Sonic Unleashed vs. Sonic Colors Extra Round - Final Thoughts

[Dr. Crusher]

Unleashed was definitely a step up from 06 in terms of enemies. The Egg Fighters were more... Eggmany than the forgettable Egg Gunners, and the Dark Gaia minions, at least to me, were tons better than the Black Arms and Iblis minions, since they were slightly more cartoony, unique, and there was actually more types than just four or five.

 

In the end though, I'll choose Colours again, simply because I remember when seeing the first few images back in 2010, I was ecstatic to see the beloved Badniks again. Okay, so maybe they appeared in a few side games like Rivals 2, and Sonic 4 was starting at the time, but this was the first time since the Adventure series that they've appeared in a main 3D console game. And then there was the Egg Pawns, which I never minded to begin with but were a lot better in this game, since they each had different themes and motifs rather than just different guns and shields, and as such reminded me of the Rhynocs and Lab Assistants from Spyro and Crash Bandicoot.

 

Perhaps it's because of the games I played in my childhood, but I always like to have varied enemies, especially themed ones. It's one of the reasons for why the Badniks are my favourite evil minions of all time, so I was very happy with the enemies in Colours.

[Mysterious X]

I played Sonic Unleashed and I actually beat it, it's one of my favorite games ever.

But when Sonic Colors was released, from the game's title and the review I thought it was all colorful, cheerful and such... Somethin meant for kids to play, well I have never played that game, I don't have a Wii which means I won't be able to play it in the next 10 or... 10 million years, so I can't judge, but is it really that great that it could be compared to Sonic Unleashed?!

[SenEDDtor Missile]

EDIT: Am currently prepping analysis. Will post once topic change occurs.

Edited March 17, 2013 by 743-E.D. Missile

[Soniman]

Round #4 - Plot/Story

 

 

 

(thanks for the idea Burnt Ash)

 

 

 

After dabbling in the small time topics for awhile I figure it was time to throw you guys a bone and give you one of the bigger topics early. So here we are, at what will be a most likely be a heated round, story.

 

Keep in mind that this is strictly the overall story and nothing else, stuff like characterization will come later (though it can be referenced in relation to how it helps or hurts the story).

 

 

 

First lets look at Sonic Unleashed.

 

Sonic Unleashed opens with Eggman dominating......space with his space fleet, until Sonic arrives at the scene and completely wrecks his shit. But due to a trick on Eggman's part, he gets the upper hand on Sonic, traps him, and drains the Chaos Emeralds. This gives Eggman the energy he needs to split the planet into several piece and awaken the sleeping giant within known as Dark Gaia. This has an unfortunate side effect on Sonic however, as the energy from Dark Gaia has turned Sonic into a ferocious Werehog. Well Eggman naturally is having none of his shit and ejects Sonic the Werehog through the atmosphere. It's here that he lands on Chip, who's past is unknown. So now Sonic has to find a way to stop Eggman's plans, as well as find Chip's true identity. 

 

What is a main factor of this game is the mythos it provides in expanding the history of the Chaos Emeralds and how they're influence runs deeper than being the focus of several civilizations, what with them being a part of the world itself. Speaking of which, Sonic's world in general is given more focus, in history and actual image. Sonic Unleashed provided people with the first cannon design of what Sonic's world actually appears as, it's a momentous occasion considering how inconsistent Sonic's world was in the past, and it's something that would continue into Colors.

 

Chip is the character in which the story revolves round, as throughout the story he learns of his purpose and his role in the grand scheme of the world's history. The plot centers around this and the relationship he has with Sonic, with other well known Sonic characters appearing occasionally. This relationship is one of the more...believable ones imo.

 

And what the first encounter with Chip should have showed you, was that the plot of this game is a lot more lighthearted and kid friendly than in the past. Although we still get some pretty dark shit (Dark Gaia in general really). The character move and behave in a more cartoony fashion, not to mention the designs and vibrant colors.....but that isn't exactly plot related.

 

Sonic as a Werehog surprisingly doesn't effect the plot all that much at all, hell outside of the Amy encounter, Sonic seems to be just fine with being a Werehog and you'd think he would be fine with staying that way forever.

 

Speaking of Amy, her and Tails get roles in this game. Neither of them are particularly major characters (with Tails only serving as the exposition man occasionally alongside Pickle) and are mostly around for additional support.

 

The ending ramps up quite well, until you get to Dark Gaia, unfortunately this game falls into the trap of casting out Eggman for god monster of the week, but here it's a bit more believable because you basically have had Dark Gaia's opposite hanging out with you and so a confrontation between these two titans had to be the game's climax.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sonic Colors does things a bit differently.

