Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble

Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble
Join Sonic and Tails for their best 8-bit Adventure ever.
Protagonist(s): Sonic the Hedgehog Miles "Tails" Prower Genre(s): Platform Platform(s): Game Gear Release: JP: November 11, 1994 WW: November 1994 Developer(s): Aspect Publisher(s): Sega Country: Japan Series: Sonic the Hedgehog Predecessor: Sonic Chaos Successor: Sonic Blast

Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble (known as Sonic & Tails 2 in Japan) is a platform game developed by Aspect and published by Sega exclusively for the Game Gear in November 1994.

Plot

The story follows Sonic the Hedgehog and Tails in their efforts to stop the powerful Chaos Emeralds from being acquired by Doctor Robotnik, who has tricked Knuckles the Echidna into aiding him.

Why It's Anything But Trouble

1. For starters, it's a huge improvement over Sonic Chaos (despite being a great game), as it's had better level design in almost every way, and other things that other pointers will point out.
2. The graphics are a step up over Sonic Chaos and look even better than the said game, as it's got a better color palette, better sprite work (especially for Tails), and it even looks like a 16-bit game rather than an 8-bit game, which is very impressive.
   • The color choices are also very appealing to see, and it's simply made the graphics even better.
   • The sprite work is also very great and feel like that it's was, again, like a 16-bit game, and the ennemies also have great sprite work.
   • In fact, it looks so good that it might be the best-looking Sonic game on Game Gear; even the weakest area will never look bad, thanks to how Aspect designed the game.
   • All the backgrounds look great too.
     • Great Turquoise Zone has a very beautiful background, as it's somewhat like Turquoise Hill Zone from Sonic Chaos, but it's more polished and has more details than the said zone.
     • Sunset Park Zone has a very beautiful background too, as the colors are very appealing to see, and it's very detailed. It also has a dusk feel to it due to the color of the background.
     • Meta Junglira is one of the best backgrounds of the game since it's representing the jungle very well, and there's plenty of detail in that zone.
     • Robotnik Winter Zone also looks good, despite being the weakest background of the game, as it's got a great winter background and represents winter very well.
     • Tidal Plant is very colorful, and it's once again very detailed for a Game Gear game.
     • Atomic Destroyer has the best backgrounds of the game since it's so awesome and it makes you feel like you're in space, especially in Act 3.
3. The difficulty is much more challenging than it's predecessor, Sonic Chaos, including most of the levels where they made it more challenging and the enemies are less stupid than the last game; it's also the most balanced Sonic game on the Game Gear; it's also more balanced than Another Sonic game made by Aspect. The difficulty itself could make the game even more fun.
4. Tails playstyle is much better than in Sonic Chaos, because in that game, he is quite arkward to use his flying ability, but here he plays much closer to Sonic 3 and Knuckles than he does in Sonic Chaos. In fact, it's been so improved that Tails is at his best in terms of the 8-bit Sonic games.
5. Speaking of tails, there are also other improvements over Sonic Chaos, among them:
   • Sonic can gain temporary invincibility when he does a Super Peel-out (also known as Strike Dash), which can be very useful.
   • Tails also has an equivalent power-up to Sonic's Rocket Shoes, which allows him to fly through the level at fast speeds.
   • Both Sonic and Tails are able to roll into a ball mid-air after hitting a spring by pressing the jump button, making them much less vulnerable to enemies, and they can kill enemies much more easily due to that.
6. When you get hit by an enemy or a boss, you can press the jump button to not be thrown back, which is incredible helpful for not dying easily. This also applies when you jump on a spring; this is helpful too for the speedrun or even in general.
7. The ending cutscene is somehow wholesome since Knuckles made peace with either Sonic or Tails (this depends on what character you choose) and they became friends, and it's shown differently than Sonic 3 and Knuckles since in that game, Knuckles only discovered that Dr. Eggman made fun of him when he stole the master emerald.
8. The game is even considered to be the best Sonic game on Game Gear due to how great it is, and due to the great level design and appealing graphics, heck, it's even considered to be the best 8-bit Sonic game ever made and maybe even one of, if not the best platformer on the console.
