Sonic Colors

is an upcoming ninth film for the Sonic the Hedgehog film series. It was first announced on May 26, 2010 in a press release by Sega for Italy, and included a teaser trailer. The game will be released on November 12, 2010 in Europe and November 16, 2010 in North America.

Plot
Sonic Colors takes place in outer space, where Dr. Eggman has built a tractor beam that pulls together several different planets in order to form his own intergalactic amusement park. To fuel this device, he kidnaps a load of strange intergalactic creatures called Wisps, harnessing their colored energy to power his machine and his robots. Getting word of this, Sonic, accompanied with Tails, travels to Eggman's amusement park to free the imprisoned Wisps inhabiting each planet and stop his plans.

The Wii and DS versions will have slightly different stories to each other.

Production
Sonic Colors sees players playing as Sonic the Hedgehog, using a similar moveset to that featured in Sonic Unleashed, as he traverses each planet to rescue the Wisps from Dr. Eggman. The Wii version of Sonic Colors will use a mixture of 2D and 3D perspectives, akin to Unleashed's day stages, while the Nintendo DS version will take advantage of the dual screens of the handheld, similar to the Sonic Rush series.

During the game, players can use the power of the colored energy obtained from Wisps in order to traverse the environments and explore new areas. There will be a total of 8 Wisps in the Wii version and 6 in the DS version. Revealed so far are the standard White Wisps that give Sonic extra boost, Cyan Laser which allows Sonic to bounce off surfaces and travel through power lines, Yellow Drill that allows Sonic to dig into dirt surfaces to reach hidden areas, Orange Rocket that propels Sonic through the sky, and the Red Wisp, which turns Sonic into a living fireball. Some Wisps will be exclusive to each platform (for example, the Red Wisp is exclusive to the DS). Each level has numerous 'special rings' that unlock special content when collected. The game will also feature online leaderboards for both versions.

Development
Sonic Team examined criticism of previous Sonic titles from some critics and fans and tailored the game to match. Changes made included an amalgamation of 2.5D and 3D level designs and graphics, powerup-driven gameplay, and omission of "gimmick" themes such as the sword in Sonic and the Black Knight. Producer Takashi Iizuka has stated the game is intended for a target audience of gamers between six and twelve years old, as opposed to hardcore gamers for which Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is supposedly aimed at. Despite this, critics have posted feedback illustrating that the game could potentially appeal to all ages.

One of the first developments made was the decision that the setting should be an amusement park; Sonic Team then realized that "any sort of terrestrial amusement park would be too small to contain Sonic's adventures." From this spun the idea of an interplanetary park, which would allow for less realism in the game. The music was then written to "expand beyond the usual 'cool' Sonic sound and focus on making fun, up-tempo music that will really get players' blood pumping."

The script for Sonic Colors is written by MadWorld and Happy Tree Friends writers, Ken Pontac & Warren Graff. The game, along with Sonic Free Riders, will also be the first in the series to feature the new voice actors.

Cash Cash will be performing the game's theme song, "Reach For The Stars".

"Sonic" characters

 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Amy Rose
 * Dr. Eggman

Wisps

 * White Wisps - Allows Sonic to boost at any time.
 * Cyan Laser - Turns Sonic into a laser which can bounce off surfaces and travel through powerlines.
 * Yellow Drill - Lets Sonic drill through soft ground. Sonic will lose a life if he is still underground when the powerup runs out.
 * Orange Rocket - Blasts Sonic upward to tremendous heights.


 * DS version exclusive
 * Red Flare - Turns Sonic into a fireball and allows him to burst in any direction.

Reception
Sonic Colors was nominated for Best Platformer Game at GameTrailers E3 2010 awards. GameTrailers also commented that it "looks better than Sonic 4".