Sonic Colours Remake removes lives and game overs

In Sonic the Hedgehog’s latest outing, “players can no longer lose all of their lives”.

Sonic the Hedgehog has been through a lot since his first run through the Green Hill Zone, but in the Sonic Colours Remake, it seems he doesn’t have much to go up against.

The original game was released in 2010 to mixed reviews, and it seems SEGA wanted to try its hand again on this particular Sonic adventure, as Sonic Colours Ultimate released preview footage of stages like Tropical Resort, Sweet Mountain and Starlight Carnival Zones.

However, the new game has taken a new path, choosing to remove the lives system completely, meaning players won’t be seeing a game over screen in this game, you will just keep trying the stage from your last checkpoint until you finish.

“We removed the lives system and the game-over screen. We felt that that original loop of losing lives, getting a game over, and returning to the main menu was a little tedious. Players can no longer lose all of their lives. Instead of dying, they will return to the last checkpoint,” Aaron Roseman, Producer at Sega of America, told Trusted Reviews.

Tails also gets a role, as he is now the new save mechanic, even letting you keep all your rings.

“If you fall and have Tails Save available, then he will return Sonic to the last safe location without losing any rings,” Roseman went on to say.

If you’re lucky enough to collect a Tails balloon one will be used up if you were to fall off a cliff or ledge, and Tails will appear to bring you back to where you died, not even the last checkpoint.

This does call Sonic’s well-loved rings into question, as if you’re in no danger of losing them or no danger of losing any lives, it doesn’t really matter if you collect any rings at all, unless you’re looking for a better high score at the end of the level.

This isn’t a new idea, many games have started to abandon lives in favour of letting players just play out a level until they finish, Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time took this on by employing two different modes, one that had lives and one that didn’t.

And while this option is a positive for younger children or people that aren’t as seasoned in the Sonic world, the lack of choice to up the difficulty might leave a lot to be desired for some players.

So if you’re looking for that S-rank on Sonic Colours Ultimate, you might do better than you expect with Tails right behind you to offer a helping hand.