 

Eggman has created and interstellar amusement park for the world to enjoy, announcing it as a apology for his past misdeeds. Sonic naturally crying foul, heads up to investigate the theme park (along with Tails). It is here that they come across a white Wisp called Yacker. It is through him that they find out what Eggman's evil plans really are, and so they set out to save the wisps and their home planets.

 

The plot follows a pretty simple path, Sonic and Tails got to each of the generators which link all the planets together, and shut them down, which also frees the wisps of that area. Overall the main plot isn't anything ground breaking or even anything new, though after games like 06 and Shadow, perhaps a return to the basics was needed.

 

Unlike Sonic Unleashed which was a grand adventure which involved dozens of NPC characters and many locales, Colors is a lot more quant, focusing primarily on Sonic and Tails as they venture through the many theme park attraction saving wisps. In that sense it's a lot more character focused that in Unleashed, expanding upon the relationships of Sonic and Tails, two characters who were sorely lacking in the relationship department for the longest time.

 

What came as a shock to everyone about this game was the writing, which was done by Ken Pontac of Madworld and Happy Tree Friends fame. The writing was a lot more comedy focused than any Sonic game in the past. Jokes, puns, comedic sound effects, and cartoony cutscene music, it had it all, this kind of attitude also extended to the characters as well. Obviously this was met with mixed views. While some enjoyed the lighthearted and fun atmosphere and saw it as a welcome return to simplicity for Sonic stories, other saw it as a shallow cringe-fest with almost nothing of substance and yearned for Sonic plots with more meat on their bones.

 

 

---

 

 

Hey guys, I know this may come as a shock but I cast my vote to....you guessed it, Sonic Colors. Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Colors has a very similar structure when you get right down to it. You have a fairly big beginning, a fairly big ending, and barely anything in the middle. Sonic Unleashed primary focus was on going to the Gaia Temples, just as how Sonic Colors primary focus was shutting down the generators. Sonic Unleashed handled it's middle section by having some scattered Sonic/Chip scenes the boss scenes, and the occasional Engman scenes. I think my main problem with this is that you're not taken for a ride like in SA1 or hell, even 2. There are no twist and turns in the story, it's all extremely formulaic. I kind of wish more of the Unleashed NPCs would have had major roles in the story, or even story arcs, rather than just be optional fluff that you can experience on your own, it would have made Unleashed's story a lot richer to me. Sonic Colors isn't all that better in this regard, you have some Sonic and Tails scenes, some boss scenes, and the occasional Eggman scene. But you know what saves Colors' story for me and what makes in more entertaining that Unleashed? The writing. 

 

 

Sonic Colors writings makes nearly every scene a joy to watch, especially whenever Eggman is on screen. Another problem i had with Unleashed is that a lot of the dialogue is extremely formulaic and uncharacteristic (once again Eggman is exempt, and also Chip to a degree), and that's what it comes down to for me, character. I feel that Colors does wonder in giving the series an identiy when it comes to how it's story is presented and how it's characters behave. Look at franchises like Ratchet and Clank or Sly Cooper, it's due to how the stories and characters are written that they have identity, something Sonic has sorely lacked for the longest time. The actual PLOT of Colors really is nothing to shake a stick at, it's just Eggman doing his usual shenanigans of kidnapping innocent creatures and using them for his own evil games and it's up to Sonic and friends to stop him. In that sense it's pretty formulaic, just like Unleashed, and there are some minor plot points that are dropped (Yacker's disappearance) and some major ones that get no further elaboration (mind control beam), and some of the jokes really fall flat and had me rolling my eyes. So yeah, while the major plot isn't super good (though I still find it charming in the sense the Eggman finally has center stage and it's presented as sort of a quasi-modern representation of how stories were done in the Genesis days) the WRITING I believe is what saves it for me personally.

Edited March 17, 2013 by Soniman

[Kuzu]

Welp, I'll be in my bunker.

[Chaos Warp]

I think Sonic Unleashed has the better story. It actually manages to have a decent, balanced tone unlike Sonic Colors, which strayed too far on the humorous side (not to mention quite a few of the jokes weren't funny), and took itself more seriously without going overboard with that aspect. It just felt like a much more engaging narrative then Colours, which went too overboard on the jokes.

 

So yeah, my vote goes to Unleashed. I might expand more later but bedtime calls.

[Celestia]

This is a hard one. In terms of the overall story (concept, I mean), I think they're about equal. Eggman shatters the world and Sonic has to put it back together? Sweet. Eggman kidnaps aliens and Sonic needs to save 'em? Also cool.

