Sonic Retrospective Part IX – Sonic Triple Trouble
For more entries in the Sonic Retrospective, click here.
Sonic Triple Trouble (Japanese title: Sonic & Tails 2) is a direct sequel to Sonic Chaos (Japanese title: Sonic & Tails). Once again, I have to wonder why they changed the name, because Triple Trouble doesn’t make much sense as a title. Again, only Sonic & Tails are playable and while there are three antagonists, you don’t see them very often so I have no idea why they settled on that name.
Unlike the other Game Gear games up to this point, Sonic Triple Trouble has no Master System version. However, it still is a full-sized Sonic game and feels more like a main-series entry than a portable spin-off. Like its prequel, you Sonic has his Super Peel-Out and this is the second to last game it appears in. Tails can fly, but it again uses the awkward hold up and press jump while standing system instead of the much simpler jump mashing the main series utilizes.
Triple Trouble has a lot of alternative methods of transportation for Sonic, such as spring boots, rocket skateboards, and mine carts. None of which are incredible, but they don’t detract from the experience or anything. Tails gets his own vehicle in the water stage, which makes it easier for him because he cannot drown. Playing the game as Tails is essentially playing the game on easy mode as there are some other slight changes that make it easier to play overall, such as more lives. Also, despite this being Knuckles’ first Game Gear appearance, he is not playable. Instead he is once again an antagonist, along with the obligatory new character, Fang the Sniper. Who is a wolf. Except he doesn’t show up except for the title screen and when you try to get a Chaos Emerald. Also I’m not entirely sure he’s a villain.
Sonic Triple Trouble is one of the good Game Gear games, much like its prequel. The levels manage to mix speed and platforming pretty well and aren’t too difficult, allowing a speedy playthrough if you so desire. Unfortunately, its final level falls victim to the same annoying design problems many Sonic games fall prey to. Most of the final zones in Sonic involve doing things absolutely perfectly or you have to repeat a section over and over again. Whether it be falling down to a lower section or being stuck in a loop, this gets annoying quite fast and is not even remotely fun. Sonic games insist on doing this and Sonic Triple Trouble’s is one of the worse ones, requiring you to guess between different paths, going in loops until you finally find the right tube to jump in.
Despite the poor ending, Sonic Triple Trouble is a good game that is worth a play. Next up in the retrospective is Knuckles’ Chaotix, a game I have never played before, so that one should be interesting. After that I’m going to do a large post about all of the spinoffs up to Sonic R (which obviously deserves its own post).
For more entries in the Sonic Retrospective, click here.
