Best Villain (Part 7--Conclusion)

For me, the "best villain" is an obvious three-way tie.

Robotnik, for his continued perseverance. For having the deepest connection to Sonic and the franchise. His history. His hilarity. Nostalgia, too.

Mephiles, for being a threat like no other. For his creepy way of twisting the truth. For pitting characters against each other. His dark need to destroy...his actions in Shadow's story. 

And Merlina, for being understandable. For the plot twist. For being persuasive and relatable in comparison. Being kind at heart but on the outside sad, cold, malicious, and deadly.

Best Villain? Part 6: EEEVIL

If asked which enemy in the Sonic series is the most evil or the "darkest," there is one obvious answer. Mephiles!

Sonic 06 is a controversy in many ways. Some have praised it's intentions, and some have found silver linings in the notoriously glitchy game. Most, however, loathe the game and everything associated with it.

Even with such a reputation, many fans were intrigued with with "the dark" villain, Mephiles. Some even call for Mephiles to make a reappearance, or at least for a threatening character "like Mephiles." 

Mephiles is one half of Solaris, an "eternal flame" of "hope." Though the "true Solaris" is beloved by the people of Soleanna, what Sonic & co. have seen paints a different picture. Regardless, Solaris was accidentally split.

Mephiles is the intelligent side of Solaris. Extremely manipulative and clever. He may be physically weaker than Iblis, but is stronger in many other ways.

Due to time travel, Shadow the Hedgehog caught Mephiles and sealed him with in an object, the "Scepter of Darkness." Years later the dark entity would be released and take the form of Shadow's...shadow. The "ironic" moment allowed Mephiles to gain the upper hand and exile the hedgehog (alongside Rouge) to the ruined Crisis City area.

In spite of his hatred for Shadow, he tried have the hedgehog "join" him. He would also reveal some painful facts about the future and attempted to divide Team Dark. Meanwhile he tricked Silver and Blaze while also avoiding Eggman, who was apparently looking for him. 

Much of Mephiles' motives are a mystery. Many players point out that Iblis was in the future, and since Mephiles can time travel he should have simply merged with the beast and became Solaris again. In the end, Mephiles does the unthinkable by "killing" Sonic...but why send Silver after the "Iblis Trigger" if he could just do the deed himself?

The creeper giving a speech.

Whatever the case, Mephiles enjoyed fooling, tempting, taunting, and/or manipulating characters. He often laughed at them and used information and illusions to his advantage. Shadow noted that Mephiles only craved "destruction."

The character was also very powerful. He was able inflict a version of time travel on others, and transport himself as well. He was able to transform his appearance in different ways and summon shadow monsters and enemies. Visual illusions and manifesting "clones" of himself were easy tasks to him.

Most villains in the Sonic series have an understanding motive, like greed or revenge. Mephiles wasn't simply upset from being sealed away. No, he was evil from the start, and he wanted to spread his darkness upon the world. As Solaris, he wanted to end it.

Mephiles is the "pure evil," a type of character that--as the name suggests--is darker than any of the others. Even his name was inspired with evil origins (Mephistopheles).

There is some debate on whether this character is "too dark" or if he's just a "dumb reskin," but many have praised the character and his role in Shadow's story.

Mephiles gave a heavy contrast to other enemies like Eggman (even he has helped to save the world--if it's gone he can't conquer it!). In the end Mephiles did what no other villain ever could--he won. Solaris may have been defeated, but only after Mephiles completed his task with a mouthless "smile."

"NICE SMILE!"

Sonic 06 Review

Rank at the End!

Summary

Despite being the most hated Sonic game, I've defended 06 before. However, I'm honestly uncertain how it will hold up in my ranking system.

