Video: Here's Digital Foundry's Technical Analysis Of Sonic Colors Ultimate On Nintendo Switch

A Wii game running just at 900p/30 fps, lower textures, long loading time, with so many glitches, why? Looks like a hasty port.

Huh? A Wii exclusive game that looked pretty dang good on a SD console is somehow a hassle on better hardware?

How? Man these devs are getting lazy each generation. There's no excuse why Colors is "struggling" on the Switch

Damn two disappointing remasters in one year from SEGA? First SMT Nocturne and now this? Switch got the short end of the stick on both these efforts which is pretty surprising for Colors in particular given you'd think they'd give Switch more attention seeing as how the original game was a Nintendo-exclusive title

But with that being said, I am glad PS5 is positive in that regard because that's where I always intended to pick it up

They really need to outsource these to more capable talent though

I'm impressed it's that bad.
Game development really does seem to be going downhill now compared to what they used to accomplish, given hardware restrictions.

I've had a few audio and visual glitches, and one crash, but that aside its run really well on my PS4 Slim.

I like this video, as always with these DF videos. Also, I want to play Sonic Colors, but I really wish there was a 120fps mode. I still might jump in and play it on PS5, but if it had a high motion resolution mode locked at 120hz it would be an instabuy for me.

I’ve had none of this issues everyone is claiming is going on with the Switch version. I guess people will believe anything nowadays.
Just make up lies about a great game that there’s even nothing wrong with

@Ccc1985 You also aren't the only person who's played this game nor are you the majority. Just because you've had a great experience doesn't mean everyone else has or that these issues don't exist

John is really soft here even if he tells people to avoid certain versions he glosses over bugs and shuttering that he would slam other games for, this is supposed to be a remaster so why is it fundamentally worse? I don’t care about texture differences that he has to pull onto 4X zoom to show off I want a game that feels as cohesive as the original release.
@120frames-please
They had the opportunity to enable full 4K when playing on PS5 rather than 1440p and didn’t so the chances of 120fps are slim, there are some timing problems caused by the shift from 30 to 60fps which John unfortunately falls to mention and 120fps would cause further issues unless the developer fixes them.
@Ccc198556
You have your head in the sand these problems have been confirmed as real on actual hardware for days now.

@MasterTrainerPeter I want to say that’s fine, but it’s a pretty bare-boned remaster of a game that came out 2-3 generations ago… These problems shouldn’t be a thing in the first place for any current/last gen console.

ouch! I was thinking of picking this up for the Switch but I’ll wait and see if they can improve game experience through an update

@Ccc1985 Unless you aren't having 10 second loading screen consider yourself a lucky one.

I canceled my pre-order and put the money towards Super Monkey Ball. I'm just going to play the Wii version. I really hope Sonic Origins delivers...

The virgin Sonic Colors Ultimate:
> 900p docked/600p undocked
> 30 FPS
> Far longer load times than the Wii version
> Filled with bugs/glitches
> May cause seizures

The chad Skyward Sword HD:
> 1080p docked/720p undocked
> 60 FPS
> Shorter load times than Wii version
> Bug/glitch-free
> Won't cause seizures

@Ramen756 100%, I should have really mentioned that thats just my experience and if people want to wait for the PS4 update, then go for it. It shouldn't be suffering any issues like this.

@dimi When the intro cut scenes are lush and gorgeous and the in-game cut scenes look like a Gamecube title designed for a CRT TV... "hasty port" red flags are everywhere.

Outside of the "so creepy it's great" Baby Sonic keychain, I see little value in going for this if you have it on a Wii.

@Ccc1985 I have also not had a single issue. I’ve been enjoying the the hell out of it.

Well I just finished the game a few hours ago, other than the game looking uglier than the Wii version it plays just fine to me.

@Xiovanni X is slightly faster than PS5. I would say its more of lazy port than Xbox paying any money to programmers (there are much better titles to show off)

There was an update before I played the game for the 1st time. I had no issue with the game.

