Sonic 06 is Better than Colors (Part 2)

Funny how there's always grass plains in the cutscenes but not the levels...

I started a list of reasons Sonic 06 is better than Colors. Surprisingly, this ended up being rather lengthy. So, I decided to make this a mini-series of sorts.

Last time I compared the the main screen and menu, the level navigation, and some other details in which 06 proved to be better.

Part 2
The CG, graphics, and level design

Sonic 06 tried to be realistic, a plan that back fired on them. That version of Eggman...Revolting. But it's high-quality cutscenes did look good, with over ten of them. They weren't perfect, but most were aesthetically pleasing.

They aren't as good as Unleashed or Generations, but it's aged pretty well. The lower-quality, straight-from-in-game ones were pretty crappy in comparison, but they got the job done. Sometimes certain elements would look freaky (like Elise's orange legs), and other times the scene was done very well (like Mephlies' transformation). 

Now lets skip roughly 4 years later, to Sonic Colors. The opening looks very good, makes the game seem exciting, but there's only 1-2 cutscenes of this quality. All cutscenes in the game are poor and (scary?) in comparison to Sonic Unleashed, released 2 years earlier. Honestly, it's not entirely the creators fault since they were limited to the Wii's capabilities. However, the storybook series was able to avoid this with it's 2-D "page" gimmick, which means games 3 years older--even on the Wii--have better looking cutscenes. That's sad. Point being, Sonic 06 has better cutscenes in the year 2006 than Colors did in 2010, and 06 looks arguably better for being older.   

Shiny

On to the graphics. Everyone knows 06 was a rushed game. They had more detailed plans, like the time of day changing (an idea that eventually happened--Sonic Unleashed), and Silver literally being Silver (like, shiny) They didn't make these dreams a reality. A big part of the hurry was due to Sonic's 15th anniversary. There wasn't a deadline like that for Colors. For Generations they surprised everybody, and with Forces/Mania they proved they learned their lesson and made sure the games were in good (or, heh, fair) condition before shipping them out. But back in 2006, people were coming and going in Sonic Team, and they were rushing to fit their ideas and concepts into one game (which, obviously, didn't all happen).

Ironically, Sonic was suppose to have the ability to turn to Super Sonic in levels (through the gem-shoe gimmick), but being able to do so wouldn't be possible (excluding the Riders series and the original 90s, classic games) until Sonic Colors. I wish this were as cool as it sounds...

Back to visuals: ignoring the glitches, just standing in Soleanna or Wave Ocean looks alright. Improvement in graphics since the most recent game, Sonic Riders? Yeah, I can see it. It ain't Red Dead Redemption 2 (8 years, guys, really? Yeesh), faaaaar from it. But I can tell water from lava and rocks from buildings. The people, though kinda' scary by today's standards, are the most realistic attempt at humans in the Sonic universe to date. Although there seem to be "clones" or "twins" of the people walking around/the guards, most people you actually talk to have different faces/clothing/etc. Although their actions tend to be off (waking into walls, standing on as chair, running into other characters...), they look alright. I'm not sure if I'm a fan of the "realistic" approach, but I'm okay with it. Some levels look better than others; Crisis City is a work of art in comparison to Flame Core.

Colors actually looks nice. Not great, not hurt-my-eyes-with-detail, but tolerable. The Wii is defiantly holding it back, though. While it's an improvement over Sonic and the Black Knight's graphics (which, to be fair, purposely mimicked the Secret Rings), it's not as good when compared to Unleashed (especially not PS3/Xbox). In that case, it's a step backward. The reason I say the graphics are only "nice" is because it's not "above and beyond." See, 06 may have been rushed, but they tried to reach past what they were used to and make it look worthy of Sonic's 15-year history. Color's was more like, "hey! People like the day stages of Sonic Unleashed, so lets just copy-paste that as a new game!"

