While it's true that Sonic has had a variable past few years in terms of success to say the least, Sega have been working hard this past year to restore the reputation of their favourite mascot and, while it may have taken them ages, they have finally got there. Riding high on the success of Sega All-Stars Racing and, more recently, the initial instalment of Sonic 4 it would seem that Sonic Team - alongside DIMPS - have been creating something rather spectacular and more colourful than usual.

Yes it would seem that Sonic Colours is indeed a triumph, make no mistake that this is a Sonic game truly worthy of carrying the namesake as it contains most of the more popular trademark moves while managing to successfully merge both two and three dimensional perspectives in a way that's nothing short of impressive. There are no new irritating third-rate characters added to the already overpopulated roster either with just Sonic being the sole controllable character with Tails included in cut-scenes and of course Robotnik/Eggman assuming the role of the villain just as it should be, so far so good then.

Normally this would be the point where there would be a major negative aspect that brings down the game significantly but in all honesty there is nothing noteworthy that's truly 'game-breaking' as may have been the case with the Were-hog sections in Sonic Unleashed, no... all additions to this game actually make sense. Everything takes place inside an interstellar amusement park created by 'Eggman' who has accomplished this feat by capturing and harnessing the power of an alien race known as 'Wisps' whose planet he has chained - along with several others - to a space-station; absurd as the plot may be, it's probably easiest to think of it as an elaborate conglomeration of the stories used in both Sonic CD and Knuckles Chaotix only better. The script - written by a pair who’s previous works include the commentary for MadWorld and the TV show LazyTown - is delightfully cheezy, and feels like a massive and humourous self-parody of Sonic’s recent outings.

In addition to some rather robust controls and precise physics Sonic now has many more moves thanks to the Wisps who aid him in his bid to save their planet by bestowing upon him new exciting abilities such as the Cyan Wisp which momentarily transforms the blue blur into a laser that bounces off crystals and through enemies, Yellow Wisps that allows him to drill through certain underground sections and even the Pink Wisp which allows Sonic to stick his spikes into walls and ceilings and boost along them.

There are six different worlds each containing seven separate acts with the last one always being a boss battle. The Tropical Resort is your first port of call and offers a sufficiently different yet vaguely familiar opening stage as you run through the park there are the familiar palm trees, chequered ground in places and of course a few loops but it all feels fresh and manages to set the tone nicely. Other areas include Sweet Mountain which is a sugary, powdered paradise featuring epic-sized edible items including huge ring-donuts and a towering cheeseburger that you can't 'has' but you can go straight through it in an impressive manner.

Each main area is rather impressive in its theme and takes full advantage of this, at times it feels like Sonic Colours borrows from the best as Starlight Carnival in particular gives off a strong Mario vibe from the start as you race through space as the road magically stretches out before you and moving on you'll traverse across rainbow coloured tiles. Not to mention the comparison continues when you get hold of a Blue Wisp which transform you into a cube which can turn blue blocks into coins and vice-versa making for some stunning platform sections; lastly another more direct comparison is the Red Rings of which there are no less than one hundred and eighty to collect scattered evenly in fives throughout the first six acts of each world, collecting many of these unlocks more levels in Game Land and collecting them all leads to unlocking something rather super indeed.

As with most 3D Sonic games the enemies you come up against are mostly generic 'Eggbots' however in a spate of comical genius they now come equipped with all manner of accessories all fitting in with the theme of each area such as in the under construction Planet Wisp where they are equipped with hard-hats and hammers or even as shogun warriors in the eastern themed Aquatic Park. While the added variation to those enemies is nice they still aren't a patch on the old classic adversaries of past games and thankfully some of these have been included too featuring the now fantastically fast Motobugs, brilliantly designed Buzz-Bombers, lethal-looking Choppers and even the wall-mounted, projectile spewing Spiny badniks all of which add charm to the overall feel of the game.

Most acts you'll be able to breeze through without too much trouble, indeed some of them will seem painfully short upon your first play-through but when you unlock more Wisp abilities the true beauty of the game shines through as there are multiple pathways to take and even a few 'hidden' areas to find that will only become apparent when you experiment with your different abilities. This setup adds a lot of replay value to the title as does the ranking system which grades you on each act depending on time and how you choose to use your abilities or even forgo them; It's refreshing too plus the number of speed, puzzle and spectacle type stages are well balanced making this feel like the most tightly designed Sonic title in years.

Boss battles are also somewhat refreshing as this time you're not fighting Eggman directly but instead one of his robot cronies and in a brilliant move, some of the stages feature a ship of sorts that you have to take down - almost Super Mario Bros 3 style - as part of the battle. While the fights themselves aren't particularly taxing, they are entertaining and serve the game well even if certain copy-pasted elements become a tad predictable they don't mar the overall experience which is a positive one.

Of course there are some negative elements including a few frustrating acts which you'll most likely be trying again and again due to some rather untactful placement of checkpoints resulting in some unnecessary retries of later stages. Speaking of unnecessary the 'multiplayer' feels rather tacked on as you can opt to play the game-land 'Sonic Simulator' levels with a friend which usually results in frustration – both players die if the other goes off the screen - but thankfully these stripped-back stages play rather well in single player and rather pleasingly some of them are even based off acts from previous Sonic titles which is a most pleasant surprise.

For what it offers in terms of sheer fun Sonic Colours succeeds where some of the previous modern incarnations have partly failed; here many successful elements from many past Sonic games and even from other platform titles have been taken, added into the game then refined while adding new elements that complement the existing core gameplay elements. The result is simply sublime and should be used as the template for the series from this point forward, it may have taken Sega ages but this is one Sonic title that they can genuinely be proud of; with this plus the brilliant Sonic 4 it would seem that 2010 is definitely the year of the hedgehog.

Written with support from Dean Jones