I can't stand the lighting in this game.

I picked this up on the Switch yesterday and was immediately unsettled by the 10+ second loading screen for the first level. Not since Sonic 06 have I seen such long loading times in a Sonic game.

That said, I'll probably learn to live with it. But not ideal for this type of game really. Especially since one of my issues with the game is the abundance of short levels.

@Luigisghost669 Same.

@TheFrenchiestFry what was wrong with Nocturne? Really enjoying it myself!

Maybe it’s my age, I’m 46, but I don’t think I’ve ever been less excited about gaming than I am right now.

I think I am going to cancel my Monkey Ball Banana Mania pre-order and wait to see how it goes because this is unacceptable. I am sorry for the Sonic fans that bought this, those developers have no shame.

Calls of "Lazy developers", when .. in reality, I bet those developers worked their butts off, during a global pandemic no less, in order to get this finished for Sonic's 30th, whilst trying to hit multiple platforms.
It's a shame the Switch version ended up a bucket of munkies, but I'm sure they'll spend the next short while trying to fix it up with patches. That's how modern games work, right?!

how can Switch a console more powerful then Wii can't handle this game? Sega as usual doing a disapointing work on Switch.

The cut scenes are upscaled because Sega didn't save the original files. At least, they are upscaled. Xbox One X and Series X render the game at native 4K with 16x anisotropic filtering and 60fps. Sonic Colours is 1080p on Series S and 900p on Xbox One S. PS5 and PS4 Pro render it at 1440p and PS4 at 1080p. The best-looking and best-performing console version is Series X. The worst is Switch at 900p/600p 30fps. The Switch version also uses lower-quality assets. I'll play it on Series X.

A bit more hyped after watching the video...

"It looks fine, I suppose"

It's a Sonic game and a Wii game, I think I'll live with it looking "fine", but those loading times sound bad. Just what happened? Getting a Wii game to run on a Switch and look and perform better shouldn't be an issue.

The damage control from some people is so sad, pathetic even. I guess fanboyism is blind.

We all suffer when people still support this rubbish then the publishers keep pumping them out

I realize part of this is likely due to lower priority porting or just lazy porting but the game has had some improvements, it's not just an emulated Wii game. So this gives me mixed feelings about Nintendo's hardware strategy. I feel like Nintendo needs to offer a little more power with the next console so we have less issues with games towards the end of its lifespan, especially if developers are going to put in less effort because other consoles are easier to get games up and running on.

I have 100% the game and no problems at all..

@BlueOcean plays fine on the switch. I think it's funny that all these entitled brats actually think they can tell half the stuff they see.i beat it on the switch and I didn't have half the issues you guess are complaining about.

Lol the sad thing is all the people that are on here slamming the game are the ones who believe everything they read on the internet.like I said I beat the game and not half of these issues.i guess I'm the only person who got a perfect digital copy

I'm pretty shocked they didn't enable a way for PS5 to have 4K, seems rushed and poorly put together.

I get why some people dislike Mario 3D all stars. But if I had to choose a collection of 3 games with minor enhancements for 60 dollars, or a buggy remaster of a wii game that is capped at 30 FPS for 50 dollars. I’d stick with the first option

People should not be surprised by low effort/low quality Sonic games at this point.

@TheFrenchiestFry
I share your pain. All of this could've been easily avoided had they made this game on Switch hardware at its fullest potential (the usual 1080p 60fps), then make heavy improvements to the PS5 and XSX.

At least with SMT3, it wasn't originally on a Nintendo console to begin with, so I can understand that (except for the part where a main Persona game needs to come to Nintendo), but with Sonic Colors? Inexcusable.

That's really not acceptable. It sounds like the Switch version needed a little more time in the oven. I understand wanting to do a simultaneous release across all consoles, but if one of the products is going to be a bad experience, it's best to just announce a delay and put more work into it.

