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Sonic Colors (Wii)

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Title Screen

Sonic Colors

Also known as: Sonic Colours (EU)
Developer: Sonic Team[1]
Publisher: Sega[1]
Platform: Wii
Released in JP: November 18, 2010[1]
Released in US: November 16, 2010[1]
Released in EU: November 12, 2010[1]


AnimationsIcon.png This game has unused animations.
AreasIcon.png This game has unused areas.
EnemyIcon.png This game has unused enemies.
GraphicsIcon.png This game has unused graphics.
ModelsIcon.png This game has unused models.
MusicIcon.png This game has unused music.
SoundIcon.png This game has unused sounds.
RegionIcon.png This game has regional differences.


Sonic Colors is the game that ended the so-called "Sonic cycle" by actually being decent, taking the daytime gameplay of Sonic Unleashed and placing a higher emphasis on 2D platforming and accessibility. The result is a brisk, colorful romp filled to the brim with unique stages.

A remastered version, Sonic Colors: Ultimate was released in September 2021.

Hmmm...
To do:
  • Early Wisp themes.
  • Check files related to the Wisps, they seem to have early names for each of them. (Phantoms?) In "actstgmission.lua" each world seems to use a placeholder name.
  • Some of the unused content in Ultimate may also be present in the Wii version.


Unused Audio

Voice Clips

Hmmm...
To do:
  • Include them into the article, and translate the Japanese lines below.

In both se_voice_sonic_action_e.csb,se_voice_sonic_action_j.csb and se_voice_sonic_areamap_e.csb,se_voice_sonic_areamap_j.csb contain loads of unused voice clips for sonic including unused variants of used clips or completely original and unused clips entirely.


There are unused tracks in the game's Synth folder of Sonic taunting bosses in both English and Japanese, as well as banter between Sonic and Dr. Eggman during the final boss. However, in the actual fights, Sonic is silent, and Eggman only has one line in the final battle. The Frigate Orcan and Frigate Skullian clips are used in Sonic Colors: Ultimate, though the rest remain unused.

English Audio Japanese Audio Transcript Boss
Sonic: Aww, couldn't keep up?
ソニック:最初の威勢はどこにいったんだか
General
Sonic: That was pretty fun!
ソニック:なかなか楽しかったぜ
Sonic: That beats riding a slowpoke ferris wheel any day!
ソニック:のんびりできない観覧車なんてジョウダンじゃないぜ!
Rotatatron
Sonic: A little rough, but that was my kind of ride!
ソニック:こんなアトラクションも嫌いじゃないぜ
Sonic: Now it's a shipWRECK adventure ride!
ソニック:悪いな!沈没船にしちまって
Captain Jelly
Sonic: You can't beat quality with quantity!
ソニック:何人集まってもザコはザコさ
Sonic: Sorry, I got bored and broke your robot!
ソニック:悪いね、タイクツだったんで壊しちゃったぜ
Frigate Orcan
Sonic: Did I go a little too far this time?
ソニック:さすがにやりすぎちゃったか?
Sonic: And somehow, it always ends like this.
ソニック:やれやれ、結局こうなるワケだ
Refreshinator
Sonic: And I was really hoping for some decent rides in this place.
ソニック:もっとマシなアトラクションを用意しておいてくれよな
Sonic: What, it's over? That was fast.
ソニック:これで終わり?あっけないね
Admiral Jelly
Sonic: Done and done.
ソニック:いっちょあがりってね
Sonic: That should put a stop to this wisp-draining insanity!
ソニック:ウィスプ改造なんてバカなマネもこれでおしまいだな
Frigate Skullian
Sonic: That takes care of this place.
ソニック:これでこの施設もおしまいだ
Sonic: Thanks for the laid-back spacewalk, Eggman!
ソニック:宇宙さんぽにはちょうどよかったぜ、エッグマン
Nega-Wisp Armor
Sonic: Your little party with other people's planets is over!
ソニック:よそ様の星を巻き込んだパーティーもこれでおわりだ
Eggman: That's not... but they're even more powerful than the Chaos Emeralds! No!
エッグマン:バカな!カオスエメラルドをも上回るというのに!バカなああああ!!
Eggman: But... but how? This should be just a fraction of the Nega Wisp power!
エッグマン:な、なぜじゃ!?ダークウィスプの力はこんなものではないはずじゃ!
Sonic: Maybe the Nega Wisps don't like you either, Eggman! Looks like I win this round!
ソニック:そのダークウィスプにすら嫌われたんだろ?今度という今度はオレの勝ちだな!
Sonic: Sorry Eggman, it looks like the Wisps have sided with me on this one!
ソニック:残念だったな。ウィスプたちはオレに力をかしてくれたみたいだぜ
Eggman: But that's... my Nega Wisp was to be perfect! GRAAAH!
エッグマン:バカな!ワシのダークウィスプは完璧なはずじゃああああ!!