9. This game introduces both Metal Sonic and, most notably, Knuckles in an 8-bit game, and their sprite is so good that it looks like it came directly from the 16-bit Sonic game, especially Metal Sonic. Knuckles is also very accurate to his personnality in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and this game is also the first Sonic game to give Metal Sonic his iconic red eyes (in game only), despite getting those in the Japanese box art of Sonic CD.
10. The game not only introduces Knuckles and Metal Sonic in an 8-bit game, but it's also introduces one of the most forgotten characters of the franchise, Fang the Sniper (or Nack the Weasel), in which he had a nice design, was interesting, or was even funny. Unfortunately, he wasn't used for most of the Sonic games after this game until Sonic Superstars came out in 2023. He mostly appears as a boss during the Special Stages, which can be accessed by having at least 50 rings and finding a monitor with a Chaos Emerald on it.
11. In 2022, the game got a 16-bit remake, which was simply amazing and maybe even better than the original Game Gear version (see the section that detail the good qualities of it), since it's longer and it's added even more contents than the original Game Gear version. To make everything better, it's been ported to the Android device in May 2023, which makes the game easier to play for some people.
12. The final boss fight with Dr. Eggman, while not the best in the series, is very epic since it's like you're in a futuristic environment and the fight (along with Metal Sonic) fits the level.
13. The checkpoints make a return after being absent in both Sonic 2 and Sonic Chaos, and it's very helpful here because the game is quite challenging (although not as much as Sonic 2 on Master System/Game Gear).
14. The transition from Act 2 to Act 3 for Sunset Park Zone is seamless, something that was only done in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Knuckles at the time, and it's by far the only Game Gear Sonic game to do this.
15. The box art is extremely good for all regions, especially the NA/EU version since it's containing the art style of the very first Sonic cartoon, Adventure of Sonic the Hedgehog, and it's very stylish to check, and the overall Japanese box art is also good as it's in the same style as the box art of the Sega Genesis trilogy; in fact, it's so stylish that some people could actually enjoy looking at it for a long time.
16. Tidal Plant is surprisingly good for a water zone of a Sonic game, as most of the other Sonic games had very annoying water levels, and it's much better executed than Sonic Blast, which pretty much had terrible water levels to it.
17. Speaking of special stages, Tails can finally access them as well compared to Sonic Chaos, where he can't go to the special stages, which is an overall improvement since it means that you can now play the special stages with either both Sonic or Tails, just like in Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
18. The game is so fun that it's extremely replayable without getting bored to play it. This can also be said about the 16-bit remake.
19. The soundtrack is great and extremely catchy, to the point of being one of the best soundtracks on the Game Gear, with some tunes being very fun to listen to. This includes, but is not limited to:
    • Great Turquoise Zone is a very catchy tune that fits the zone of the game, and you can easily dance to it, despite the fact that it's not the best song of the game.
    • Sunset Park Zone is also very catchy since it's in a relaxing atmosphere and it fits the stage so well.
    • Sunset Park Zone 3 is possibly the best song of the game since it's so catchy; it is the most well-known song of the game due to this reason.
    • Tidal Plant is also very catchy, and it's got good instruments, with the song being well composed. It's also, like Great Turquoise Zone, fits very well with the level.
    • Robotnik Winter Zone is very catchy and it's one of the most catchy song of the game
20. The game is even more accurate and faithful to the Sega Genesis Sonic games than Sonic Chaos.
21. Despite the game being short, it's still decently long for a Game Gear game, as it'll take at least one hour to beat the game, or two hours if you want to beat the game with both Sonic and Tails.
22. The game is designed with the screen crunch in mind, so it's not a major problem in this game compared to Sonic 2 on Game Gear, for example.
23. The levels are even more explorable than Chaos' levels, and despite having its share of gimmicks, they're pretty self explanatory.
24. The boss fight here are much better than the one of Sonic Chaos, as here they are executed much better than the said game, despite most of them being too easy.
25. Some of the commercials that was released for promote this game are funny, despite the first one in North America being somehow gross out.

