Colors DS took its good time getting here, but it finally got here.
This game is GREAT. Easily my favorite of the three Rush-style games and I'd even say I rate it almost as highly as Colors Wii, which is one of my favorite Sonic games in general. For starters, I love that they finally brought Sonic's moveset up to date with the 3D Boost games by giving him the stomp and air boost (as well as the slide, which I actually wish they
hadn't added since it's barely used and impossible to ever tell where it's needed until you've already slammed into a wall). They also got rid of the trick system which I think is for the best as it could get pretty repetitive and annoying after a while to simply mash B and hear a million sound effects go off after every jump.
Most importantly though, Dimps finally figured something out... no one likes getting killed all the time! Asteroid Coaster is the only Zone with any notable instakill moments, but they're nowhere near the terror of a stage like Altitude Limit, and you build up such a surplus of lives that you'll never fear a game over. Instead, the Red Rings and alternate Wisp routes incentivize replays. Sure, it makes the game far easier, but way more fun.
As for the stages, they find a great balance between going fast and slower platforming (usually). Tropical Resort and Sweet Mountain feel like your typical action-packed Rush stage with some optional Burst Wisp routes, Aquarium Park is the highlight of the game with speedy Laser Wisp and Drill Wisp options, Asteroid Coaster has lots of destructive Void Wisp fun, and Starlight Carnival is filled with cool rail grinding bits. The only level I didn't like as much was Planet Wisp, which is superb in the console version but is here filled with a lot of slow, mandatory Drill Wisp sections - unfortunate since it's not only the most annoying Wisp to control when confined in those tight underground spaces, but its loud irritating theme pulls a Werehog and constantly drowns out the excellent stage music.
The bosses are great too, like the Wii version they get recycled a bit but they're all creative and don't take too long to beat once you know their tricks. I also liked the special stages reminiscent of Rush's - not quite as good as those IMO since they never really get challenging, but fun nonetheless. I sort of rushed through the game to see all the acts, but it looks like there's still plenty to do between the missions, S-Ranks, and red rings.
Oh, and I have to give a shout-out to the music. Yeah, it's the same as the Wii version's, but these are some great DS conversions. They even put some compressed versions of the Wii version's orchestral themes in there. I love smaller-scale handheld versions of console games that give their all to try to give an equally awesome experience.
It's really not that bad. The worst thing I can say about it is that it's easy. Its most similar predecessor might be the PS2/Wii Unleashed in terms of complexity and length, but it's a lot faster than that.
Forces desperately needed an Egg Shuttle type mode. Every time I want to go back to it for fun I get annoyed having to go through the menus and watch the lengthy victory screen for such short and simple stages.