 

I'd say the one thing Colours had over Unleashed is character interaction, not only for Eggman and Scratch and Grounder Orbot and Cubot but, the scenes with Sonic and Tails were a lot more natural than most other games in the series. I have to say, that really got my hopes up for when other characters would appear in future games, but Generations went kind of the opposite direction ... eh, maybe next time.

 

When it comes down to it, my main problems with both of these games is similar. It's been mentioned elsewhere but, both stories have a lot of the content at the beginning and ending while the middle is pretty much empty. And that's pretty dumb, since the middle parts of a story should have some of the most important stuff. There's also missed opportunities, which are more obvious in Colours--Yacker, mind controlling Tails--but are present in Unleashed too. I really did think they might be going somewhere with Sonic's transformation into the Werehog and how it might effect his personality.

 

When it comes down to it, I personally have to go with Colours, if only because I just find it more entertaining than Unleashed in many ways. I will admit the overabundance of jokes were kind of silly but it wasn't nearly enough to ruin it for me. (And some of them made me laugh which is probably a sign that I'm five years old I guess??)

 

Welp, I'll be in my bunker.

This attitude definitely won't result in a self-fulfilling prophecy, am I right?

[Nepenthe]

Unleashed has the stronger story. Granted it's not bereft of flaws, mainly that the middle flat-lines, Sonic's inner conflict with the Werehog form is botched, and a few unnecessary cut scenes are sprinkled in. However, the narrative includes stronger tonal variety than Colors' story to the benefit of its entertainment value, able to juggle more involving and satisfying moments of danger as well as humor that I feel deserves a good mention. A lot of it is subtle slapstick and situational humor that's staged well enough not to inhibit or upstage the story points, pushing the comedy to a higher quality level than the overall slew of juvenile verbal humor in Colors. Granted, I give Colors credit: the cast's characterization through playful dialogue makes them more animated to its benefit, so most of the cut scenes are easy on the eyes anyway. A lot of them put a smile on my face.

 

But regardless, Colors' overwhelming focus on lightheartedness and no attempts at development doesn't do its few serious cut scenes justice, and the narrative feels like a huge waste of potential overall. I feel nothing for the Wisps being zapped because they were developed more on the website than in the game itself, Eggman's return to final boss status lacks any punch as a traditional conflict between hero and villain- mainly because he isn't actually active in most of the game anyway- and it's annoying to even think of how big of a tease Tails being caught in the mind control ray was. Unleashed is a far less of an offender in this regard, getting more mileage out of its story elements in cut scenes and gameplay (both stages and hubs) which aids the believability of Chip's monologue in Adabat and the pulse-pounding danger of the finale.

 

Frankly, it's a shame that the apparent direction of the series is the continued abandonment of balance in favor of the more Looney Tune stylings of both Colors and Generations. They eschew a great deal of the actual adventure elements the series is known for as well as what little emotional depth the cast had beforehand in favor of pegging them into purely cartoony roles. I can only hope that eventually they'll start taking more pages out of Unleashed's book instead.

[Chaos Incarnate]

I think Sonic Unleashed has the better story. It actually manages to have a decent, balanced tone unlike Sonic Colors, which strayed too far on the humorous side (not to mention quite a few of the jokes weren't funny), and took itself more seriously without going overboard with that aspect. It just felt like a much more engaging narrative then Colours, which went too overboard on the jokes.

 

So yeah, my vote goes to Unleashed. I might expand more later but bedtime calls.

 

I was going to make my own post, but you summed this up perfectly. Unleashed wins by a longshot. 

[Vertekins]

Both stories have greatly missed potential. They both become rather "nothing-y" in the middle but I'll give Unleashed one thing over Colours; It doesn't create seemingly importany plot points instrumental to the development of the plot then drop them and to my knowledge, it doesn't contain questionable lines in regard to established things i.e Eggman referring to Earth as "Sonic's world", Sonic expressing amazement at Eggman's kidnapping of planets when he did it to Little Planet in the exact same fashion.

 

I actually cared about Chip's plight and the very nature of his existence. This little guy is an eternal part of the planet and has been this way since the dawn of time and yet despite this, he knows nothing about the planet he's a part of. The fact that the story is about him discovering who he is and experiencing the world properly for the first time, from eating it's food to interacting with people like Professor Pickle and seeing the world in all it's variable beauty and accomplishing this by the side of a fine friend is a heartwarming notion that makes the character not run-of-the-mill and not one dimensional in regards to his purpose. The involvement of Chip is what gives the plot direction and proves that he is absolutely instrumental to the plot i.e Him being able to seek the Gaia Temples and raise the Emerald platforms inside them, the journey to discover his memory and the ability to take on Dark Gaia.

