Sonic Colors: Ultimate is a bit of a mixed bag. On the plus side, it definitely looks sharper with 4K support and smoother performance at 60 FPS (on capable systems). The remade textures and new HUD give it a cleaner feel compared to the Wii original. Sonic also controls better—more responsive and snappy—which makes the fast-paced boost gameplay super fun, especially if you’re into titles like Sonic Generations or Unleashed. At its core, this is still one of the better modern Sonic games—great level design, cool Wisp powers, and a strong sense of speed. That said, the remaster had a rough launch. Visual inconsistencies like weird lighting and washed-out colors, buggy cutscenes, and even game-breaking glitches were big problems. The sound mix wasn’t great either—sound effects were overpowering, and there weren’t any audio sliders. The 2D sections also felt off at times with clunky transitions from 3D. But here’s the kicker: if you’re playing on PC, the Project Re-Rainbow mod pretty much saves the day. It fixes a ton of those bugs and visual issues, improves lighting and colors, tweaks the UI, and just overall brings the game closer to what it should have been at launch. With the mod, the Ultimate version finally lives up to its name. If you’re a fan of Sonic and have access to the mod, I’d say it’s absolutely worth checking out. Just know that the vanilla experience still has some rough edges.

★★★☆☆

Sonic Colors: Ultimate is a bit of a mixed bag. On the plus side, it definitely looks sharper with 4K support and smoother performance at 60 FPS (on capable systems). The remade textures and new HUD give it a cleaner feel compared to the Wii original. Sonic also controls better—more responsive and snappy—which makes the fast-paced boost gameplay super fun, especially if you’re into titles like Sonic Generations or Unleashed. At its core, this is still one of the better modern Sonic games—great level design, cool Wisp powers, and a strong sense of speed. That said, the remaster had a rough launch. Visual inconsistencies like weird lighting and washed-out colors, buggy cutscenes, and even game-breaking glitches were big problems. The sound mix wasn’t great either—sound effects were overpowering, and there weren’t any audio sliders. The 2D sections also felt off at times with clunky transitions from 3D. But here’s the kicker: if you’re playing on PC, the Project Re-Rainbow mod pretty much saves the day. It fixes a ton of those bugs and visual issues, improves lighting and colors, tweaks the UI, and just overall brings the game closer to what it should have been at launch. With the mod, the Ultimate version finally lives up to its name. If you’re a fan of Sonic and have access to the mod, I’d say it’s absolutely worth checking out. Just know that the vanilla experience still has some rough edges. ★★★☆☆