I don’t think enough people are talking about how abysmal the sound mixing is in this game. I was fine with everything else, but the sound was so poor I had to refund the game. Wait for a patch if you’re sensitive to audio like I am

So should I just grab it for my Series S instead?

Compelled to agree with many on here. I will still get the physical Switch version as it is my fav 3D Sonic game (I acknowledge Adventure series is a better video game series, but the Wii version of this game was good in its own right). I also would much prefer to play it handheld if I am double dipping. This was an ex-Nintendo exclusive for the Wii and the Wii game looked lovely for that console. It's several years on and many devs and companies have worked wonders with the Switch with arguably more complicated games to ensure run properly on the system. Patched soon hopefully.

@quinnyboy58 Switch version is considerably rougher on a technical level than either PS4 or PC. The framerate tanks during stuff like the Fiend fights, there's slowdown during regular demon encounters, and that's in addition to all the other lazily implemented presentation quirks of the remaster like the bit-crushed audio and FMV sequences imo

If you're not having those problems, that's great, but SMTIII HD I thought was pretty disappointing considering it was the first time in years it ever got a re-release

The load times on Switch is are a huge disappointment. I understand tech specs and all that crap, but seriously part of the benefit (or supposed benefit) of cart games is faster to non existence and that is not the case. Example of horrible load times Super Lucky's .... The game is fantastic and so much fun but damn the load times are through the roof. The Mario 3D World / Bowser's Fury was a pain in the arse with load times. As far as Sonic goes, the game shouldn't have been released with this many bugs and such high load times.

@quinnyboy58 The biggest complaint on Nocturne remaster was the compressed music which to me sounds like a 96kbps mp3 played in Winamp (more prominent with the battle music). Also read that there are frame drops during animations but my eyes aren't really trained to see those especially in a turn based game like this. I am enjoying it myself and although I never got to play the OG, I think it is a great visual remaster based on comparison videos on Youtube.

I'll stick to the Wii version.

Sounds similar to what Sega did with Sonic Genesis for GBA. A port of an old game that should run fine but doesn't with a superior version released just a week before (I think it was before? Or it was just after. They released one on the PSP very close to it along with a bunch of other Genesis titles).

I never played the Wii version of Colors (I had the DS version and it's different) so I'll still get it, but not until it's been patched and is on sale.

Sega could F'up an anvil.

Sega has once again shown that quality is not a goal. I'm so disappointed that they messed this up so bad. I was really looking forward to this. I guess I'll keep playing wii version on Wii U.

@Meteoroid indeed, indeed!
But I still wouldn't call them "Lazy".. that's a word I reserve exclusively for people like the Instagram devs, who still haven't made an iPad app.

I lost faith in Sega since they cancelled Ages.
This is just another example of Sega today. I hope the new Monkey Ball game gets more effort

@Bearzilla823 Are you only talking about the Bowser's Fury load times? I think the Mario 3D World side of that cartridge plays fine, loads quickly. The long load times for Bowser's Fury disappointed me though.

@Gerald why doesn’t sega give those arcade classics to hamster to port through the ACA range I will never understand. I just want to play golden axe.

@Jayenkai there are all sorts of people who have jobs which do the bare minimum or even less sometimes. Lazy may come across as aggressive but putting in the minimum work and expecting to be rewarded with customers money is pretty aggressive to me.

The switch is getting a bad port...

WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT???

By this point it's pretty clear they don't want to commit to the platform. They're just doing it because investors

@Darkyoshi98 no no no. The sad thing is not peoeple expressing their opinions on the quality but you trying super hard to damage control this port.

DF are lying? You good in your head? In what world is a downgraded wii game acceptable when the said hardware is much better? None.

This SHOULD have been 60fps. This SHOULD have been 720p in handheld and this SHOULD have been 1080p docked. But i guess with it being portable makes it ok to not be as good as it SHOULD?

I just went and bought the wii version off ebay for a grand total of £6.50 lol

@commentlife at least when playing on Nintendo hardware anyway