 

As much as I wanted to like Yacker and get invested in his plight and quirks, the story simply didn't do anything for me regarding him. He floats through the air....and is big on body language....and floats through the air....and begs Sonic and Tails to help his buddies (Of whom it's also hard to care about because of their one-dimensional and unelaborated-upon characters. Ironic considering freeing the Wisps from oppression is the games' main plot point)...and then vanishes without rhyme or reason for the majority of the story....and then reappears with no gravity given to his reappearance such as where he came from whatsoever. The character has a kind of cute charm to him but that only counts in horseshoes in regards to contribution to actual narrative. Yacker is not all that instrumental to the plot, Sonic and Tails would have discovered what to do without consulting him.

 

In Unleashed, the story skips over things such as Sonic's thoughts on the world being split and his new form and does not satisfactorily elaborate on either. Sonic outright states that he feels that he needs to be careful about who sees him in Werehog form yet no one cares, neutering the form as a source of trouble for Sonic in this regard. The effect the new form has on Sonic is left largely to the players interpretation as is Sonic's POV concerning the world split apart (The cutscene when he saves Tails in Apotos skips over this but implies that he elaborated upon it) yet I feel that a more expository approach would do more justice to the impact of the form and the ramifications of the world being split.

 

I did find it mildly intriguing regarding Sonic's thoughts on two of his forms in Colours. He loves using Laser form because it's 'crazy' and 'wild' whilst he's freaked out by his Frenzy form because it's 'negative', 'weird' and 'freaky'.

 

I personally find it fairly interesting though how Sonic's motivation for helping out Chip 'evolved'; He initially did so because he felt guilty about landing on top of him and seemingly contributing to his amnesia but then continued to do so after Chip regained his memory because he didn't need any reason to. That's sweet.

 

In Colours, a lot of cutscenes are frequently very samey and plot points with potential are passed over i.e Tails being mind-controlled. Whilst quite a few Unleashed cutscenes merely show Emeralds being restored and uneventful encounters with bosses, Colours has Sonic talking smack to mute robots and faffing-about without contributing much to the feel of a story that is progressing. Unfunny interactions with mute robots are relied upon too much to bulk out the story. It's samey and unsatisfying.

 

Colours' plotholes also contribute to it's underwhelming writing.

 

I appreciate the way Unleashed weaved humor into it's cutscenes without making it prominent to the point that they are consumed by it and therefore having development punted aside, a problem Colours had. It was also subtle, lightly comical, no more focus was put on it's brand of funny than what was really necersary most of the time. This is something I personally appreciate more.

 

Chip really shouldn't sit on Sonic's head when he's in motion and has to brake. A comical pitfall that

Chip falls into twice. Subtle yet no less comical for it.

 

 

They're akin to a pair of quarreling brothers.

 

A character taking things into their own hands in a funny background event adds to their whimsy again, without

beating you over the head with it and detracting from exposition of plot i.e Pickle explaining what Sonic needs to do.

 

Colours sparkles when it comes to Sonic-Tails interaction, interaction between the bad guys and it has a refreshing tone, a story that feels like "A casual day in the life of Sonic and Tails" which is the kind of tone that previous games didn't really have. Yet it's flat story, lack of characters to actually care about, fumbling the ball with plot points, plotholes and unsubtle and immature take on humor was not exactly my cup of tea. Comparatively, Unleashed's sense of progression, focus on Sonic's and Chip's interactions, Chip's predicament and desire to see the world fulfilled and personally more appealing take on comedy struck more of a chord with me.

 

So in short, Colours wasn't so much a 'story' as an amalgamation of cringeworthy unfunny jokes (To the point that the Japanese script even rewrite entire swathes of dialogue to cut down on the cheese and flanderization and to make the jokes  with the translator more contextual), plot points that don't go anywhere and victims I don't care about which is pretty poor when you consider that stopping Wisp oppression is the game's main objective. Colours is much like Shadow the Hedgehog in that it puts it's tone miles before the other things that need to be considered in the writing and development of a story and it's characters as evidenced by cutscenes being consumed by silly antics rather than being delegated to exposition of the plot and deeper characterization of the characters. Unleashed squanders it's potential with it's most prominent point and becomes very uneventful during the middle yet it's story does ultimately have more heart, more substance and more solid direction and doesn't let any one tone have undue attention to detriment of story and characters. It can be funny, it can be serious and it can be casual. It balances various tones far better than Colours does and this has a knock-on effect on the characters, making them a tad more dimensional.