Basic Gameplay

• On the surface, the gameplay is similar to that of the Adventure series. Many of the attacks (homing, spindash) and other moves (lightdash) have appeared in those games. This style is generally allows more exploring than "boost to win" but takes longer, too. Many previous elements like grinding also appear. 
• Something unique is the addition of "Mach" speed. Surprisingly a lot of people seem to like these portions, but I've never taken to it. 
• While holding Elise, Sonic has access to a shield-like skill.  
• The style differs a bit with the other characters: 
• Shadow has decided not to pick up arms in this game, instead opting for a series of smaller attacks (which technically originated in Shadow the Hedgehog). 
• He can use Chaos Spears to freeze enemies, and Chaos Blast for fiercer attacks. 
• I generally liked Shadow's methods and that it was separate from Sonic's. Still, the Chaos Blast doesn't seem to work properly and it far more useful in Shadow the Hedgehog. 
• Oh, there's also some vehicles that...eh.  
• Silver is a bit slower than the others hedgehogs, but speed is not his skill. He uses psychokinesis. 
• Though interesting, it doesn't match the "speed-based" gameplay Sonic is usually known for.  
• Many of the amigos adopt moves similar to Adventure 1/2, Heroes, Battle, or Rush (Blaze). Most are a fair speed. 
• Blaze and Rouge seem fast. 
• Tails, however, is oddly one of the slowest characters. 
• The boss styles were all unique. I like the rival fights, Mephiles (1/2), Iblis (excluding phase 2), and Egg Wyvern. The rest weren't so great, and even those had some glitchy problems...   

Glitched Gameplay 

• Unfortunately 06 is an "unfinished" game. Common glitches include: 
• lag
• being able to "see" below the ground or into another room 
• becoming stuck or slow on a loop-de-loop
• falling off in areas that character should not
• unintentionally running into things and losing rings 
• having the "buddy" or "amigo" character randomly die
• performing the wrong attack
• unintentionally getting into a spot the character was not meant to be in. 
• The battle with Silver is infamous for both:
• throwing Sonic onto a part of the roof he can't escape 
• for locking Sonic into an endless "it's no use" hold (Sonic loses ring, Silver drops Sonic, Sonic picks up ring, Silver holds Sonic, Sonic loses ring, so on). 
• My biggest problem was with the Mach Speed sections, which were impossible to do without losing rings and nearly impossible to do without dying. 
• When Sonic jumps, he'll usually run into something and lose rings or fall off and die. 
• The other enemies and obstacles make an already difficult path deadly.   
• In addition, the humans in Soleanna and the other hub worlds generate and behave strangely.  
• It is also possible to use intentional glitches to play as another character or finish the level faster. 

Graphics and Level Design

• Somehow the CG cutcenes still look amazing, though their low quality in-game engine ones not so much. 
• No, the graphics haven't aged well, but it's not as bothersome as some of the older games and I don't think it was that bad for 2006. 
• Generally the designs are very good. 
• Crisis City is a personal favorite for it's post-apocalypse, "bad future" design. 
• Generally the buildings and backgrounds are fine, it's mostly those rocky, ugly formations like in Flame Core that suck. 
• Silver's Tropical Jungle is confusing as heck. There are like, a thousand possible paths. Not good for such an early level. 
• Most other complaints are glitch related...  

Plot and Characters

Sonic's Story

• Though the first and last cutscenes are awesome, Sonic's episode is just constantly rescuing Elise. 
• It's similarity to a Mario (save the princess) plot is an insult, especially for an anniversary game. 
• Worse, Sonic might not have any feelings for Elise, making the attempted romantic sub-plot a bomb. 
• There is barely enough interaction between the two to even call it a friendship. Look Sonic's friends Sharah and Chip in contrast. They're constantly talking with Sonic, making comments about the setting or their situation. 
• Elise had some potential, but instead of talking about her doomsday hallucination she was busy getting kidnapped. 
• Meanwhile Tails and more-so Knuckles are hardly in the game at all, which is, again, for an anniversary game, practically a crime. 
• In total, Sonic's story is a bland "okay."    

Shadow's Story

• Shadow's story is one of the few things ever praised about 06, and rightfully so. 
• It begins with Shadow alone, and ends up gathering all of Team Dark. Both Omega and Rouge play a part in the story, not being sidelined or written out. 
• One highlight is Mephiles, a cold, creepy villain that has a grudge against Shadow. 
• Even better is Shadow's reaction to this villain. 
• For the first time, Shadow has no doubts about himself or his purpose. So when Mephiles tries to (essentially) "turn him to the dark side," Shadow stands his ground and tells Mephiles, "Whatever you wanna' do...do it alone." 
• Shadow's story follows a typical structure and leads up to a climax. It's easily one of the best parts of 06. 

