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Sonic Triple Trouble 16-bit

From Sonic Retro

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Sonic Triple Trouble 16-bit
Latest version: 1.2.8
Latest release date: 2023-11-01
Engine: Game Maker
Credits: Noah N. Copeland
Operating system: Windows, macOS, Android

Sonic Triple Trouble 16-bit, known in-game as simply Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble, is a fan game created by Noah N. Copeland. It reimagines the Sega Game Gear game Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble as a hypothetical Mega Drive game. The game was created in Game Maker over five years, for PC and later Android and macOS. It features altered level design, a 16-bit aesthetic, and the addition of a mechanic letting the player switch between Sonic and Tails during gameplay. The game was originally released on August 2, 2022.

Not found in the original release, the game features a Competition mode that can be played with one or two players.

Story

The game follows the same beats as the original Game Gear game, but expands the story to take place canonically after Sonic & Knuckles.

Gameplay

The game features near-identical gameplay mechanics and physics to the original Mega Drive games. Players control Sonic and Tails and traverse through levels to reach a boss at the end of each level to complete it, which then transitions into the next Act or Zone (similar to Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles).

Controls

These are the default controls set from the beginning of the game. They can be changed via the settings menu.
 A  - Jump
 S  - Switch
 D  - Turn super
 🡩   🡫   🡨   🡪  - Move
 Enter  - Start / pause
 1 ,  2 ,  3  or  4  - Change screen resolution / window size

The game is programmed to support most common gamepads and controllers.

Characters

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Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles "Tails" Prower
In the main game, Sonic and Tails are always played together as a team, and players can swap between the two characters during a level to take advantage of each characters' abilities. Sonic can use the Strike Dash (from the original Sonic Triple Trouble), the Drop Dash (from Sonic Mania) and shield abilities (from Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island), while Tails can fly and swim. In Competition mode, Sonic and Tails are separate characters.
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Knuckles the Echidna
The guardian of the Master Emerald, Knuckles can be unlocked for Story Mode and Free Play after completing Story Mode as Sonic and Tails, and is also playable in Competition. Knuckles retains all of his signature abilities and attributes from the Mega Drive titles, such as gliding and breaking through certain walls to access new routes.
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Fang the Sniper
A thief who is after the Chaos Emeralds, Fang can be unlocked for Free Play after completing all of the Special Stages, and is also playable in Competition. As a playable character, Fang can use his tail to jump and perform up to two double jumps in the air with  A , however he must land on top of enemies to defeat them this way. He can also fire his cork gun with  S  to take out enemies or break through certain walls.
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Metal Sonic
The robotic doppelgänger of Sonic can be unlocked for Free Play when Story Mode is completed as Knuckles. When holding  A , Metal Sonic can use the Ring Spark Field to float in mid-air, descending slowly, as well as deal extra damage to Badniks and bosses. He can also perform the V. Maximum Overdrive Attack, which is executed in the same manner as Sonic's Strike Dash. He is not available in Competition mode.
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Amy Rose
Added to the game in v1.1.3, Amy Rose is available only for Free Play. Amy has three different moveset options available, all from Sonic 3 A.I.R., Sonic Origins Plus and Sonic Superstars. The Origins moveset features the jumping Hammer Attack and Hammer Rush, the Superstars moveset features the jumping Hammer Attack, Hammer Rush and Double Jump, and the A.I.R. moveset allows Amy to repeately bounce off the ground with her Piko Piko Hammer by holding  A . She is not available in Competition mode.

Levels

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Zone Zero*
Number of Acts:
1
The prologue of Sonic and Tails' story, which also serves as a tutorial.
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Great Turquoise Zone
Number of Acts:
2
The first normal Zone.
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Sunset Park Zone
Number of Acts:
3
The first of three Zones to comprise 3 Acts. The first two Acts include Spin Coasters, while the third Act takes place on a train where the player must open capsules, dodge Fang's bullets, and run from a wall of fire.
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Meta Junglira Zone
Number of Acts:
2
Meta Junglira is a sprawling, swampy rainforest filled with muddy swamp water that Sonic and Tails will sink into, as well as glass spheres to bounce off of and woven baskets that will launch them into the air or through breakable walls. Fang returns as the sub-boss of Act 1, this time using a drill mount and a rocket to attack.

In Act 2, Fang will retreat, and press a button to drop Sonic and Tails into an ancient temple filled with mud slides, snakes that hide in baskets, spiked pillars, arrow shooters and other ancient traps. The Wood Buttarundorf is fought at the end of the Act and now attacks by popping out of holes in the wall and attempting to slam the heroes fangs-first. However, instead of simply avoiding falling segments after defeating the boss, Sonic and Tails must escape from the temple entirely as it crumbles, avoiding the burning pieces of the boss' body and running from giant boulders.