 

So in terms of a cohesive narrative that doesn't have plotholes and doesn't beat you over the head with it's tone with all the subtlety of a 10 ton anvil and makes use of it's plot points more whilst having characters that I can actually care about, I'll give Unleashed this round.

Edited March 22, 2013 by Vertekins

[Shane]

I'm sorry Soniman, but I'm going to have to choose Unleashed for the first time. >:

 

I'd explain why, but... Verte kinda covered everything I would have said and then some.

[Soniman]

I'm sorry Soniman, but I'm going to have to choose Unleashed for the first time. >:

 

I'd explain why, but... Verte kinda covered everything I would have said and then some.

 

Lol no worries, I kind of figured Unleashed would excel in this category anyway despite my views.

[ArtFenix]

I don't really like either of them but Sonic Unleashed story is so much better! I don't even see the point in giving examples: pretty much everything is better in Unleashed in terms of story. So yeah, Unleashed, hands down.

[Ducktor Naldush]

I think Sonic Unleashed has the better story. It actually manages to have a decent, balanced tone unlike Sonic Colors, which strayed too far on the humorous side (not to mention quite a few of the jokes weren't funny), and took itself more seriously without going overboard with that aspect. It just felt like a much more engaging narrative then Colours, which went too overboard on the jokes.

 

So yeah, my vote goes to Unleashed. I might expand more later but bedtime calls.

Well, I don't even have to add anything. This is exactly how I feel about the storytelling of Colors. Unleashed wins, hands down.

[Jack / Joker]

To be brutally honest, Unleashed's story bored me. I don't really care about Sonic's Friend of the Day and the fact that the Werehog didn't affect Sonic's personality at all makes me wonder what the point was in even having him as a plot element in the first place. To show how strong and perfect Sonic is? Fuck that, that's the boring side of Sonic I don't give a crap about. In Colors he's written as a complete dickhead who keeps trying to remind everyone how cool he thinks he is. And I loved that. He's a relic of the 90's, so seeing him act like one is really nice. On the other hand, Tails was so great in Colors he became one of my favorite characters because of it. Colors' great and actually interesting characterization made it easier to forget that nothing was really happening. In Unleashed they traveled the world which should really bring on more potential and plot elements than theme park-hopping, but the only shit that happened was that Sonic and Chip discovered the true meaning of friendship or whatever, and it never really advanced beyond that to me, what with the meh writing and dull characters (besides Pickle, if he was more prominent to the story I swear to god Unleashed would win) and... I just... didn't care about Chip at all. And the plot centered around him, so that's NO GOOD. In terms of plot, both are pretty similar however. Sonic goes places with friend, fights Eggman, nothing really happens. But Colors' brilliant cinematics and writing made nothing look slightly more like something, sooooo...

 

Colors TRIUMPHS again >:3

Edited March 17, 2013 by Starscream

[Nix]

Sonic Unleashed bored the shit out of me.  Sonic Unleashed may have more than Colors, but I honestly don't give a damn about any of the characters except for Eggman and Orbot (and their shenanigans are back in Colors, with a new companion to boot).  Whatever remnants of "character" Sonic had falls off a cliff the minute you beat Mazuri, Chip was never interesting or funny in the first place (that fact that they're using God as comedy relief half of the time is rather amusing, because I can't stop imagining a little dog pixie playing cards with a giant eldritch abomination in the planet's core), and the side characters are just sort of there for moral support I guess?

 

Sonic Colors didn't have much of a story, but all the characters were given some enough screentime for me to actually care about, and the reason I actually care about them is because it's written well.  Jokes (albeit, I thought they were funny) be damned, Sonic and Tails' brotherly friendship was believable from the moment they were talking about Eggman's motives all the way to where Sonic pushed Tails into the elevator to protect him from Eggman.  Sonic himself ditched the generic "good guy" attitude in favor of a character that's not only more energetic and lively, but a character whose flawed and actually believable.  He's a hypocrite (he criticizes Eggman for loving to hear himself talk, and then continues to talk for the sake of talking for the rest of the goddamn game), a bit of a goofball (Lisps?), extremely cocky, but he's still the goody guy in the end even with all of his 90's cheese.  I gotta love how Tails isn't even surprised by anything Sonic does anymore (except for when he caught Sonic talking to a dead robot), it just goes to show how long they've been together.  Eggman's back again doing much what he did in Sonic Unleashed with Orbot, but now Cubot's there to compliment Orbot's intellectual snark with his brand of multicultural stupidity.  Orbot and Cubot's interactions are also fun too since they almost act like brothers themselves, Orbot even takes Cubot's advice when he couldn't find Big Boy's arm (which was essentially "fuck it").  We couldn't really understand Yacker when he talks, but it's easy to understand his plight (since he can actually understand English surprisingly).  He's also like Chip where he'll do something or another in the background when the spotlight isn't on him, but he never actually speaks words when under the spotlight, so he's automatically better than Chip in my book.