Silver's Story

• Despite Blaze's unexplained presence, Silver's story starts out alright. 
• I like Silver's introduction to Crisis City, and the way he admires the present. 
• I also like his struggle with ethics and how he decides to create a better future instead of trying to change the past. 
• Blaze's friendship and her role in the end were sweet. 
• However, Mephiles' enlisting Silver to kill Sonic...that's sketchy. 
• The excuse of going to a location to find Sonic gets old fast. 
• His connect to Elise's past seems somewhat misplaced, and it's obvious Amy was meant to have a bigger role in his episode. 
• Silver's story was a bit scatter-brained, and could have been better.   

Last Story

• It brought together all characters except Blaze, which feels unfair to her. 
• Sonic's "death" is a cheesy and crappy scene. I think they just should have said he was near death or something, ugh. 
• Compared to the "deaths" of other characters, it lacked purpose and emotion (though at least the characters were shown as unnerved...unlike in Forces). 
• Elise's "little kiss of life" caused more out cry than intended, I'm sure. 
• I don't think it's that bad, but it probably should have been cut just the same. 
• And then, sure. Undo it all. 
• Honestly, the Last Story seems to get worse every time I revisit it. 
• The Super forms were good. "End of the World" and "VS Solaris" were good. Even though I'm not sure I like the outcome, I'd even say the last cutscene was good. But generally it's just more evidence of how all-over and rushed the game was.  

Music and Voice Acting

• Voice Acting was generally good. 
• Jason Griffith's Sonic was fair, and his Shadow voice was perfect. 
• Kathleen Delaney (Rouge), Lisa Ortiz (Amy), Bella Hudson (Blaze), and Dan Green (Knuckles) were spot-on. 
• Pete Capella (Silver) and Lacy Chalbert (Elise) were okay. 
• The only one I'd call bad is Omega (voiced by the late Maddie Blaustein).
• The music was outstanding. The main themes were fitting and matched their characters well. 
• Only complaint: while "Sweet Dreams" was a nice reference to Sonic 2, I think it would have been better without Akon mixed in. 
• Likewise, the level's music was relevant, incorporated different styles, and added to the locations' moods.    

Final Thoughts

• I still think people tend to exaggerate the bad. It sounds far worse than it is.
• I've often wondered what it would have been like if they had actually taken their time with this game... 
• The loading times are long, but it's really the Town missions that get annoying. It loads only for a townsperson to say "hey" and then it has to load the mission.   
• I did like the hub world and interacting with the people or even just running around. 
• I consider it an improvement from Sonic Adventure, and it gives the setting more perspective. 
• I like manipulating the glitches to play as a different character/explore. It's like an unintentional Easter Egg. 
• Despite being a soft-reboot, the game does reference past ones. It's hard to even remember it's a reboot. 
• Eggman's realistic design is creepy, but in a post-movie Sonic world (Jim-Skinny-Carrey), it doesn't look so bad anymore. 
• Mephiles was an interesting villain that I'd like to see more of, or someone else that could bring a more threatening tone (Eggman Nega and Merlina have showed some potential). 
• Unforutnatly, the villains have been WEAK lately.  
• There are some minor continuity errors, but the way time travel was in the game, nearly anything could be explained away.  

Ranking (S is highest, E is lowest) C

Maybe that's being generous, but I think it's a lot of fun. Sega was more willing to branch out and create serious plots, and that's certainly a redeemable part of the game. 06 had potential.

Still, I can't ignore how important gameplay is to a videogame. The game should have been delayed and at least the glitches should have been taken care of. Or they should have tried to patch/fix what they could. Instead they pretty much ignore it to this day.

For it's cons in gameplay and elsewhere, I can not give this game any higher than a C. That's what it deserves.

If  it were by itself I probably would have excused the glitches and given Shadow's story a higher rank.

Sonic's Scariest Moments.

We're touching on some of Sonic's scariest moments, characters, and concepts.

Step One: Mild & "Festive" 

There have been lots of  Halloween-like details within the games and outside of them, too.