Sonic Triple Trouble 16-bit

1. Unlike the original game on Game Gear, the remake has a save file, so you can save and leave the game at any moment, which is helpful since this remake is much longer than the original Game Gear version.
2. It's added a lot of content, such as some new zones, and the levels are even longer, despite most of them not being the same as the Game Gear version.
   • In fact, there is so much contents that it's give the game even more replay values than the original Game Gear game, with not only the story mode but there is also a competition mode, and much more.
3. Great graphics that are even better than the already awesome-looking version on the Game Gear, since here it's recreated the zones look but in a 16-bit style for making the game feel like the 16-bit game, and the sprites are mostly taken from Sonic 3, which had some of the best 2D sprites in the series.
   • The sprite work is really good too, despite as said before that they taken a lot of the Sonic 3 sorite but that not a bad thing considering how good the sprite work in that game was.
   • The recreated zones look beautiful and look also faithful to the original Game Gear game, in fact these add lifes to the game despite the original having a lot of lifes put into it.
4. The gameplay is much more accurate than the original Game Gear version. Despite the original version being very accurate to the Sega Genesis games, you know that you will have fun when you already know that the game will play like the Sega Genesis trilogy.
5. There are some very interesting ideas for this remake, notably the ability to switch from Sonic to Tails at any moment, which the Sega Genesis trilogy hasn't done.
6. The remixed soundtrack is extremely great, and some of them would even make you want to dance, such as Atomic Destroyer Act 2 or even Sunset Park Act 3. In fact, some of them are even better than the original Game Gear version; this shows how much care was put into the game.
   • In fact some of them are so good that they even make you want to dance, the best exemple is the already mentionned Atomic Destroyer Act 2.
   • Also the soundtrack is entirely remixed into 16-bit glory, which make them even better and it's very well done, even for a fan game.
7. The story is even better than the original Game Gear version since here it's a bit more story-driven, such as in the very beginning where you had all the emeralds and Eggman stole them at the end of the fight.
8. You can play as Super Sonic in this remake, which the original Game Gear game doesn't have.
9. There are plenty of boss fights; there are more boss fights with Knuckles; some proper boss fights with Fang, in which, in the original game, he is only fought if you get to a special stage; and there is even some boss at act 1 of a zone.
10. You can play with more characters other than Sonic and Tails, these being Knuckles, Amy, and even Fang, which makes the game have more replay values.
11. The special stages are even more fun in this remake since you race with Fang to reach the end of the special stage, and they're very well executed and very challenging.
12. There's a competition mode, which is basically a fighting game since you need to fight and beat a character, but with the controversy of the Sonic games, and it's as fun as the main game.
13. A good plot twist at the end of the game is in the good ending, because after you rescue Knuckles, Metal Sonic will stop you, and he has captured Fang, which makes you think that you beat the game before he came back.
14. In May 2023, it's ported to mobile devices, which makes the game easier to play and to get.
15. The Metal Sonic fight when you get all the chaos emeralds is epic, so much that it's might be on par with the awesome final boss of Sonic Adventure
16. You can change the Amy moveset in the option, like Sonic Origins or the original moveset made for this game.
17. The normal ending is much better than the one in the original Game Gear version, which was terrible and a bit insulting.
18. Again it's decently long for a fan game, lasting at least 2 to 3 hours, you will have fun for a lot of times with this remake.
19. Overral, this was an amazing way to remake this game. With all the new contents and the different feeling to the game, this game can also count as one of the best fan games of Sonic and even one of the best remakes ever made.

Bad Qualities

1. Atomic Destroyer Act 2 is a very terrible level due to being very confusing, and you can get lost very easily.
2. The fifth and final Special Stage is very difficult to get through, and it's very annoying.
3. The bad ending is a bit insulting since you don't get to see the credits, and it's only on a screen that says the end, which would rather be considered a punishment to the players who did not get all of the chaos emeralds.
4. You still need to press up to fly with Tails, just like Sonic Chaos. Despite that, it's still better here than in the said game, as Tails has more momentum than he has in Sonic Chaos.
5. For some reasons, there are only 6 emeralds, which is surprising considering the fact that other Sonic games on Game Gear (even Sonic Blast) have 7 emeralds.
6. Despite the soundtrack being great, there are some songs that aren't that great or memorable, such as the music where Metal Sonic appears, due to being a bit ear-bleeding.