 

If you like Sonic Unleashed, then Sonic Unleashed definitely has more to love, I don't think there's any denying that, but I find Sonic Colors' writing and characterization a lot more believable and interesting and that makes a much more fun tale to watch.

Edited March 17, 2013 by Nix

[Dizcrybe]

There's no doubt that Unleashed definitely has the bigger story, it's far grander and plot-driven compared to Colors, and it was... okay for what it did. In terms of writing, however, I'll give it to Colors.

 

Colors' writing just seems... fuller to me. What I mean is, I think it has more personality than Unleashed's. Say what you want about the jokes, but I never really minded them, and chuckled at at least one. The writing and dialogue is just so full of life. Dare I say, it's colorful.

 

This personality extends to Sonic and Tails, the former of which is a lot cockier than he has been in previous games, and the latter just goes "cool story bro" at all of his boasts, likely because he's seen it all before; it's nothing new to him. They're also much closer than they've seemed to be prior to Colors. They take the piss out of each other every now and again, which to me demonstrates a sort of bond between them. 

 

This relationship between Sonic and Tails is also shown through Sonic action's when Tails gets mind-controlled; the jokes stop, and he gets right pissed. 

 

 

Also, pay attention to how Sonic behaves (for lack of a better word) after he sees that he can't get to Eggman without Tails getting in the way. At that point, Sonic just desperately tries to snap Tails out of it, trying to avoid fighting his best friend. The only reason he did avoid fighting his best friend is because Eggman ran out of Hyper Go-on Power. He had more, it would've came to blows between Sonic and Tails. Once Tails is released from Eggman mind-control laser, the first thing Sonic does is immediately ask if he's all right, obviously very worried about him.

 

Also, note how Sonic pushes Tails into the elevator and sends back to Earth to protect him. He obviously cares about Tails a great deal. While he does this, Tails screams something like, "Sonic, noooooo!", implying that while Tails said he was scared, he still wanted to help Sonic beat Eggman, so while he may not be all that open about it anymore, Tails clearly cares a lot about Sonic too. In this way, Sonic and Tails' relationship is like AOSTH, except in AOSTH,  Tails was much more childlike (and four years younger, but that's not important).

 

In Unleashed, Tails was pretty much your cabbie, and not much more than that. Any sort of bonding scene or something similar was spent with Chip instead. The writing and dialogue is a lot more sedated and not-so-much AOSTH in your face like Colors was. But I welcomed the in-your-faceness of Colors (and AOSTH, at that). I think it's what the series needed after so many grandiose plots.

 

I probably could've elaborated better, but I guess what I'm trying to say is, while Unleashed's plot wasn't bad per se, I prefer Colors'.

[Kiah]

Round 4: Plot/Story:

 

I knew the tide would turn for me at some point in this thread, as Sonic Colors has earned all of my victories so far...But not this time. This round, Sonic Unleashed gets the vote from me.

 

With Sonic Colors, I actually enjoyed majority of the jokes, I enjoyed notably Tails' characterization (Sonic had some good characterization too, mind you), and I absolutely loved the bromance between Sonic and Tails, but that is honestly about all I enjoyed regarding Sonic Colors' plot. Also to give Sonic Colors credit, I liked how Super Sonic had nothing to do with the plot, as he has been in the main series lately, so that was a nice change. Sure Sonic Colors came across as a "Saturday morning cartoon" with all the jokes which I didn't mind, but not at the expense of a shallow story where humor took precedence. There just wasn't any balance between seriousness and silliness, I thought, with the humor overshadowing any serious pieces that the plot contained, as few as they were.

 

With the beginning of the plot, Sonic Unleashed's does a better job pulling you into the plot with its action-packed opening, I thought. Just so much goes on within the first 5 minutes of the game: including Dr. Eggman capturing Sonic not once, but twice! By the time the introduction was complete, Sonic had become the Werehog and the Chaos Emeralds were gray and useless. Also Dr. Eggman revealed his intentions with creating Eggmanland right after he fired the lazer that woke up Dark Gaia and split the planet up and then sent Sonic down to Earth. That's a lot to happen in only in the introduction of the game with a lot more to come! Sure the middle of the game's plot with the chaos emeralds being restored and whatnot was rather repetitive, but there were little things going on, including humorous, that kept your attention during these parts.