I will say that Colors was more creative when choosing the setting. They literally combined outerspace with an amusement park. 06 had beaches, snow, lava, and a city. On the surface, not really unique. However, it was an anniversary game, so there's always the possibility they were trying to call back to previous games (Snowboarding in White Acropolis like Ice cap, Boarding in a city like City Escape/Sonic Riders, Motorcycling after a train like riding after an alien tank in Shadow the Hedgehog--I could go on).

Although Colors has more of a variety on the surface, the only place of interest is candy-themed Sweet Mountain and possibly Tropical Resort. The rest gets boring after the first act. And the one they keep bringing back--Planet Wisp--is ugly as hell. Maybe it's because there are so many acts, but none of them satisfy. It's more of a cartoon-ish approach--which is fine--but it still can't beat Unleashed.

06, on the other hand, took boring, often-used concepts and made them fun again. Crisis City really stands out; its post-apocalyptic setting is littered with skewed buildings, broken roads, lava and fire. It already has one wondering, "how did this happen? Where am I? When am I?!" Kingdom Valley plays out kind of boring, but it looks pretty detailed and interesting. Aquatic Base was cool (especially after manipulating glitches and finishing in 3 minutes). The only ones fairly generic/disappointing were Flame Core (which is fun to play but rather ugly to look at) and Wave Ocean (being a lame remake of Emerald Coast in Sonic Adventure, it brings noting new to the table). ...It looks pretty--boats and lighthouses were a nice touch--but it has tons of big/ugly rock formations.

In the end, while Colors could have made awesome, "interstellar" levels, they instead put too much focus on zooming past the scenes using dumb alien powers. 06 is much more interesting to explore.

Still not convinced? The story will continue in Part 3...

Sonic Comics: Archie's Butchering of Blaze the Cat

It's funny how SatAm characters turned out so well and yet ones from the actual franchise tended to veer off. I guess characters like Bunnie and Antoine had years for them to get it right...and they had more freedom from Sega. It actually took a while for some game-characters to even show up, with  Omega and Cream not appearing until Sonic Universe was out.

Archie Sonic already had a big cast, and even bigger one with the characters created through the years of different writers. The ages of history put together made it hard to even add in game elements without retconning everything (this is why the humans are "overlanders" and not just humans).

So unfortunately, some characters just weren't quite right...and Blaze the Cat was hit pretty hard.

Archie Blaze 

Blaze is an awesome character. A princess from another dimension, Blaze is often seen as "the female Sonic" for her speed and quick attacks. But in the comics...

She's female Shadow.

Pyro stuff and other abilities: 

One the things that bug me right away about Archie-Blaze is the way she throws her fire around like it's nothing. In the games, she defeats Eggmans robots and has flames as she boosts or jumps. It was sort of a last resort--or at least something she preferred to do alone--since Blaze is sort of shy about her powers.

The way Archie portrays her, Burning Blaze is obsolete because it already seems like she has unlimited power.

I think part of this is that Flynn wanted a make-shift Team Rose, combining Blaze, a cool character, and axing Big, a not-so cool character. The problem? Blaze is a speed type, and can definitely run faster than Amy. But can Amy--who always has a giant hammer--be a power character? No, because she chases Sonic all the time. So there's this awkward double Speed-but-Power in this little team.

Speaking of unused skills: Blaze's speed is acknowledged like, once, the entire time (with her running like once or twice). And even then she had to openly admit Sonic was faster than her. I mean, duh, he is, but the way it was worded just seemed out of character...which brings us to:

Personality

Then her attitude just seems a bit off. In the games, Blaze is fairly calm unless the Sol Emeralds or someone she cares about is threatened. Then she's super angry. She's also a bit judge-y (Cream is too out-going, Silver is naive, and Marine is a nuisance), and a clear-cut introvert.

In the comics she's always making rushed decisions, falling for traps, and scolding herself over it.

This is Blaze not Cosmo.

And then other characters step in or add their two-cents.

She just seems too [insert word here].