Early Music

There is a completely different early version of the Color Power: Green Hover theme that can be found as bgm_pha_united_ast_wav.

Color Power: Green Hover

Early Final

Unused Music

in sonic2010_0.cpk/sound/Synth, there are multiple versions of unused boosting versions of songs in the final game. The only exception being the boosting track for Terminal Velocity Act 3, in the final game, the original track is just used as background music in Act 2.

Nega Wisp Armor Phase 2

Terminal Velocity Act 3

Early Levels

actstgmission.lua

This file contains developer notes to identify each level layout.

Tropical Resort

Act Identifier Translation
ACT01 旧ACT1の前半部分 First Half of Old Act 1
ACT02 旧ACT1の後半部分 Second Half of Old Act 1
ACT03 旧ACT2 Old ACT2
ACT04 ジュゲム Lakitu
ACT05 レーザー+マト Lasers + Targets
ACT06 回転足場+スパイク Rotating Platforms + Spikes

Sweet Mountain

Act Identifier Translation
ACT01 旧ACT1の前半部分 First Half of Old Act 1
ACT02 旧ACT1の後半部分 Second Half of Old Act 1
ACT03 旧ACT2の前半部分 First Half of Old Act 2
ACT04 ファイアバー Fire Bars
ACT05 旧ACT2の後半部分 Second Half of Old Act 2
ACT06 再生ブロック Reforming Blocks

Starlight Carnival

Act Identifier Translation
ACT01 ACT1 Act 1
ACT02 パズル+爆弾ブロック Puzzle + Bomb Blocks
ACT03 移動3連バネ Moving Triple Springs
ACT04 プラズマ砲台 Plasma Turrets
ACT05 旧ACT2 Old Act 2
ACT06 アストロノーツ+マト+ファイアバー Astronauts + Targets + Fire Bars

Planet Wisp

Act Identifier Translation
ACT01 旧ACT1の前半部分 First Half of Old Act 1
ACT02 足場+ジュゲム Platforms + Lakitu
ACT03 チェイサー Chaser
ACT04 旧ACT1の後半部分 Second Half of Old Act 1
ACT05 再生ブロック Reforming Blocks
ACT06 旧ACT2 Old Act 2

Aquarium Park

Act Identifier Translation
ACT01 旧ACT1の前半部分 First Half of Old Act 1
ACT02 回転足場 Rotating Platforms
ACT03 スクリュー Propeller
ACT04 旧ACT1の後半部分 Second Half of Old Act 1
ACT05 移動3連バネ Moving Triple Springs
ACT06 旧ACT2 Old Act 2

Asteroid Coaster

Act Identifier Translation
ACT01 旧ACT1の前半部分 First Half of Old Act 1
ACT02 旧ACT1の後半部分 Second Half of Old Act 1
ACT03 回転足場+重力反転 Rotating Platforms + Gravity Inversion
ACT04 土星サーキット+ロデオ Saturn Circuit + Rodeo
ACT05 ファイアバー Fire Bars
ACT06 旧ACT2 Old Act 2

