August 15, 2019
By Ryan Porzl
1994 was a big year for the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise as it saw the release of three games. The first being the long awaited Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and the second was Sonic and Knuckles which was an innovative game that used locked on technology allowing the player as Knuckles in Sonic 2 while transforming two games into one with Sonic 3. However, a third game also came out that same year that largely flew under the radar likely due to it being only released on the Sega Game Gear and that game was Sonic The Hedgehog: Triple Trouble. With the 25 Anniversary coming in November, we'll take a look at a solid Sonic outing that got overlooked possibly due to a combination of the system is was released on and that fact the franchise was churning out many classics at the time.
Characters
Sonic the Hedgehog- The main hero and one of two playable characters. Sonic is a blue hedgehog capable of running high speeds and turning himself into a ball that can attack enemies. Once again, Sonic is tasked with stopping Dr. Robotnik's latest scheme and must race to collect the Chaos Emeralds before Robotnik. However, Sonic must deal with three threats coming at him in Robotnik, the gullible Knuckles the Enchida, and a treasure hunter named Nack the Weasel.
Miles "Tails" Prowder- The second playable character. Tails is Sonic's best friend and assists him in foiling Robotnik's plans. Tails is a gold fox with two tails who also can run fast and turn into a ball as well as use his two tails as helicopter propellers which allow him to briefly fly.
Dr. Ivo Robotnik- The main villain of the game. Once again, Robotnik is trying to conquer the world and once again, is after the Chaos Emeralds. In the game, Robotnik was successful in obtaining all six of the emeralds but lost them and now must retrieve them before Sonic does. As was the case with Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, Robotnik again manipulates Knuckles to help him along the way. Unlike most Sonic games, Robotnik takes a step back as he doesn't fight Sonic at the end of every level but rather sends a certain badnik to fight the hedgehog.
Knuckles the Echinda- A red echinda with spike knuckles and ability to glide. Knuckles is the guardian of the master emerald and though a good character, is terribly gullible as he continues to be tricked by Robotnik into helping him. As has been the case with Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles games, Knuckles serves as a nuisance constantly getting in the way of Sonic and Tails while making their journey more difficult. The player must eventually battle him in the Tidal Plant stage. In the American manual, Knuckles is tricked into thinking Sonic wants the emeralds.
Nack the Weasel- Better known by his Japanese name "Fang the Sniper", Nack is a purple weasel and treasure hunter. Nack gets involved when he overhears of the emeralds and decides to get them for himself. In the American manual, Nack doesn't know the true power of the Chaos Emeralds and only wants them believing they're valuable to sell. Sonic and Tails must battle Nack in the special stages before being able to collect an emerald.
Plot
The story begins with Dr. Robotnik having obtained all six chaos emeralds which Sonic is unaware of. However, he loses the emeralds after they are scattered following an accident when testing a new weapon. Robotnik set out to retrieve them but is only able to acquire one before finding out Sonic and Tails are also out to get them. Taking advantage of his gullibility, Robotnik gets Knuckles assistance after tricking him. As the race is on, a treasure hunter named Nack overhears Sonic and Knuckles talking about the emeralds and realizes they're already in his home dimension. Once again, Sonic and Tails must race to collect the emeralds and foil Robotnik but this time, they not only have to deal with Robotnik but once again must face the gullible Knuckles and a new foe in Nack. During their journey, Sonic and Tails battle their way through six stages fighting off badniks and repeatedly foiling Nack to retrieve each emerald one at a time while also defeating Knuckles along the way. Eventually, they meet Dr. Robotnik at the Atomic Destroyer and once again defeat him while saving Knuckles who had been imprisoned by Robotnik likely due to his failure in stopping Sonic and Tails. Sonic and Knuckles shake hands with Knuckles again realizing he was deceived by Robotnik before they escape.
Gameplay
Sonic The Hedgehog: Triple Trouble plays the same as most Sonic games of the 90s with the player having to control Sonic or Tails and guide them from the start to the end of the level while collecting rings and fighting enemies. The player can defend themselves by either jumping on enemies, rolling on them, or using the spin dash. The game has a lot of the usual stuff as the player can gather rings which prevents death outside of falling down pits or holes or getting squashed. The player can also go to bonus stages which, if successful, can gain chaos emeralds. The player can also break monitors that contain rings, a bubble which allows the player to take a hit without losing rings or dying, and magic which grants invincibility. The game has six stages each with three acts which are Great Turquoise, Sunset Park, Meta Junglira, Robotnik Winter, Tidal Plant, and Atomic Destroyer. The player can also acquire extra lives if they collect 100 rings and can gain continues which they can use should they get a game over. Returning from Sonic Chaos is Bonus Panel rewards. As is the case with Sonic games at the time, the player beats the level by running past a panel with Robotnik on it and it spins usually into the character the player is playing as. In Triple Trouble, the panel can spin into a different random picture with each rewarding the player with something. If the panel stops at Sonic then the player gets an extra life as Sonic and 10,000 points as Tails and vice versa if it lands on Tails. If it lands on a ring, the player gets 10 extra rings. If it lands on a flicky, the player gets nothing. If it lands on Knuckles, the player gets a continue. If it lands on an emerald, the player gets 50 extra rings in the next act.