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Egg Zeppelin Zone*
Number of Acts:
1
An entirely new Zone made for this fangame, Egg Zeppelin is a flying fortress-themed level filled with exploding mines, spike traps and hanging bars. At a specific point, Dr. Eggman will jettison Sonic and Tails out of the fortress after creating a copy of the Chaos Emerald he stole, and the two must catch up in an auto-scrolling sequence using the Rocket Shoes. All other characters will skip this section. Progressing further into the Zone, the player will come across the engine room where they must destroy the main engine. This starts a countdown in which the player must escape the Egg Zeppelin before it crashes.
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Robotnik Winter Zone
Number of Acts:
2
Landing in a deep snowdrift after escaping the falling Egg Zeppelin, Sonic and Tails find themselves in the snowy landscape that was originally the fourth Zone in the original game. Throughout Act 1, the duo will be using seal robots based on the Balance Master to reach high places, and get stuck inside giant snowballs to break through certain walls. After destroying an Eggman ice sculpture at the end of the Act, the heroes will fight Knuckles again, who this time digs through the snow and attack from underneath. After a few hits, he will move into the background to toss ice boulders at the heroes.

In the second Act, Knuckles sets off an avalanche that Sonic and Tails must escape from in a snowboarding sequence inspired by the moose chase scene from Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse, launching off trick ramps with  A  while avoiding obstacles until the rest of the Act begins proper. As of v1.1.0, this sequence can be shortened or skipped entirely in the options menu. The rest of Act 2 is visually similar to the first Act, but now features snowboarding sections as well as tubes similar to Music Plant that launch the heroes. Giga Thomas "Pen" is the boss at the end of the Act.

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Tidal Plant Zone
Number of Acts:
3
Tidal Plant is once again Triple Trouble's underwater level, set within a tidal power plant. The underwater sections feature regular air bubbles that refill air, as well as the larger bubbles released by pink buttons that Sonic and Tails can ride inside. The dry sections feature revolving hooks to jump from and industrial fans that blow the heroes upwards, akin to Hydrocity Zone. Fang is once again the sub-boss, this time by bouncing around on a spring attachment while also equipped with a swinging spike ball attachment to make hitting him harder.

The second Act is entirely underwater. To navigate this Act, Sonic and Tails must ride the Sea Fox together through the flooded tunnels of the plant and then through underwater caves reminiscent of Lake Rocky from Tails Adventures. The Sea Fox can shoot torpedoes with  A  and dash forward by holding and releasing  S . At the end of the Act, the giant robotic worm that appears multiple times throughout the act is destroyed by Knuckles, and the duo must engage in a submarine battle with him. When playing this Act as Knuckles, he will instead break open a monitor containing the Air Necklace and swim through the tunnels using only a dash attack with  A  or  S , then fight the robotic worm at the end.

Act 3, only playable to Sonic and Tails, has the duo use the Rocket Shoes to give chase to Metal Sonic as he leaves the Zone in a rocket. To attack Metal Sonic, Sonic and Tails must curl into ball form and fly into the robotic doppelgänger when he stops attacking. After six hits, Metal will be forced to retreat as the rocket reaches its destination...

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Atomic Destroyer Zone
Number of Acts:
3
The standard final Zone of the game and Dr. Eggman's core base, Atomic Destroyer is now depicted as a giant space station similar to the Death Egg. Much like the original game, it's a technological nightmare of tinted chrome, killer lasers, reversed gravity, networks of vaccuum tubes and a room in which the heroes must fight Mecha Hiyokos, with Fang making periodic appearances to further inconvenience the heroes. Act 1 ends with a recreation of the original Metal Sonic fight from the original game as the sub-boss.

Act 2 is the longest and most difficult level in the game. In this Act, Sonic and Tails will have to go through a gauntlet of three tricky platforming sections filled with different gimmicks including laser cannons, crushers and buzzsaws which can be played in any order. When all three have been completed, the heroes go through an elevator sequence inspired by Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master and fight an Eggrobo-like Badnik that has been powered up by Eggman's Chaos Emerald copy.

Finally, Act 3 is the final showdown against Dr. Eggman in a recreation of the original game's final boss. Should Sonic and Tails defeat Eggman, they will reclaim the seventh Chaos Emerald and rescue the real Knuckles.