 

 

Sonic smiling in the face of danger...although that cockiness would end up costing him, I loved seeing that smile on his face

 

The beginning of Sonic Colors wasn't anything too eventful. If I remember correctly, I don't think things got really interesting in Sonic Colors until Tails got hit with the mind-control ray and that scene was full of potential that was absolutely blown among other opportunities to expand on the plot and make things interesting. The ending was rather exciting as well. Just inbetween all of that basically was Sonic talking to robots, dead robots even, destroying generators, and spewing out a ton of jokes.

 

While they didn't contribute much, I liked how Sonic Unleashed had a bigger cast of characters compared to Sonic Colors including Amy Rose, Professor Pickle, his assistant, and other NPCs, all having charm to them and not taking away from the plot.

 

Speaking of additional characters, I liked Yacker and all, but there just wasn't much to him, aside from providing a bit of humor and some help. Really wasn't much of a factor in the story as he would disappear and reappear for reasons unexplained throughout the game.

 

Chip on the other hand, has a story behind him that we know about, has a purpose, has a personality and had even allowed some of Sonic's characterization to shine through among their interactions. Don't get me wrong, as Sonic and Tails' interactions had me grinning from ear to ear in Sonic Colors, but I also enjoyed seeing Sonic and Chip's friendship in Sonic Unleashed, as it was nice to see Sonic actually interact with someone friendship-wise other than Tails.

 

Seeing Sonic and Tails' bromance in Sonic Colors was pure win and can't be beat, but...

 

It was still nice to see Sonic's friendship with Chip in Sonic Unleashed.

 

As for the humor, in Sonic Colors you would get a ton of this:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZyXjlR2CiY

 

Whereas opposed to Sonic Unleashed you got something to laugh at every once in a while: 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MoWprALEm0&list=PL01251284EC4B1A25&index=10

 

The jokes happened all throughout Sonic Colors. I just found them rather excessive at times, even though I enjoyed them for the most part. I personally don't want to laugh pretty much the whole time while playing a Sonic game, like Sonic Colors had me doing. Give me a story I can follow and enjoy while I am playing, with something to laugh at here and there like Sonic Unleashed did.

 

Granted, Sonic Unleashed's story wasn't perfect by any means, and was guilty of missed potential as well, but it just didn't leave me dissatisfied wanting more like Sonic Colors did. Also Sonic Unleashed's plot felt more complete, leaving me satisfied with what occured while Sonic Colors' plot felt rather incomplete, leaving me wanting more even after the laughs and being absolutely amazed with Sonic and Tails' bromance. It just felt like something was still missing, even as entertaining as it was.

 

Aside from the laughs and giggles and the warm, wonderful, happy feeling from seeing Sonic and Tails' bromance, I didn't get much out of the story in Sonic Colors. It just seems to lack balance between the humor and seriousness. This is why Sonic Unleashed wins in my opinion because I feel that it does have that balance between the two, leaving me delighted and content with it's plot from beginning to end with Sonic's Worldwide adventure.

[Your Vest Friend]

Colours just had moments in the plot that left me pissed off when I thought about them. Unleashed could drag, but everything felt more in place. 

 

Eh, Unleashed. I want to keep this quick. 

[JezMM]

Unleashed for sure.  Colours was just full of loose threads and... hell the entire finale came out of a mere coincidence established WAY too early on and forgotten about.  Just came off as as cheap victory for Sonic.

 

Stuff like Yakker going missing and it never amounting to anything, the mind-control beam wearing off instantly.  Just all of it felt like the story was getting interesting and surprising, then had to be quickly yanked back lest they intervene with having their neat 6 zones of 6 acts and a boss with nothing but pure gameplay driving them etc.

 

Finally, while the final showdown being nothing but petty revenge on Eggman's part in Colours was a welcome change to the formula, I still prefer Unleashed's grand, cinematic showdown.

 

So yeah, totally Unleashed for this one.

 

 

Boy... characterisation is gonna be a tough one though.  I love best buddy Unleashed Sonic AND snarky Colours Sonic.  8C

Edited March 17, 2013 by JezMM

[Carbo]

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to write here. Judging from most responses am I led to believe that "writing" and "story" are considered one and the same here? Because both have varying strengths when it comes to these things.

Story-wise I'd say neither wins. Colors' story near the end does a good job to weave game play and narrative but other than that it has a rather glaring plothole in what's generally a story where not much happens, the trade-off being some good exposition. Unleashed's story on the other hand is just kind of boring. Unmemorable. Chip was a lame character so I didn't care for half of the story revolving around him. It has nice ideas with exploring cultures while on an adventure to save the world but it never really gets interesting. Having more story doesn't mean it's inherently better, and Unleashed is so inoffensive up until the finale where it's another rehashed "battle of the gods" scenario that I can't really call it better.