Along with the usual stuff, Sonic The Hedgehog: Triple Trouble offers some new features. One is the player can get rocket shoes which briefly allow Sonic to fly at a fast speed for a few seconds. Another is a pogo spring that allows both to jump high for a short time. The Jet Board allows Sonic to slide through an act at a fast pace. Propeller shoes allow Sonic an easier time traveling underwater. Hyper Heli-Tails allow Tails to fly for a few seconds as it's similar to Sonic's rocket shoes. Getting to the Special Stages are different as the player has to collect 50 rings and find a monitor with an emerald on it to take them to the stage. The Special Stages alternate between getting through an obstacle course before time runs out or flying Sonic and Tails' airplane and collecting a certain number of rings. If not successful then the player is sent back to resume the normal game. If successful, then the player confronts and must face Nack. Upon defeating Nack gives the player a Chaos Emerald. Another interesting feature allows Sonic and Tails to turn into a ball in the air. Unlike other Sonic games where the player is defenseless after jumping on a spring, they can turn into a ball so they don't have to run the risk of hitting or landing on enemies. One of the big differences in the game is unlike most Sonic games where the player must face Dr. Robotnik in some machine at the end of the last act of every stage, this game sees Robotnik send a different robot to fight Sonic and Tails while Knuckles and the returning Metal Sonic are bosses as well. Yet another new feature is if the player gets hit, they may not lose every ring they have like most games as getting hit by an enemy only results in the player losing as much as 30 rings and getting hit by spikes only sees them lose as much as 50 (if they have that many).
Behind the Scenes
Sonic The Hedgehog: Triple Trouble was developed by Aspect and served as a sequel to the 1993 Sega Master System game Sonic Chaos which they also developed. Among the new additions, the most notable was Nack. Nack went through a few changes as he was called "Jet" during the development period and carried a gun during early promotional material but this was dropped by the time the game was finished. Originally, plans were to release it through out Sega's 8 bit systems which were both the handheld Game Gear and the console Sega Master System but the latter was cancelled making this the first Sonic platforming game to be released exclusively on the Game Gear.
Release
Sonic The Hedgehog: Triple Trouble was released on November 11, 1994 in Japan as Sonic & Tails 2, November 15, 1994 in North America, and November 1994 in Europe on the Sega Game Gear. It received a 68% from CVG, 21/40 from Famitsu, 85% from Mean Machine Sega, and 71% from both Sega Magazine and Sega Pro. The game mostly received positive reviews with it's gameplay and graphics receiving praise but criticized for it's lack of challenge.
In terms of graphics, Mean Machine Sega said the backgrounds and characters were among the best on the Game Gear and better than any previous Sonic game on the handheld. Sega Magazine believed while most Game Gear games' graphics were cropped versions from the Sega Master System which hurt the gameplay, that wasn't the case for Triple Trouble. Despite this, some have noted the game's frame rate tended to dip when the screen got too busy. The big complaint was challenge or lack thereof as the game's level didn't feature enough enemies making the game easier to beat and shorter. Both Mean Machine Sega and Computer and Video Games agreed that the lack of difficulty hurt the game's long term value. Sega Magazine believes the lack of enemies was to prevent the game's frame rate dipping too much.
In retrospect, the game continued to receive good reviews and has been considered the best Sonic game on the Game Gear as Games Radar+ considered it "reasonably competent" but no less tedious than previous games. GameSpot said it did a better job capturing the classic Sonic gameplay than any other on the GG, likely due to it's later release. Nintendo Life believed Triple Trouble came the closest game that gamers could get to the style of play of 16 bit games on a hand held and Diehard GameFan liked the additions to the 3DS port for it's different resolutions, button configurations, and save state ability.
Aftermath
Since it's 1994 release, Sonic The Hedgehog: Triple Trouble has been released several times. It was first released on the Sonic Adventure DX in 2003 and Sonic Gems Collection in 2005. In 2006, the game was then re-released on the short lived Coleco Sonic handheld system. It's most recent release was as part of the eshop of the Nintendo 3DS in March 2012 along with other Game Gear games.
The character Nack has appeared a few times since but now goes by his Japanese name Fang the Sniper. Since Triple Trouble, Nack has appeared on Sonic Draft 2 in 1995 and Sonic the Fighters in 1996 in playable roles. He was planned to return in the Sega Saturn game Sonic Xtreme but the game was cancelled in 1997. He made a cameo in 2011's Sonic Generations in a wanted poster and as an illusion to a robot character in 2017's Sonic Mania.
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