulty goes up and down throughout the game, not helped by sometimes unhelpful button prompts that can be quite cryptic. This can even happen in the same zone. Egregiously, Asteroid Coaster is the most challenging zone of the game, with several insta-death hazards and tricky platforming, but its fourth level is the absolute easiest, as it consists of Sonic pretty much running in a straight line for less than a minute!
  • Second Hour Superpower: The DS version is basically Sonic Rush 3, but you do the first act without the boost. After the first zone, you get the first major wisp. The Wii version has the boost to start with, but the first major wisp isn't unlocked until Act 3 of Tropical Resort.
  • Series Continuity Error: Sonic acts surprised at the thought of Eggman kidnapping an entire planet as if he's never done that before, despite that Eggman has done this before the events of this game.
  • Sequence Breaking:
    • In addition to the boost (which is rather useful for speedruns) the Cyan Laser Wisp is amazingly good at invoking this trope in the right hands; one player got a time of less than 15 seconds on one of the Sweet Mountain acts using the Laser and some tricky jumping.
    • For a notable non-laser example, it's possible to get normal Sonic through Asteroid Coaster Act 3 in less than five seconds by abusing enemy bounce physics you get from jumping on an enemy without releasing the A button. You can get into a Wall Jump position and combine it with the airdash to get onto a ledge you would normally need the Pink Spikes wisp to reach.
  • Shark Tunnel: The Wii version has one at the beginning of Aquarium Park Act 1.
  • Shout-Out:
  • Shoo the Dog: Sonic shoves Tails into the space elevator out of the park so he can fight the Nega Wisp Armor by himself.
  • Songs in the Key of Panic: The "nearing the end" variation can be found in the DS version's Special Stages.
  • Soundtrack Dissonance:
    • The "Yellow Drill" jingle is a high-tempo gabber beat, something you'd probably never expect to hear in a Sonic game.
    • The "Stage Complete" jingle in the Sonic Simulator is a riff of Eggman's theme, and thus obviously doesn't sound very triumphant at all.
  • Space Elevator: The main means to enter the Incredible Interstellar Amusement Park from Sonic's world. Sonic runs down the elevator shaft in the final area of the game.
  • Space Is Noisy: Eggman wishes for "the maddening silence of space" as his henchmen annoyingly bicker while pushing his broken egg-craft though the vacuum.
  • Space Zone: Asteroid Coaster and Starlight Carnival are the only ones that have Sonic actively traveling through space, as he makes his way through asteroid belts and spaceships, respectively.
  • Spike Balls of Doom: Pink Wisps allow Sonic to extend his quills and turn into a pink spiked ball. In this form, Sonic can roll around and destroy enemies and obstacles by simply touching them, and he can even use his Spin Dash to charge through them at high speeds.
  • Stalked by the Bell: You can stay in a stage as long as you want, but after passing a particular time, "TIME'S UP" appears under the score counter and you can't score any more points, not even end-of-stage bonuses (retries, which are lives lost in a stage, and Rings). It doesn't matter if you just want to finish the stage, but if you were going for an S-rank, it's not going to happen anymore.
  • Stealth Pun: Early on in the game.
    Tails: "Ugh, just thinking about it makes my head feel like it wants to-" *explosion*
  • The Stinger: The 15 minute credit sequence is followed by a scene of Eggman, Cubot, and Orbot blaming each other for the latest failure.
  • Story to Gameplay Ratio: Average for a Sonic game (that is, mostly gameplay). What sets it apart is that the gameplay starts mere seconds after pressing Start, with absolutely no introductory cutscene.
  • Super Mode: Super Sonic is unlocked in the Wii version after collecting all 7 Chaos Emeralds and 180 Red Rings, after which the ability to go super can be toggled on or off in the options menu (When on, Sonic loses the ability to use color powers). In the DS version, it's used only for the True Final Boss.
  • Suspiciously Specific Denial: "This amusement park was constructed entirely out of a sense of remorse for my past transgressions, and is in no way associated with any sort of evil plot or premeditated misdeeds."
  • Take That, Audience!:
    • Eggman welcomes the players to Game Land, home of the ever-popular Sonic Simulator, where they can "waste time with (their) pathetic friends in Multiplayer Mode."
    • Eggman tells the player the Options Satellite is where they can adjust a variety of settings for a more pleasurable visit... if they're the self-centered, bossy type."
  • Taking the Bullet: Tails jumps in front of a Mind-Control Device to push Sonic out of its way.
  • Techno Babble: When Tails was converting the Miles Electric into a translator:
    Tails: "Gotta connect the framistatic capacitor to the maximizing modulationizor..."