• Sonic's gone through many "spooky" zones, from Mystic Mansion to Haunted Ship. 
• Even the "Megadrive" comic had an addition, the "Haunted Depths Zone."
• Sonic's had plenty of ghostly encounters, from human-like spirits in Night of the Werehog and Sonic 06, to the totally-not-copying-Mario round blobs like King Boom Boo and the ones in Sonic and Knuckles.
• Sonic turned into a "werehog" (werewolf/hedgehog) in Sonic Unleashed and the short, Night of the Werehog.  
• The chao can be "light or dark" and live in gardens alluding to "heaven and hell." 
• This was revisited in the Riders level, Digital Dimension. 
• Metal Sonic mocks Sonic in CD by waving his pointed finger back and forth.
• In the JPN soundtrack of Metallic Madness (bad future) there is evil laughter (similar to USA's boss theme) and voices taunting the player ("You can't do anything so don't even try"). 
• Ironically this is in English, and the US ended up with a different soundtrack.   
• Some cartoon episodes have had ghosts or "scary" tones (Ant!, Sonic the Hedgehog; A Hedgehog's Home, Sonic Underground; Sonic Scream Test, Sonic X;--arguably others)  

Step Two: The Light, the Dark, and the Uneasy

Taking this up a notch.

• Sonic games often have a light and dark theme. 
• Technically Sonic CD was the first game to show such a contrast of "good and evil" with its' possible futures.
• This started in Sonic Adventure 2, but Shadow the Hedgehog actually had the player "decide" the outcome, which may result in a more "evil" Shadow. 
• Though it's not clear, it's possible he kills GUN soldiers, Eggman, or Sonic.
• However, the games to feature these themes in a "creepy" way are Sonic the Hedgehog (06) and Sonic Unleashed. In Sonic Unleashed, light was "good," but in 06 both were villainous. 
• In Sonic and the Black Knight and Sonic and the Secret Rings, the enemies were evil spirits written into the story. 
• In Sonic and the Secret Rings, Sonic uses a "negative" transformation after his new friend is "killed." 
• Sonic also seemingly kills the Erazor. In the mid-credits scene, he drops the magic lamp (and the Erazor) into lava. 
• In Sonic X, Sonic transformed into "Dark Sonic." The moment was not very long but is noted for Sonic's vicious, past pissed-off attitude.
• In Sonic 06, Mephlies is a demonic-like creature with no mouth. He "only craves destruction" and is the true cause for most of the trouble in the game. Both Mephlies and Iblis have "evil" names. 
• In Sonic Unleashed, Dark Gaia would "possess" people at night and Sonic would have to "exorcise" them (by taking their picture and fighting minions). 
• Sonic R introduced the Tails Doll, which became one scary creature with the internet. This leaked into the Archie comics. 

Step Three: A Nightmare on Sonic Street

The title says it all.

• Death. Some characters died or "died" or "died and came back," but there was one moment that no one could get over...  
•  [Sonic 06] After Mephlies kills Sonic, his friends use the emeralds to bring him back to life (after getting the Chaos Emeralds from the "End of the World" stage).
• Most consider this the worst moment in Sonic history because A, his death was cheap & cheesy; and B, Elise did a "sleeping beauty/snow white/sorta' beauty and the beast" and kissed Sonic to life (this is especially controversial as Elise was a human girl). 
• Hey, End of the Word was a fun level, though. 
• In Sonic CD, Easter Eggs were found within the sound test. As if "DJ Mc Sonic" and "Batman-Sonic" weren't freaky enough, an odd image of Sonic meshed with a face was put in. It plays the US boss music (Robotnik laughing) and has words in Japanese that translate to "Fun is Infinite with Sega Enterprises" and supposedly signed, "the devil." 
• However, it is believed that the signature was someone's name misinterpreted. 

Well, did you make it though the list? There are other "dark" moments, too, but I had to limit it a bit. This is about what's frightening. "Spiders are scary...I'm scary...you? You're not scary." BOO.  

Quote of the Month

"Humanity wasn't just jealous of your power... they feared it."
--Mephiles the Dark, Sonic 06

Sonic 06 is Better than Colors (Part 7)

I've started a series of blog posts to prove my point: that the most hated game--Sonic 06--is better that one of the most over-praised Sonic titles ever released--Sonic Colors.

Last time we touched on this issue a bit (with the characters of the game) but we'll be going beyond that for...

Part 7: The Conflict: bosses, villains, risks, threats...

First, let's divide this up a bit. 

1. Bosses
2. Main Villains
3. Risks to the World (universe, future, etc)
4. Threats to the Characters

Bosses

So Color's had better robot designs, honestly. Somewhat annoying, the Eggpawns were memorable. The...things in 06 were more serious but ended up rather lame and annoying themselves. But what really counts is the actual boss fights. 

06 had a couple rival battles, which are always fun. Silver's "it's no use" is infamous for it's flaws, but that fight is actually very easy. Most Sonic-fights are after a pattern is discovered--that's standard.