Too formal:

Too angry:

Too bossy:

 
Too obvious:

Now minus "obvious," Blaze is all these things. However, it just feels off. I guess Flynn is trying too hard? All the characters (especially PSGW) have been transitioned to be like their game counterparts, and in a good way. But Blaze's dialogue feels heavy or forced. It just doesn't match Rush or 06.

Design

Blaze's design just looks a little bulky. I'm perfectly aware that in Blaze's Sonic Channel art her shoulders have sort of a squared look to them...

But in the comics it looks unnatural. Boxy.

She also will have weird looks with her side fur/hair. Unnatural.

And everyone knows: Burning Blaze doesn't have the dark edges on her ponytail.

Archie

Rush

And while we're complaining about that design, I always figured the area around her gloves was like fire, not a recolor of her normal fur-like gloves.

And don't get me started on her original appearance:

Does this not look like a fan comic?

Luckily, with the exception of those small details, Blaze didn't look too bad. I mean, Sonic himself got the weirder phases.

Sonic you might want to see a dentist about those jagged teeth. 

Interactions with Other Characters

Sonic

Speaking of Sonic, Blaze hardly sees him. In the games, there was Sonic Rush, where they saved the world from Eggman and Eggman Nega. Adventure--same thing but in her dimension. Those are big events, and although Adventure did happen, Rush was different. It was like, "see you in my dreams, yeah, you too." Lame. And otherwise it's been Shadow or Amy--Sonic himself barely says a word to her.

Now I'm sure part of this problem is Sally. Sonic already has a strong, princess, sorta-girlfriend. So shifting the focus on Blaze, an equally capable character, would take away from the Sonic-Sally will-they/won't-they (when, plus, Sonic's already had Fiona, Mina, or whoever, it's too much).

I guess it's also easy to shove Blaze into spin-off territory (Universe) because she's in another dimension, and Sonic jumping over there or vise-versa would call for a bigger plot. Eggman Nega not being available (Dr. Nega!) probably also limited the plot (which is why we see lots of pirates and the Southern Island more than anything else).

Marine

While in the games Blaze found Marine to be a nuisance and only warmed up to her in the game's end, they seem like BFFs in the comics.

It's like they're always together. Seriously? I'd expect them to be friends/to go on adventures together, but Blaze is a princess over there. I'm pretty sure she doesn't live with the girl.

Cream

Blaze and Cream are nice to each other, but they don't have the same warm friendship like in the games.

It seemed like Cream was more attached to Amy.

Amy 

They help each other and I guess they're friends, but it feels like Amy's always coming to the rescue. Talking Team Dark down, going after robot-pirates...

She's like 12 (oh wait, this is the comics) or 8-ish--Blaze is 14, and more powerful than Amy--so why isn't it the other way around? 

Shadow

In the games, Blaze has never said a word to Shadow (I don't think...well...Percival). Anyways, since Sonic was busy (I guess?) having Shadow stand in made sense (I guess?). But it's this awkward, boarder-line girlfriend-boyfriend relationship.

In SU 1 it was okay, but Treasure Team Tango? Akwkard. Seemed out of character for both parties. And then Flynn was (comically) shipping Blaze with Omega at the same time, which just hurt the whole idea more. I think it could have worked out, maybe. Both of them are loners, and they could have gotten stuck with each other or something...but that didn't happen. I don't know, it just wasn't done properly.

The most awkward hold ever. Sonic doesn't hold Sally/Elise/Amy/character-of-your-choice that way.

Other Characters

It's weird to see Blaze with the Hooligans, but whatever. Seemed to work in a funny way I guess. In addition, there aren't many interactions with Silver. I'm not super crushed by this (more crushed by the absence of Sonic), but it's surprising since they usually wind up together...

Absent Characters 

Again, no Nega, so it's hard to see Blaze without a major enemy (I guess it's pirate-Metal-Sonic now?). Talks even less to Tails than in the games.