  • Temporary Platform: The Wii-exclusive Blue Wisp can temporarily turn blue rings into blocks and vice versa, similar to a P-switch.
  • Tempting Fate:
    • I know, I say that every time, but this time, REALLY, nothing will stop me!
    • Eggman says that nothing could have been more annoying than Cubot's cowboy accent. Orbot swaps Cubot's voice chip for an allegedly fixed one... only for the cowboy voice to be replaced with an equally annoying pirate voice. Eggman is not pleased.
    • Orbot and Cubot notice that one of the arms from the wreckage of the first boss has gone missing, but decide that it doesn't matter too much. The arm is revealed to have punctured a hole in the machine Eggman is using to contain the Wisps' energy, which causes the entire park to explode toward the end of the game.
  • Theme Music Power-Up: An instrumental version of the main theme plays during combination attacks in co-op mode and when one is Super Sonic.
  • Thematic Sequel Logo Change: The subtitle is multicolored to represent each Wisp power you use in the game.
  • This Is a Drill: The Yellow Wisp, which allows Sonic to drill through soft ground. Some of the enemies also have drill noses and will track you down. There is also the boss of Planet Wisp in the DS version, which uses drills.
  • This Is Gonna Suck: The following line is said by Sonic when a black hole appears out of the destruction of the Interstellar Amusement Park:
    Sonic: *Sigh + facepalm*...this might not end well!
  • Toggling Setpiece Puzzle: Levels with the blue square wisp allow Sonic access to a set of blue platforms that can be interchanged with the blue rings at any time with a dedicated player input. Beware: any blue rings Sonic passes through vanish, meaning levels may become Unintentionally Unwinnable, forcing you to lose a life.
  • Tractor Beam: Used by Eggman to gather the planets together for use in his Incredible Interstellar Amusement Park.
  • Transformation Trinket: The Wisps can transform Sonic into various forms to give him new abilities. The exception is the White Wisp, which simply fuels his Boost Gauge instead.
  • Traveling-Pipe Bulge: The elevators in Tropical Resort in the DS version do that when Sonic enters them, as do the pipes when Sonic goes into them with the Yellow Drill power.
  • True Final Boss: Exclusive to the DS version, there is one more boss you can face after the final boss if you have collected all seven Chaos Emeralds, the Nega-Mother Wisp.
  • Tsundere: Shadow in the DS version, which Sonic lampshades:
    Shadow: Looks like I don't need to be worried.
    Sonic: What was that?
    Tails: Were you worried if we would get hurt, trying to save the wisps?
    Shadow: Hmph!
    Sonic: I'll take that as a compliment.
  • Turns Red:
  • Under the Sea: Aquarium Park marks the first time Sonic can go underwater in a 3D game without instantly drowning. He can even swim by Spin Jumping infinitely, although this only applies to the Wii version.
  • Variable Mix:
    • When Sonic does a speed boost, the bass instruments of the background music are much more quiet while the high-pitched drum sounds are louder.
    • Aquarium Park's (and other themes in the DS version) theme is muffled when Sonic is underwater.
  • Villainous Breakdown: Eggman is reduced to this right before the Final Color/Prism Blaster.
    You. You... You! Yoooou! YOU HORRID LITTLE HEDGEHOG!
  • Walk on Water: If Sonic uses his Boost on the surface of the water in Aquarium Park, he can run across it without sinking as long as he doesn't stop boosting.
  • Wall Crawl: The Wii-exclusive Pink Wisp, which covers Sonic in spikes (more so than usual) and allows him to climb walls and ceilings.
  • Waterfront Boss Battle: Planet Wisp's Rotatotron in the DS version is above water while you are too, but its major weak spots are underwater, only reachable by use of the drill wisp.
  • Who Writes This Crap?!: One of Eggman's PA announcements has one too many "ocean" puns for his taste, leading him to wonder "who writes this drivel?". As it turns out, he does.
  • X Days Since: Exaggerated and parodied in one of the Asteroid Coaster announcements, where Eggman proudly remarks that the attraction has been accident-free for 45 minutes.

Eggman: Welcome to TV Tropes! Anti Poop-Socking will be provided at a marginal extra cost. And by 'marginal', we mean 'enormous'.

The sky with stars so bright!
The colors feel so right!
I've never felt like this, I'll keep on running!
Oh, I can feel it now!
The colors all around!
Just take my hand, we're gonna reach for the stars tonight!

 
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Alternative Title(s): Sonic Colours, Sonic Colors Ultimate, Sonic Colours Ultimate

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Tails' Mint Intervention

Tails' love for mints is taken to some extreme levels. It's gotten to the point that Sonic, Shadow, and even Eggman are concerned for him.

How well does it match the trope?

4.62 (24 votes)

Example of:

Main / DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything

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