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Final Trouble*
Number of Acts:
1
The true final Zone of the game, only playable if Sonic and Tails have recovered the other six Chaos Emeralds before reaching the end of Atomic Destroyer Zone. Metal Sonic has powered himself up with copies of the other Chaos Emeralds, and Super Sonic must engage him in a multi-phase final showdown spanning across outer space and the planet's surface.
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Angel Island Zone*
Number of Acts:
1
An alternate intro stage exclusive to Knuckles. Based off of the titular Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog 3, this Zone serves as an introduction to Knuckles' abilities. At the end of the Zone, Knuckles must fight against Metal Sonic.
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Purple Palace Zone*
Number of Acts:
1
A secret Zone that is not part of the main Zone order, but is instead found by falling into a bottomless pit near the end of Robotnik Winter Zone Act 2, similar to how Hidden Palace Zone is accessed in the 2013 version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Based on the 2D Special Stages of the original game, this short single-Act Zone features the use of Pogo Springs. Once the Zone is finished, the player is immediately teleported to Tidal Plant Zone.

This Zone also appears in Competition mode.

'*' = not found in the original Sonic Triple Trouble.

Special Stage

Special Stages can be accessed in this game by finding Giant Rings in hidden places much like in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles. In these Special Stages, Sonic and Tails must race through an obstacle course to reach the Chaos Emerald at the end before Fang the Sniper does. Sonic and Tails will automatically run forward, and can move side-to-side and jump over obstacles that will slow them down or take away Rings. Rings not only serve as protection against bombs, but also serve as a time limit as they will drain every second. Item capsules can either give Sonic and Tails more Rings, or zap Fang with lightning to slow him down. Some sections will have Sonic and Tails automatically board the Tornado, which can be moved around with all four directional keys to maneuver past obstacles and fly through Dash Rings for extra speed.

The Special Stage will end in failure if the player runs out of Rings, falls into a pit, or Fang gets to the Emerald first. In such cases, the player is given the option to use one life to retry the Special Stage provided they have enough lives remaining, or give up and return to the Zone they entered from. There are a total of six Special Stages to beat - the seventh Chaos Emerald is instead retrieved from Dr. Eggman at the end of Atomic Destroyer Zone.

Only Sonic and Tails can enter the Special Stages. For other characters, all Giant Rings are replaced with groups of normal Rings.

Bonus Stages

Much like in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles, Bonus Stages can be accessed by passing a Star Post with a certain amount of Rings, then jumping into the spinning circle of stars that appear.

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Pinball
A pinball-themed Bonus Stage, where the player must bounce off pinball flippers to enter slot machines. The bonus stage ends when the player falls down below the flippers or when the timer runs out.
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Cannon
This Bonus Stage is similar to the Glowing Spheres Bonus Stage from Sonic & Knuckles.
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Blue Rings
This Bonus Stage was added to the game in v1.1.0.

Competition

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Competition Mode is similar to the one present in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, where two players face off against each other and race through small, looping levels.

Sound Test cheats

The following cheats must be entered using the Sound Test in the Options menu to work.

Code Effect
19, 94, 10, 18 Allows Sonic to use the Insta-Shield.
04, 06, 04, 06 Unlocks all Zones in Free Play (NOTE: Only works if the game hasn't been beaten yet).
20, 02, 03, 25 Changes the Bonus Stage title card to "Doilus Stage".
19, 79, 08, 11 All animals are Ricky.
01, 25, 01, 25 Turns Sonic red, referencing Redhotsonic.
19, 94, 02, 02 Turns Knuckles blue.
19, 92, 11, 21 Turns Sonic into Ashura.
19, 09, 09, 09 Makes Knuckles say "Oh no" (from Sonic Adventure) when hitting him during his boss fights.
17, 03, 19, 95 Displays a hidden illustration of Amy drawn by Emma.
3A, 04, 20, 22 Displays a hidden illustration of Nack drawn by KamiJoJo.
19, 95, 09, 22 Displays a hidden illustration of Tails drawn KamiJoJo.
19, 93, 11, 26[1] Displays a hidden Eggman illustration drawn by Dee Liteyears[2].
0A, 0B, 0C, 94 Displays a hidden illustration of Metal drawn by Dee Liteyears.
93, 04, 01, 51 Displays a hidden illustration of Knuckles drawn by KamiJoJo.
20, 22, 24, 22 Displays a hidden illustration of Sonic drawn by Dee Liteyears.
04, 0D, 0A, 06 Displays a hidden illustration drawn by joshyflip and Dolphman.
06, 23, 91, 07 Slot 7 100% complete with Sonic & Tails
06, 23, 91, 08 Slot 8 100% complete with Knuckles, unlocks Knuckles
19, 95, 04, 21 Unlock Knuckles
19, 93, 09, 23 Unlock Metal Sonic
19, 94, 11, 11 Unlock Nack/Fang

Artwork

External links

References

  1. @DeeLiteyears on Twitter (Wayback Machine: 2022-08-28 04:25)
  2. @DeeLiteyears on Twitter (Wayback Machine: 2023-02-19 01:34)