Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble

Story

Dr. Robotnik managed to capture all of the Chaos Emeralds, but an accident in the testing phase of his new ultimate weapon, the "Atomic Destroyer", scatters the Emeralds all across the island. While Sonic and Tails are out to retrieve them, they are cut short by Knuckles the Echidna. Robotnik finds the yellow Emerald first, and dupes Knuckles into believing Sonic and Tails are out to steal the Emeralds.

Additionally, a treasure hunter named Nack the Weasel takes advantage of the fact that they are all distracted with fighting one another, in order to take the Emeralds for himself. He does not know of the power of the Emeralds, only that they'd be worth a lot of money, so he sets out to take them for himself before the others do.

Gameplay

While the first few Sonic games for the Game Gear were simply ports of the Master System versions, and lacked some of the elements found in the Sega Genesis games, this Game Gear-exclusive game was much larger in size than its predecessors. Gameplay gave an experience very much in keeping with the Sonic games of the Genesis.

This is the first Sonic game in which the player does not lose all of his or her rings after getting hurt. Touching spikes will take away 50 rings. Any other type of hit will take away 30 rings.

The choice is given of playing as either Sonic or Tails. Sonic has the ability to do the Strike Dash/Super Peel Out (from Sonic the Hedgehog CD) that gives him a speed burst and temporary invincibility. Tails has the ability of flight in this game. The enemies are Dr. Robotnik, Knuckles and the new character Nack the Weasel, who only appears in the Special Stages to keep aside the Chaos Emeralds. Special Stages are entered by finding an Emerald item box after collecting 50 rings. The first, third and fifth stages are giant mazes with a countdown timer. The timer can be boosted with "Stopwatch" item boxes scattered throughout, but it never exceeds one and a half minutes. The second and fourth Special Stages involve flying the Tornado aeroplane to collect rings and avoid bombs. At the end of every Special Stage, Nack shows up and attacks to protect the Chaos Emerald.

This is the first Sonic game to feature spring maneuvers. After bouncing off of a spring, when the character is usually vulnerable, Sonic and Tails can now use the "Flying Spin Attack", allowing the character to roll into a ball for a brief moment to defend themselves. This maneuver is essential to some parts of the game, such as the first boss battle. Tails can alternatively begin flight, but he cannot fly upwards. This gameplay idea would not appear in the series again until Amy Rose was playable in Sonic Advance with her hammer swing.

There are six Zones, each with three Acts: Great Turquoise, Sunset Park, Meta Junglira, Robotnik Winter, Tidal Plant and Atomic Destroyer. The third Act is merely a short course (with a small cache of Rings to pick up) followed by a boss, one of Robotnik's powerful robot creations. The doctor himself is not seen until the final stage.

Reception

The game's initial release on the Game Gear met with mixed reviews. GamePro praised the graphics and new elements such as Tails's submarine, but criticized that the game is too easy, reducing its longevity, and suffers from extreme slowdown which can lead to cheap deaths. They concluded it to be a solidly enjoyable game, but one with too little innovation to appeal to gamers who were already feeling sated on Sonic games. Famicom Tsūshin scored the game a 21 out of 40. Sega Official Magazine summarized that "Graphically superb, Sonic Triple Trouble is a very enjoyable game, but it's just too easy to complete".

Reception for the game's later appearance in Sonic Gems Collection was much more negative. Eurogamer stated the game was poorly aged and "intolerable" for all but a few moments. GamesRadar called the game "reasonably competent, but no less tedious". IGN described it as not "particularly stellar". GameSpot regarded it as "typical Sonic side-scrolling action", and remarked that it suffers from poor Game Gear emulation on Sonic Gems Collection.

Legacy

Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble was re-released in 2003 as part of the Sonic Adventure DX for the GameCube and PC as a hidden game. It was also included in Sonic Gems Collection for the GameCube and PlayStation 2. Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble was re-released on the Coleco Sonic along with 19 other Game Gear and Master System games in 2006. It has also been re-released for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console service.

In August 1995, a 48-page comic adaptation within the Archie Comics Sonic the Hedgehog was released.