Iblis parts 1 and 3 were intresting. Part 2 was kind of time consuming and disappointing (it has to be done as Sonic and Shadow), but not bad. Mephiles had awesome fights, though with Omega it slows down a bit. Eggman's could be challenging, or a breeze. In all though, they were all exciting to play out. The setting, dynamic designs, and variety per character made me want to shoot for an S-rank. 

Although Colors had a variety as well, they were all the same in the end: frustrating robots. They weren't any fun, and it was hard to remember which wisp-gimmick to use to help. They aren't memorable, and are very lame when compared to bosses in other games. Really only the last battle with Eggman is worth playing.    

Main Villains

Yes, Eggman in Colors was probably better than his creepy 06 version, but what about Orbot and Cubot? They sucked and were an insult to any long-time Scratch&Grounder fan.

Iblis is neat in concept but he's not nearly as cool as Chaos. Solaris is confusing and a waste. But 06 also supplied us with one of the best villains in Sonic history--Mephiles. And I'd argue that his appearance outweighs Eggman's in Colors (which is alright but hard to take serious). 

Mephiles is skin-crawling creepy, especially for a Sonic game. He's the cause of most of the conflict in the game, and only "craves destruction." He fools Silver, taunts Shadow, and kills Sonic. Back up, did I just write that? It's still hard to accept that's what happened. I don't really consider it since they revive Sonic with the magic powers of chaos energy and  looooove, but still. Eggman's always trying to do what Mephiles did in 5 seconds! 

Many find Mephiles' motives confusing. Why not unite with Iblis right-way (since he can time-travel)? Why send Silver to kill Sonic when he could do so himself? So on. But it's clear that he enjoys the suffering of others, and most fan-explanations end the same: Mephiles did what he wanted to.

Continuity thoughts aside, Mephiles' plays his main role well. He manipulates Silver and Blaze and torments Team Dark with knowledge of the future all while keeping in control. 

So Colors vs 06? Colors is creamed. How can anyone take Eggman seriously with those two dumb-bots (or that dumb plot)?

Risks to the World (universe, future, etc)

In Colors, an entire race of beings were at stake. Unfortunately, I hate wisps. They were annoying and did nothing to make me like them. ScrXw Yacker, why should I care? 

06 starts out with concepts that continue to grow. Soleanna is at stake. The future is at stake. TIME-SPACE is at stake. So maybe Generations would have a chance, but no, not Colors.  

The past/present'future>crappy aliens 

Threats to Characters

So in each game there was a physical threat to the characters involved, but that's standard. Sonic 06 gave more purpose to those involved through personal conflicts.  

In 06, Silver had his moral questions--was killing someone to save the world the right thing to? Likewise there was more to Shadow's story. Mephiles tried to convince Shadow to turn against humanity, then caused tension for the team when he revealed not only Shadow's fate but a bit of Omega's. For Sonic's episode, conflict was mainly for Elise, who tried to balance her feeeeelings for Sonic (and a life of adventure) with her duty (and life in Soleanna). 

Colors' kept the conflict straight forward which also dumbed it down. In contrast, 06 had layers for the different characters and storylines, making the threats all the more serious.  

Conclusion

So overall the "conflict" in Colors is not serious. It does nothing to make one feel for the characters or conflicts involved. 06 was far from perfect, but it had a villain that was powerful and manipulative, it had high stakes, memorable bosses, and it added to the story instead of diluting it.  

Sonic 06 is Better than Colors (Part 6)

I've started a series of blog posts to prove my point: that the most hated game--Sonic 06--is better that one of the most over-praised Sonic titles ever released--Sonic Colors.

In this part we're hitting Colors in one of it's weakest points.

The Characters

So one of the reasons Colors lacks much of Sonic's cast is because "fans" wanted a story focusing more on Sonic. When I say fans I mean ***holes.

There are games, like Sonic and the Secret Rings, that focus more on Sonic, but even then versions of Tails and Knuckles appeared. Sonic Unleashed was the first game in years to exclude both Knuckles and Shadow. In that case, both characters originally were planned for the story ("Sonic Adventure 3" at the time), but with the Werehog transformation, the story was shifted to focus on Sonic (and Chip). This worked for Unleashed, but did "we" (we meaning real fans) want that every game? No.