Game Land

Act Identifier Translation
1-1 MD1 Mega Drive 1
1-2 リゾート面ACT1後半 Resort Level Act 1 Second Half
1-3 MD4アレンジ Mega Drive 4 Arrangement
2-1 MD2 Mega Drive 2
2-2 リゾート面ACT2 Resort Level Act 2
2-3 水族館面ACT2 Aquarium Level Act 2
3-1 SWA・アフリカ Sonic Unleashed: Africa
3-2 MD6:スクラップブレイン Mega Drive 6: Scrap Brain
3-3 プロトタイプ Prototype
4-1 MD3:スプリングヤード Mega Drive 3: Spring Yard
4-2 SWA・NYチェイサー Sonic Unleashed: New York Chasers
4-3 ウィスプ面ACT2前半アレンジ2 Wisp Level Act 2 First Half: Arrangement 2
5-1 MD4:ラビリンス Mega Drive 4: Labyrinth
5-2 リゾート面ACT1前半 Resort Level Act 1 First Half
5-3 ウィスプ面ACT2前半アレンジ Wisp Level Act 2 First Half Arrangement
6-1 SWA・NYサイドビュー Sonic Unleashed: New York Side View
6-2 MDII9:スカイチェイス Mega Drive II 9: Sky Chase
6-3 MDII9:スカイチェイス改造 Mega Drive II 9: Sky Chase Edit
7-1 MD5:スターライト Mega Drive 5: Star Light
7-2 ウィスプ面ACT2前半 Wisp Level Act 2 First Half
7-3 お菓子面ACT1前半 Snack Level Act 1 First Half

This reveals that many of Game Land's acts are based on levels from Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic Unleashed, and the main game.

Thanks to Windii for translation help.

Internal Level Structure

The previous file reveals that Sonic Colors was originally going to follow the same level structure as previous Sonic games like Sonic the Hedgehog CD, Sonic Advance 2, and Sonic Unleashed: two main Acts followed by a boss. The other Acts would have been optional side-missions, which explains why they all reuse level geometry from other levels. In most cases, the two main Acts were split into separate Acts. The original act format was, as follows:

  • Tropical Resort Act 1 was split into Acts 1 and 2, while Act 2 became Act 3.
  • Sweet Mountain Act 1 was split into Acts 1 and 2. Act 2 was split into Acts 3 and 5.
  • Planet Wisp Act 1 was split into Acts 1 and 4, while Act 2 became Act 6.
  • Aquarium Park Act 1 was split into Acts 1 and 4, while Act 2 became Act 6.
  • Asteroid Coaster Act 1 was split into Acts 1 and 2, while Act 2 became Act 6.

Starlight Carnival and Terminal Velocity did not see any Acts split, though the former's Act 2 became Act 5. It's unclear why these changes were made, though it is presumed they were done to pad out the game's length.

Note that the DS version of Sonic Colors is structured almost identically to this; every area has 2 acts, a boss, and 3 side missions.

Hmmm...
To do:
Add images showing the splits.

The splits seem to have been made fairly late in development, as the geometry for what would have remained of the levels (excluding objects and enemies) is still present and can be accessed through glitches or hacking. With the exception of Tropical Resort Act 1, they're all fairly easy to spot in-game:

  • What became Tropical Resort Act 2 exists behind the ending room of Act 1, but it can't be glimpsed in-game without glitches due to the wall obscuring it. This makes it the only split that can't be seen via normal means. The wall texture behind the Wisp Prison depicts a door; it's possible that the player would have run through the door to access the part that was split.
  • Sweet Mountain Act 1 ends directly where what became Act 2 begins. The beginning of Act 2 can easily be seen in Act 1.
  • Likewise, Sweet Mountain Act 3 ends directly where what became Act 5 begins, and the beginning of Act 5 is clearly visible in Act 3.
  • The beginning of what became Planet Wisp Act 4 can be spotted in the background of Act 1's final 2D section, though it's not clear how the two sections would have been connected originally.
  • Aquarium Park Act 1 ends right before what became Act 4 begins. At the start of Act 4, the player can backtrack into Act 1's final 2D section, with a different object layout, to find a shortcut.
  • What became Asteroid Coaster Act 2 is visible at the end of Act 1; it's likely that the player would have used homing-attackable asteroids to continue to it. It's actually possible to reach it with a well-timed jump and boost, although you won't get far due to the lack of objects.
(Source: SKmaric)

Unused Sonic Simulator Levels

Hmmm...
To do:
  • Get videos of these up.
  • These screenshots are from the US version of the game, are they any different in other releases?

There is data for 6 unused Sonic Simulator levels, in varying degrees of completeness.