Writing I'd say Colors wins because it manages to make Sonic an entertaining character because of how lame he is, which allows for Tails to bounce off of it, finally grow an identity and create some interesting dynamic. Never got this from Unleashed as every character there had a point A to point B mentality to them with the exception of Chip who's only character trait is "I like food". Every new character in this game always abides by some silly quirky trait, particularly Pickle, but nothing interesting is done with them. We're supposed to see Sonic as someone who does good and helps Chip out because he's his friend but I never get this impression from the game. It's hard to care about the nature for the characters' actions when there's nothing done in the game that makes me, well, care for them. The only thing that they really do is eat food but I can't say there's any moment that ever struck me as "yeah they're great friends" until the game tells me that they are once Chip has his resolve. And Chip suddenly gaining an important role in being Light Gaia doesn't add anything to that apart from turning an annoying character into a plot device.

[Amomynous]

Unleashed, totally with Verte on this one, Colours seemed to bring up a fair bit of seemingly important material that it just threw away, I had a hard time caring about Yacker,  it was entertaining I guess, it just didn't hype me to defeat Dr.Eggman in the slightest.

Edited March 17, 2013 by Mysterics

[Kuzu]

I think people need to start learning the differences between "plot", "story", and "writing" I know they all sound the same, but they're still distinct from each other.(God, my Literature Course still haunts me).

 

In terms of plot neither are particularly good, but I guess I'll give Unleashed this one for having a pretty good opening and ending. Unfortunately, that's where my love for it ends. Game starts off strong, but then after the opening is over, the plot just kind of...stops, you would be forgiven for forgetting the game even had a story of any kind considering how little shit happens until Adabat/Eggmanland. Colors may be worse plotting wise, but Unleashed ultimately tried to tell a story and didn't really do a good job at it. However, I do give Unleashed this over Colors.

 

Both stories can basically be summed up as: "Eggman's causing trouble, go smash some robots" so neither one get any points in this regard.

 

Writing, Colors hands down. Every character in Unleashed is just so subdued and mundane that I couldn't give a shit. Sonic doesn't do anything particularly memorable or anything more than what we're used to him doing, Chip is more or less the cutsey sidekick and then try to pull some emotional depth with him after spending the whole game as comic relief. Tails & Amy don't do crap, and while Eggman is undoubtedly the most well written character in the game, he still doesn't do a whole lot. The whole Werehog subplot doesn't go anywhere. Colors may have a questionable sense of humor, but the characters bounce off each other so well and it makes them feel more human and actually have personality; Sonic is the over the top large ham, while Tails plays straight man and calls him out on his dorkiness and both aren't afraid to take snide remarks at each other. Sonic & Eggman engage in some pretty chuckle worthy snarking before the final boss, etc. etc. I may not be feeling the cartoony direction the series is taking, but I can sure as hell get behind it's writing.

 

 

So survey says, I don't think either game particularly stands out for the reasons I stated above, but fi I had to chose I'd go with Colors mostly because I'm more towards character driven narratives than story driven ones. Can't care about a story if you don't care about the characters, and while Colors may not have tried to tell a good story, I at least cared about some of the characters. Can't say that about Unleashed.

[SenEDDtor Missile]

I think people need to start learning the differences between "plot", "story", and "writing" I know they all sound the same, but they're still distinct from each other.(God, my Literature Course still haunts me).

 

Checked it up, and I wasn't aware there was a difference between the two. Thanks for bringing it up; I'll be sure to add it to my analysis.

[Gabz Girl]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think they explain Yacker's disappearance in the DS version of Colours. So go play that to find out!

 

Anyway story wise Unleashed is better because the plot has a bigger scope and a great EPIC feel, though I couldn't care less about Dark Gaia which was just another Monster of the Week. Chip was ok, but his voice was really annoying and he didn't have much personality besides liking food and being cutesy. Professor Pickle was funny I guess, but other than that...

 

And writing wise, definitely Colours! True there were a few too many cheesy jokes, but the dialogue felt SO natural between Sonic, Tails and Eggman. Cubot and Orbot were really funny too, as were Eggman's PA announcements in the stages. Sonic and Chip never had that great chemistry...it was sweet I guess but a bit corny and forced. I also find it hard to believe that this weird flying fox thing is a God, the opposite of Dark Gaia. O_o

 

I'm gonna have to go for a tie here! Unleashed has a superior story, but the writing was bland as hell. Colours had stronger dialogue and characterisation, but the story was akin to Sonic Heroes as it didn't have a lot of substance. They are both pretty much on par in this category.