Sonic Triple Trouble 16-bit

1. Despite the game being amazing, in some parts, it is a bit unfaithful to the original Game Gear version, notably in the level design.
2. Getting all the chaos Emeralds can be somewhat hard because the giant rings aren't easily seen, and some of them are very painful to get.
3. The bonus stages in the checkpoints are a poor man version of the bonus stages of Sonic & Knuckles, due to being harder and the physics being a bit broken.
4. Some of the musics are taken from Sonic 3 & Knuckles, the best exemple being the Final boss music before Doomsday Zone from that said game.

Reception

Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble receives mixed to positive reviews by critics but very positive reviews by Sonic fans. The critics praised the graphics, the gameplay, and the soundtrack but criticized that the game is too easy and a bit short.

The re-release received mixed reviews, such as from Nintendo Life, which gave the 3DS Virtual Console version a 6/10.

The remake, howewer, receives overwelmingly positive reviews by both players and fans of the original game and the Sonic fans in general, praising the graphics, the gameplay, the soundtrack and many more, in fact it's considered to be one of the best Sonic fan games of all times and even one of the best fan game of all times.

Trivia

• Sonic Triple Trouble (Sonic & Tails 2 in Japan) is a sequel to Sonic Chaos (Sonic & Tails in Japan). However, this was not emphasized outside of Japan due to the games' Western names.
  • However, when the game was first previewed in a Mean Machines Sega article, it was called Sonic Chaos 2, with Nack originally being named "Jet". An early screenshot depicted in the article also shows Nack pointing a gun at Sonic, something that does not occur in the final game.
    • Said name is also used in another Mean Machines feature, mainly regarding Sonic & Knuckles, printed in issue #24. Strangely, the feature also slates the game for release on the Sega Master System, an idea that never came to fruition.
• As with previous 8-bit games, Sonic Triple Trouble is set on South Island according to the Japanese manual's description of Great Turquoise Zone, except Robotnik Winter Zone, which is on a nearby island. In Western manuals, however, the game is mentioned to take place on "Mobius". This was an early name given by Sega of America for earth, made popular in other media, and originated from early western continuity.
• The localized, international version of the game is almost unaltered in comparison to the Japanese release, apart from the name change. The only notable differences are the alternate title screen and the removal of the "3D Stage" option, even though it is depicted in the instruction manuals.
• Unlike the previous 8-bit entries, this game was primarily designed around the Game Gear's hardware. The viewing area is thus much less of a problem, as the level designs accommodate the smaller screen.
• The game bears some similarities to Sonic the Hedgehog 3, particularly Knuckles' antagonistic role, appearing at several points during the game to hinder the player character's progress, and battling them himself in a boss fight. The game itself was also originally released between Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles. Like in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Knuckles is also tricked by Dr. Eggman to work for him and against Sonic and Tails.
  • Knuckles is also the only antagonist of the game to make peace and befriend Sonic and Tails, whereas Eggman and Nack remained enemies.
• Several game elements, such as the Strike Dash, the glass balls in Meta Junglira Zone, and the inclusion of Metal Sonic, are taken from the Sonic the Hedgehog CD.
• The theme of Sunset Park Zone Act 3 is actually an unused track from Sonic Chaos, except with a lower pitch.
• In Tidal Plant Zone, Tails can use a submarine named the Sea Fox, which would later appear as a transformation of the Remote Robot in Tails Adventure.
• In the "Special Thanks" section of the credits, an "H. Kojima" is credited. This may refer to Hideo Kojima, the famed creator of the Metal Gear series, although this is not confirmed and may be coincidental.
• The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog incarnation of Dr. Robotnik, originally designed by Milton Knight, is seen on the North American and European front box covers. Milton's character design was heavily used for the character in many Western promotional and game artworks during that time. It was also presumably done for promotional purposes for the show. The only difference is that his eyes are white instead of red.
• In the Brazilian manual of the game, Knuckles is written out of the game's narrative to be on vacation and is replaced by his "younger brother" named "Crucules".
• The game saw a fan remake, known as Sonic Triple Trouble 16-bit, which recreates the game in a similar style to the Genesis Sonic games and has some extra features.
• The Friday Night Funkin' mod vs. Sonic.exe contains a song of the same name.

Tips

• To beat Great Turquoise's boss, spin in the air to hit it; it's not really explained by the game.

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