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The central gimmick of Sonic Colors and its remaster, Sonic Colors Ultimate, is the adorable Wisps, which are native to one of the planets Eggman captures for his theme park. These colorful space jellyfish can generate an exceptional amount of energy, which is why Eggman captures them.
When Sonic absorbs this energy, he can perform all kinds of crazy stunts that are quite helpful when navigating the varied landscapes of Eggman's park. They've become recurring characters in the franchise since then, becoming the power-ups for Sonic Team Racing and poking their heads into stories just about wherever they can fit. It has lead Sonic Colors to be a fondly remembered entry in the franchise.
8 Green Hover - Awkward And Boring
This Wisp is sure to kill the fun of any level when it's required. It allows Sonic to stay in the air and even gain height. This is very useful; the problem is that it's by far the least fun Wisp to play with because of how slow it is and how awkward it can be to control.
Players must constantly hold down the jump button to gain height. Otherwise, they will slowly sink. Moving it in 3D is a big pain, especially when the camera angles make depth-perception difficult. Players can speed through a line of rings by pressing the right button near them. This would make it tolerable. However, players don't actually do anything during it. They hit one button and watch it go with absolutely no input.
7 Jade Ghost - An Afterthought
This was a brand new Wisp added for Sonic Colors Ultimate, and it shows. It appears sporadically and is barely useful that it feels like it's been shoved into random places on levels it wasn't designed for. That's because it absolutely has. Small nooks and crannies were added to a select few levels to give this Wisp any use.
It's fine to use an control, although sometimes the portals players need to pass through objects are frustratingly out of sight. All using this Wisp will gain anyone is a few extra tokens or Tails balloons, which are plentiful enough that they're not worth taking the detour for. It's a mechanically sound Wisp, the game just wasn't designed to include it.
6 Orange Rocket - Go Very Fast, Then Very Slow
On the surface, Orange Rocket is pretty fun to play around with. Blasting upwards at incredible speed through obstacles is a fun feeling, but what goes up must come down, which is part of the problem. The descending part is often quite boring and a little too long. Using it to spot a hidden path is a nice thrill, but many places where it's used just grant a detour for extra rings, or maybe a Red Ring if players are lucky.
Additionally, it doesn't appear very often anyway. Other than a few spots in Sweet Mountain, it's never mandatory for progression. It becomes a Wisp that players train themselves to ignore because all it does is waste time for only a little gain.
5 Blue Cube - Puzzle Platforming
Blue Cube is an interesting Wisp because it's inherently linked to the worst parts of the game, yet it's occasionally used in great ways. The Puzzle/Precision Platforming levels are some of the most boring and frustrating parts of the game because Sonic's controls are not built for it. They'd be more at home in a Mario game.
However, with Blue Cube, some of those sections become a lot easier and more interesting to play. The ability to have a guaranteed slam to the ground is a huge boon when dealing with Sonic's floaty jumps and unpredictable acceleration. However, its mechanic of switching cubes on and off can pile on the frustration when things don't go to plan.
4 Yellow Drill - Going Underground
Despite not being used as much as it should, Yellow Drill is a lot of fun to play with. The big underground areas offer a lot for levels and are often worth going out of the way for. The designers seemed to love shoving secret faster paths below a Drill section.
The enemies and obstacles that hide underground and challenging but fair to combat, and the movement mechanics are spot on. The Drill blasts off quite fast, but not so fast that it's completely uncontrollable. Its only downside is how little it seems to be used. Like the Orange Rocket, it's rarely mandatory for progression, and sometimes players will want to skip it just to avoid the detour. It does make water sections easier, though, which is always a plus.
3 Cyan Laser - Speed Of Light
The first Wisp players will get their hands on in this, one of the longer Sonic games and one that's used pretty consistently throughout; Cyan Laser is a joy to use. While it is just one button to go, there is some skill involved with aiming it properly and hitting all the targets, but at the same time, it never interrupts the flow of gameplay too much.
Most puzzles using it are fairly simple, but it's still very satisfying to properly pull it off. Watching Sonic bounce between everything, often collecting rings and blasting tonnes of robots in the process, is a joy to watch. It's as simple as that.
2 Pink Spikes - Go Anywhere
This is one of the best because instead of doing something completely different, it enhances Sonic's existing abilities. The lack of a Spin-Dash is one of the most disappointing parks of Sonic Colors, but given the level design and boost mechanics, it does make sense to leave it on the sidelines.
Pink Spikes brings it back with added capabilities, making for some of the most fun platforming sections in the game. The ability to cling to any wall or ceiling is plenty useful, but with the added speed, it can bring, as well as destroying anything in its path. Not to mention the crazy things speedrunners can do with it. It makes it one Wisp that players will always want to pick up.
1 Purple Frenzy - Consume!
Sometimes the basics are all that's needed to have a great time, and that's exactly what Purple Frenzy is all about. Created as Wisps who have had all their energy drained, these guys are out for vengeance and to satiate their hunger.
While it doesn't have the most incredibly platforming abilities, that's not what this Wisp is about. This Wisp is about blasting through everything in the way and slowly growing bigger and more powerful along the way. The game gives players plenty of opportunities to let loose with it, and it's always a blast.
Sonic Colors Ultimate was released on September 7, 2021, and is available on PC (Windows), PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.