  • stgA20 is probably the most complete of the group, with only one small camera bug remaining. This stage makes use of the Spikes powerup inside a large maze-like structure.
  • stgC20 seems more like a rough draft, having obvious misalignments and lacking smooth camera triggers. This stage provides the Drill powerup to speed through some dirt.
  • stgC30 is an easier stage, with one small Spikes powerup climb section.
  • stgE10 contains a rail section, Rocket powerup sections, and a quick step section.
  • stgF10 starts with a bare quick step road, then transitions to a water area. The largest water zone contains a bug that doesn't allow the player to use the drill wisp.
  • stgF20 is probably the largest of the group, but improper camera triggering in water makes it nearly impossible to complete. The laser robot chase exists as the final section.


Unused Graphics

Early Textures

An unused archive called obj_drill has copies of many of the regular objects found in common_object, with a few differences and a handful of textures. The most interesting piece is an early design of the Yellow Wisp, in image form. It is named cmn_obj_pixy_spn_SD and uses three textures, two of which are not in the archive. The textures are cmn_obj_pixyspn_dif_SD, cmn_obj_pixyspn_halo_dif_SD, and cmn_obj_pixyspn_strp_dif_SD. An earlier design for metal boxes can be found as well, with metal corners instead of the glowing corners used in the final design. There is also an unused version of the ramp object named cmn_obj_trickpanel30L_SD. It is 217% the size of the standard ramp.

Coming soon

Stored in the archives of the game over screen are graphics from the E3 Demo and the PAX Demo

Unfinished Texture

ColorsShadowRSO.png

An unused shadow map file for the boss act of Tropical Resort. The image is divided up into "Area B" and "Area D".

Rating Pending

ColorsRatingPending.png

An unused image presumably used in place of the Sonic Team logo before the rating was given.

Cutscene leftovers

Level entries

In actstgmisson.lua there are unused entries referencing cutscenes

   -- ev(イベント専用ステージ)
   {
	  missions = {

		 -- ev110,130,410,450(リゾート面Act2ゴール周辺)
		 {
			name		= "stg010",
			data		= "stg010",
			player_pos	= { 16850.0, -1931.77, -9420.0 },
			player_dir	= 90.0,
		 },

		 -- ev140,170(リゾート面Act1後半建物エリア周辺)
		 {
			name		= "stg011",
			data		= "stg010",
			player_pos	= { -2300.0, -259.25, 0.0 },
			player_dir	= 90.0,
		 },

		 -- ev310(ウィスプ面Act2ゴールエリア周辺)
		 {
			name		= "stg041",
			data		= "stg041",
			player_pos	= { -1100.0, 3500.0, -10400.0 },
			player_dir	= 180.0,
		 },

	  },
   },

}

Leftover Cutscene Room

Hmmm...
To do:
Screenshots or videos showing it.

An early version of the room created to render the cutscene before the Planet Wisp boss still remains on the disc, in the stg490 directory. It uses the filename stg490_02 and references textures that weren't put on the disc (listed below). The textures have the letter code "evn" (likely for "event") and were used to texture the generator platform and the tractor beam chain.

  • evn_o_tb1_bcs01 - evn_o_tb1_bcs07
  • evn_o_tb1_black
  • evn_o_tb1_parts01 - evn_o_tb1_parts03
  • evn_o_tb1_stairs
  • evn_p_tb1_ant

some meshes have their normals swapped the generator is unfinished because the skull pattern is not modeled as is in the final and the top is not slanted at the front. Additionally, a copy of part of Tropical Resort's boss ring (of which the Planet Wisp boss is a copy) exists in the same folder, with the name stg490_04.

Unused Models

Unused Spring Variants

Hmmm...
To do:
See if these have any functioning code.

There are models for two spring variants in the game's files that go unused. Interestingly, both previously appeared in Sonic Unleashed.

Blue Spring and Action Pad

A X B Y flashbacks...

The blue spring and action pad, which were used for quick-time events in Sonic Unleashed, are present in the game's files. Colors doesn't feature the kind of quick-time events that Unleashed did, but these objects' presence suggests they were planned at some point. Some areas where these could've possibly been used are the scripted wall-jump sequence in Starlight Carnival Act 1 and to bridge the gap between Planet Wisp Acts 1 and 4 before they were split into separate Acts.