Regardless, Colors featured Sonic, Tails, and barley anyone else. Why? Did so they could focus on a strong bond between Sonic, Tails, and Yacker? Because the story was crap. CRAP. So if that was their idea, their idea sucked.

So lets sort out the characters and see how they do (Colors).

Sonic--Colors Sonic is a jerk. He tries to be funny, ends up being awkward. Even ignoring his disgraceful voice acting, every word written for the character seems to be some kind of joke. Yeah, Sonic's a smart-alec, but it's never been taken to this extreme. And all that stretching. Ugh.
Score: E

Tails--Tails acts smart, gives techno-babble. That's who he is. He does nothing to really stand out from any other games and is mostly just a plot device. However if the game does one thing right, it's his relationship with Sonic. Not the "older bro" feeling from Sonic, but definitely the "kid brother" from Tails.
Score: B

Eggman--Eggman is on point, and acts like his usual "take over everything" self. His personality is well balanced between "funny" and "evil" though the situations typically tilt to the "funny" side. However, as announcer ("Next Stop...Let's mention Ulala" ;>), he can get annoying, and with the plot it's not easy to take him serious.
Score: A

Yacker--Bad jokes (intentional or not), does nothing to make me like him. And he looks like spXrm.
Score: E

Orbot--Why did they change Ergo? I liked Egro better. Ergo was funny, Orbot (and Cubot) make me cringe.
Score: D

Cubot--Why????????????? I appreciate the homage to past cartoons by having the "two-villain side kick," but the voice/accent thing was just stupid. And Scratch and Grounder? SUPERIOR.
Score: D

it's Breezie all over again.

So in the DS version, which I'm not really going off of, but...they gave a small role to everyone else. Now it wasn't great--all they did was give Sonic worthless missions--but it was a nice addition. It also tried to give a bit of a twist in the form of "Mother Wisp," but honestly it's name and appearance are funnier than any humor in the game.

Meanwhile Sonic 06 had a large cast--not quite as much as Sonic Heroes, but 3 in a main role and 6 in supporting. So at least 9 playable characters, already giving the game more variety than Colors' ("Just Keep Boosting"). It also features some main-06 exclusive characters, including villains.

Unfortunately the game didn't work out for everyone, but at least the creators put some effort to grow the cast instead of assuming everyone would be pleased with just Sonic.

Sonic--Sonic really acts like himself twice in this game: in the first cutscene, and in the final fight. Well, maybe I'll give him the smile thing. That was kind of nice. But unfortunately Sonic acts kind of "neutral" since his plot centered around Elise, and his feelings were up to the player (hmm...or so we thought, huh?). Despite this he still pulls together his attitude when the time is right.
Score: B

Tails--Tails is very annoying and his role is pretty pointless. He has one or two cute moments but mostly wastes time.
Score: E

Knuckles--Knuckles is the tough guy, and the way he acts is fine. The down part here is that his role is so small. I mean, this is team hero. Come on.
Score: B

Shadow--Shadow's pretty spot on. What's really highlighted is his change since we last saw him. He knows who he is, he put the past behind him, and he won't let other people control him anymore.
Score: S

Rouge--Rouge is there for Shadow, both in gameplay and in cutscenes. Her attacks can be kind of annoying but that's getting into gameplay...yeah overall Rouge acted like herself.
Score: A

Omega--most of the problems I have with Omega in this game come from his attacks and voice work. In the story, though, there's a fairly interesting plot that he is included in, so points for not just being thrown into the game (just to be there).
Score: B

Silver--ah, Silver. On one hand, he's this cute kid from the future who's just trying to make things right. On the other he's an obnoxious slow-mo. For the most part Silver brings a fresh story and a unique personality to the Story, though.
Score: B

Blaze--Blaze is here with no explanation. Sol Emerald? Nope! She's just there. And "sure, Silver, go kill one of my few friends in the world." Ack! So there's points off for that, but she plays her part just as she would have in Rush. Reserved, a little judging, but doing whatever it takes to save the world.
Score: B

Amy--Amy's delightful in the cutscenes but a waste in play. Turing invisible? WTF? A she just kind of disappears from the plot, too, for both Sonic and Silver (until the end of the game). And she has no problem with Elise? Such a waste.
Score: C