I actually think it would have been interesting do something with Sally (since they are both "please don't call me princess" princesses). There would have been good contrast between Sally's leadership/work-in-teams philosophy and Blaze's responsible/I-work-alone point of view.

I guess had the comics continued, she would have met up with Bunnie, and there would be some kind of new villain. That would have been cool, but too bad. It'll never happen now.

Also, as a Sonaze fan, it was pretty disappointing to see this:

I ship Sonaze!

Come ON?! It's bad enough you'd have to zigzag or break the lines to get to Sonic, but they default Blaze to Omega?! Come on! Nobody can take that seriously! And why is Big there? And Nicole, for that matter? Oh, because it was Spark of Life? In that case, there's only 3 characters from that arc even there, so why...UGH.

Blaze is one of my favorite characters, and her Archie appearance was disappointing. It was better than nothing, but it wasn't great. I have hope for IDW, but considering Flynn already had her firing away the moment she's introduced...

Come on, the fire-tornado move was never so explosive.

Well at least the art's better...but lets see that last for nearly 25 years.

Happy Valentine's Day.

Last year, I went over Sonic's love interests, but this time I'm going over my personal favorite couples. Most people hate this sort of thing. Too bad.

Shut up, Caliburn!

Favorite match for Sonic: Blaze. For years I was rooting for Sally, then for a Sonic-X-obsessed time I flipped to Amy. Finally, I played Sonic Rush and knew the best match for Sonic was Blaze. And that's been my vote ever since.They are rivals as far as speed and attacks, but they are also different. Blaze is very mature for her age, Sonic fairly immature. Blaze is an introvert, Sonic an extrovert. That's a good match right there.

• Sonic helped teach Blaze that it is okay to rely on others, and she's helped him take down Eggman, Eggman Nega, and robo-capn' Whisker. 
• They've grown to be good friends, so between the handshaking, the "the emeralds brought us together" plot device, and even Sonic's interaction with Blaze's RoundTable counterpart--Percival, it's easy to see them becoming a couple. 

However, there is one wrench in this pairing: Sonic 06, where Blaze helps convince Silver that if killing Sonic saves the future, than the cost is worth it. On the flip side, she condemned herself to a nasty fate to save the future, so clearly she's all for the "needs of the many." Plus the whole thing never happened. Sonic and Blaze, yo. Sonaze.

So if Blaze is with Sonic, who is Silver left with? Amy. They may not have interacted much, but you can see it in 06. Amy. Either that or Gold from the comics. I like to see Blaze as an older sister to Silver more than a girlfriend. 

My favorite couple, however, is a cliche one. Shadow and Rouge. They just make a good pair. I don't take Rouge-Knuckles very seriously, and the same could be said for any of Shadows couples. He smiled when Amy hugged him. That means nothing.

• Anyway, Shadow and Rouge are always working together, and she's probably the closest thing to a "friend" for Shadow since Maria (speaking of which, that was a brother-sister relationship. I'm talking to you, creator of shady fan art!). 
• In Sonic Battle, Rouge helped Shadow realize he wasn't just a weapon--that he had a "soul." In 06, Rouge says she'll stick with him, even if the world thinks he's the enemy, which he promised to remember. In Forces, she proves this when the world thinks he's joined Eggman (FYI, he didn't). 

He calls her "ally," and she calls him "handsome," but besides the usual ship-tease, we probably won't see much of this relationship (or any realtionship). It's just Sega's way. That and 06 tried Sonic+Elise and nobody liked it so that scared them off.

Who knew the French guy and the Texas girl would make such a good match?

Well those are just the main ones. Tails? Cosmo. Bunnie? Antoine. Knuckles? Well it's gotta' be Julie-Su, Shade, possibly Sonia...or Tikal. Eggman? Yeesh don't know about that one! That huntress lady?!

I wonder if she'll be snooping as usual. 

Quote of the Month

"This time there's no way out of marrying me!"
--Amy Rose, Sonic Heroes