Thorn Spring

Remember how annoying these things were?

The thorn spring, a spring variant from Sonic and the Secret Rings and Sonic Unleashed, also goes unused. In both games, the player has to avoid using a homing attack on a thorn spring when the spiked side spins up, so they presumably would've functioned the same in Colors.

Ferris Wheel Missiles

Hmmm...
To do:
GIFs of the animations.

The infamous Ferris wheel boss Rotatatron and his upgrade, Refreshinator, both have an unused missile attack. Both bosses have a unique missile model loaded with them, which each have their own unique textures. Unlike most models in the game, these textures have the shadows baked into the texture. Both bosses have an animation of moving the cylinders on their back, referred to as shot_loop which would have been used to launch the missiles. (Ever wonder what those tube things were for? Now you know.) Refreshinator never uses this animation, but Rotatatron uses it when launching the glowing pink ninja stars from his face.

Motobug Cannon

Spot guns!

Inside the common Motobug enemy model is a pair of tube-shaped weapons that match up with the top-most spots on the body. Each tube has a glowing spot on the front and a square hole on the back. They are rigged to bones called PartsL and PartsR, aligned in such a way that the cylinders can easily move out from the position of the spot. Each one also has a bone named WeaponSpot aligned with the glowing spot on each cylinder. The larger Motobug enemy has the same bones but does not have the hidden weapons. None of the model's animations use any of the weapons' bones.

This feature appears in the game's concept art, which depicts a spherical object of some kind being ejected from the hole on the back of the tube. Since the holes face backward, it is likely that Motobugs would use these weapons while driving ahead of Sonic.

Unused Animations

Hmmm...
To do:
Sonic and Crabmeats have animations that are unused here but used in Generations. Put them here.

Terminal Velocity Egg Pawn

Hmmm...
To do:
Add GIFs showing the animations.

Despite only being seen flailing around in space, this fancy version of the normal Egg Pawn has a set of standard animations, including a unique "found you" animation. Unlike the other Egg Pawn models, it does not rely on the default version for its animations and body, though nearly half of its animations are copied from the regular version.

Unleashed Animations

Hmmm...
To do:
The rigging might be shared. Need to fact check this. Generations also had unused kick animations alongside their functionality. Must check if there's code related to these actions.
...did anyone actually use this feature, though?
Wonder if this move is actually here...

The crawl and foot sweep moves from Sonic Unleashed. These are likely straight ports from that game; the Sonic model used in Sonic Colors share the same skeleton structure, textures, Uvs and most animations besides those for running. However, their presence indicates that these moves were initially planned.

General Animations

sn_springjump_e An animation of Sonic doing a roll while landing sn_walk_b_loop An animation of Sonic walking backwards

Hmmm...
To do:
Upload GIFs of these animations.

Internal Project Name

The game's internal project name is Sonic2010, according to paths in the executable, source paths in Sonic Lost World (which was built on the Colors codebase), and the development leftovers in Sonic Colors: Ultimate.

Oddities

Filename extension

Many, MANY models and textures have _SD at the end of their filenames. This could be a leftover of a rumoured Sonic Generations Wii version, as that game uses _HD at the end of the filenames too. That'd also explain the returning badniks and the shared unused animation for the Unleashed crawl move between both games.

'Wisp Use' Sound

The sound when using Wisps are actually two separate clips that play together in-game, this possibly indicates that they were planned to alter when they were played.

Actual Audio In-game and later games

Terminal Velocity Texture Design

At some point, this texture was changed. However, they forgot to swap out the modified specular map for it. As a result, lighting effects on this texture will look odd. None of the other textures resemble this modified design.

elv_o_ty1_mecha01 elv_o_ty1_mecha01_spc
ColorsTVmecha01.png ColorsTVmecha01spc.png

Regional Differences

The game is known as Sonic Colours for the European release (also used in Australia in this case), as the word "color" is spelt with a "u" in those regions. Canada also uses the "u" spelling, but as per usual, it shares a version with the United States, so that isn't reflected here. There is an ESRB notice above the copyright notice ("©SEGA") in the North American version.

Japanese USA European
SonicColorsJPTitle.png Sonic Colors (Wii)-title.png SonicColorsEUTitle.png

References