I don’t often play a game and immediately go through it again after finishing it, but I did that with Color Guardians. Thanks to its fun and bright graphics, truly difficult levels, and different scoring systems, I found myself playing each level again and again in an effort to get all three stars or get a high score for the leaderboards.
This game is great for anyone, but especially for those of us who are over 30 and remember both the excitement and frustration of side scrollers in the 80s and early 90s. It's also great for small children. Color Guardians is a side scrolling adventure that has you navigating paths to collect color orbs (red, yellow, blue, multi). While it sounds easy, it can get intense sometimes as you have to change your guardian to be the appropriate color to follow pathways, jump on certain platforms, and collect orbs of each color.
While the game itself is very easy, I should clarify the intense part is if you're trying to collect all of the orbs and get a three star rating for each level (and a high score if you're an old Atari fan and that matters to you). Keep in mind that I have only played and finished the demo, and have not done any boss levels of any kind. What I love about this game is my 4 year old son can play it, and he's actually quite good at it. It's helping to build his hand/eye coordination, and he's figured out as he goes what he needs to push when and where. It's something we can do together.
The price for the full game is reasonable, and my son enjoys it so much I've considered buying it. If you're looking for a cutesy type game to play with your kids that's easy for everyone, or you want a game that doesn't require a ton of skill, this is the game. It will definitely keep you entertained for hours. However, be prepared for some control slamming/throwing if you're that kind. Luckily, I haven't had any of that yet!
At least check out the demo. It's free. You won't be disappointed. If you are, then blame me. It's fine. I won't hold a grudge.
I don't often bother to review games I've played, but I feel that some of the critics have got this one so wrong (either because they were rubbish at it or just didn't 'get' it) that it deserves a second chance!
This game is defintiely a fun, challenging but rewarding, cross-genre melding of ideas seldom seen on console. Set in a vibrant world of color and sound I've run through a good variety of stages (both in terms of visuals and challenges) that almost constantly surprised me with the new twists to using in game mechanics to complete levels. Yes, the early levels are easy, they have to be, but I didn't struggle with the later introduction of new ideas as some reviewers have. They've complained that they needed more gentle introduction to new ideas...really not necessary IMO, but then I encountered death infrequently until after world 3, so perhaps I just took to it all more naturally!
The characters are deceptively cute, the audio fun and bubbly, and the visuals as crisp and colorful as they need to be for a storyline revolving around the theft of color from the world. The recoloring of the world as you progress through levels is a really nice touch, tho sometimes there's so much detail going on in the background its hard to keep focused on the demanding obstacle course ahead!
To comment on a few issues noted by other reviewers:
1) yes the end boss is hard. Very hard. But its the end ****, I dont think many players will get that far...
2) Some levels are a bit repetitive in the early stages, but some really throw a curveball at you, almost maze like!
3) Spamming color change button. It works for first 2 worlds, but then after that, theres no time for it, getting perfect scores becomes very very hard! (Id given up on it due to fatigue anyway!)
The bonus levels are a nice addition as well, and very challenging. Would perhaps have liked some new music tracks there, but there is good variety in the music from the main game of 50 levels, and when you do go back to the challenging bonus levels, you hardly notice the re-use of music.
I would have liked the 3 main characters to have skills that set them apart from each other...though I dont know how the developer would have incorporated that into meaningful level design. As it is, switching between them (when you can) seems a purely visual thing, which I suppose is nice for those who want to play as the alternative girl or grunty male character...
Its a good clean fun game, and cross-save to Vita and all the unlocks are a nice bonus. Shame I dont have a Vita to play it while commuting....
If metacritic allowed, Id give it something like an 8.5.
Color Guardians is a simple game with a straightforward purpose - run and button-mash. It will certainly challenge gamers with fast gameplay and demand multi-tasking sharpness from its players, but doesn't offer a lot beyond those things.
Color Guardians is a charming little title that will be appreciated by endless runner fans. The inconsistent difficulty is a problem, and its lack of variety means that it's best played in short bursts – but if you want something simple to brighten up your day, then this will do the job adequately.
Ultimately Color Guardians is a bright, cutesy, challenging runner with some good ideas that falls through when it comes to keeping it interesting. Restarting from checkpoints over and over only getting a little bit closer to the end each time quickly grows repetitive, draining any drive there might have been to continue playing.
All too often, though, the stages are designed in such a way that you're tricked into failing, and any technical issues stand out more than they might elsewhere because precise timing and concentration are so vital to success.
So this game has that Nintendo Hard quality I enjoy, its cutesy graphics that make me happy balanced with difficulty which makes me mad, in a good way. Kinda like how Super Meat Boy manages to keep me into the game with fast respawns and no number of lives, so i can kinda enjoy the game without stressing out over deaths. Also perfectionists aware, you will get addicted to this :P
Color Guardians can be enjoyed by both children and adults. It is obviously not a top game, but it is a very decent and entertaining experience, which perfectly fulfill its purpose (including the storyline, very simple but effective enough).
Although the story mode is not particularly long, it has a significant amount of extras that will allow you to keep playing in case you want. Besides, there is an Expert mode, which I have not tried but I have the impression that it may pose an interesting challenge.
It is probably not a game for which I would pay much (I got it for free from PS Plus), but it is a good choice if you want something quick and enjoyable.
Platform carino ed adatto a tutte le età.
Difficoltà non adatta a tutti ai livelli più alti.
I vari modi di finire i livelli lo rendono un gioco appetibile a tutti.
Storia quasi inesistente ma **** tutto sommato convincenti.
Non male nel complesso. 73/100
Much better than expected!
When I get the PS Plus free games every month, some of them I complete, and others I do one or two plays, and delete if I don't enjoy them. I was sure Color Guardians would belong to the latter, but I was amazed by how addictive it was to play, and I simply couldn't stop myself from wanting to complete the whole game!
Positive:
Addictive gameplay
Easy to learn, difficult to master
No stress, just enjoyable and simple
Negatives:
Not very interesting or original story
No way I'm going to go back and try to collect every orb
No real difference between characters
Idea is good, but implementation is really really bad, especially in the heat of the run..!
The leveldesign is so bad, that one can't tell the difference between the tracks,
- One can simply not read which track is what. So you end up having to retry again, again, and yet again, until you have either remembered every single place you have to land (either from the trampolines, jumppads, or, the flowers that are used to soar a short distance), or until you are lucky enough to go on too the next issue, which comes 3-5 seconds later !
- The system is very bad implemented..
- Not a game i will recommend ... even if its where given for free!.
SummaryDespite its colorful veneer, Color Guardians is a challenging platformer that requires skill, dexterity, and good memory. Easy to learn and quite impossible to master, the game challenges players to quickly negotiate an onslaught of obstacles while shifting between different guardians. It's multi-tasking madness. [Fair Play Labs]