Elise--Elise is a mildly interesting character. Strip away what happens in last story (the...kiss) and the damsel-in-distress plot, and she's actually interesting. The princess of this huge place, Soleanna, who lost her parents long ago, who keeps a fire monster inside of her. Who has fantasies about the apocalypse and isn't allowed to cry. BUT. Then there's getting captured every 5 seconds, and the...kisssssssss. Eck.
Score: C 

Eggman--He's a bit more to the "evil" side. He's got a plan...he's pretty much his usual self. BUT his appearance...AHHHHHHHHHHH.
Score: B

Iblis--He's a giant, lame monster. Lamer than Chaos.
Score: D

Mephiles--A creepy, calculating villain. Always one step ahead, always with a trick up his sleeve. Er...glove? But then he's a re-skin of Shadow for 1/2 the game and he has some continuity errors he never resolves. Still one of the best villains in Sonic history.
Score: A

Solaris--A gaint, lame, confusing monster. I don't understand, ARE YOU EVIL OR NOT? WTF IS THE "TRUE SOLARIS" UUUGH.
Score: C

So 06 had some more, smaller characters but those are the important ones. So from the rankings, Colors has a few good scores, but mostly bad or REALLY BAD. 06 had mostly average characters with a few outstanding ones. So ignoring the amount, the better portrayals/new additions go to those in 06.

And then there is the amount. Some people think that it should be Sonic, maybe Tails, and that's it. To be honest, there was a time when I had similar thinking. But that was because I did not know the characters (like I do now). And it seems the gameplay is a lot more fun--and the plot a lot richer--with more characters. Sonic himself raved about the "Super Power of Teamwork!"

I'm not saying a solo-Sonic game is terrible (because...Sonic 1). But now that Sega has built up these characters, it makes much more sense to use them than to forget they exist.

What really annoys me about Colors' lack in characters is that the ones they did have (Sonic, Tails, etc) did not make up for it. Unleashed confiscated, but Colors fell flat. 

Meanwhile 06 gave over 10 characters a chance to be introduced to new players. They didn't do it perfect, but like most notable Sonic games, they brought in the new and the old for an adventure together.

All Colors gave us was a bunch of emotionless Wisps. Man, I miss the Black Arms.

Wait...

ARCHIE WHAT THE F-----FLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

Sonic's Halloween Playlist

Sonic seems to really enjoy Halloween. I've been meaning to post about music in the games, and this seems like a good starting point: here are some of the creepiest and haunted tracks the Sonic franchise has to offer...

UPDATE: Here's an updated Halloween Playlist (100 tracks!)

Cryptic Castle

To match the level design, it has a spooky ring to it.

A Ghost's Pumpkin Soup...For Pumpkin Hill

This Jack-O-Lantern filled level is Knuckles, so don't be surprised at the style.

Metallic Madness Bad Future--JPN

The fast/panic sounding tone is interrupted by laughing, cruel voices. YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING SO DON'T EVEN TRY.

Hang Castle (normal, up-side-down/inverted)

Explore ghostly fears with the mysterious and funky Hang Castle.
Note: there are two versions, as it changes when the player hits a switch and is taken to the roof/floor. 

Haunted Ship (Act 1, Act 2)

The ghost/robots/pirates were enough to scare Marine!
Note: Act 2 is a slightly more fast-paced version of Act 1.

Red Hot Skull...for Red Mountain

A level with skeletons and lava? Have to add in sound effects of someone yelling...

Sonic CD Boss--USA (normal, Final Fever/Boss)

You remember our dear friend FUN IS INFINITE, right? Careful, though. What sounds like creepy laughing to one person sounds like Santa to another.
Note: The "final" version is pretty much the same as the normal version.

Almost Dead

Shadow's Dark theme is here because, well, it's dark (for a Sonic game/spin-off). And this playlist needed something with lyrics...

Mystic Mansion

Some fine haunted house music. Keep an eye out for Jack-O-Lantern ghosts! They are merciless!

Mephiles (normal, Phase One, Phase Two) 

It's only natural that one of the creepiest and most ruthless Sonic-villains has an equally chilling theme. TAKE THIS UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH!!!!!!!!
Note: There are two fights, so there's Phase one and Phase two. His normal theme, known as "Mephiles' Whisper," is played during the cutscenes.


Although not all were intended for Halloween, these really add to the holiday spirit, huh? Keep it coming, Sega. 

Quote of the Month

"The answer is yes...and no."
--Mephiles the Dark, Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)