Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble 16-bit (PC, 2022)
Graphics-9 Sound-8.5 Control-8 Challenge-6.5/8* Story-6
Level Design-8/6* Frustration-6/8.5* Fun-8/6* Originality-4.5
Overall Score-8
*Some special stages
+
Remixed and expanded GG levels w/ MD level audiovisuals and no slowdown (generally good-great level design, boss pattern and size tweaks, some cool new gimmicks like Nack trying to snipe you+the firewall chase segment in the same level (the junglira escape segment is also pretty cool and so is the egg zeppelin one though it's a bit much to repeat it two zones in a row), added intro level and in-game cutscene (ties into S3&K here), some acts are mostly new and there's a new zone in egg zeppelin, uses the rocket shoes better)
Save feature
Widescreen option
Sonic 3-style special stage system - have to find them as big ring portals in the levels (there's also plenty of opportunities to find them early on)
Very good variation overall
Nice level transitions (S3&K-style, original did this too but only for one or two levels)
The Sonic 3 elemental shields and the Sonic Mania drop dash were included
Mickey Mania-style "towards the screen" snowboarding segment - easy though
Remixed act 2 music for each zone
Two new bonus levels (at checkpoints, 50+ rings to enter; first one is very similar to Sonic 3 and pretty decent, pinball/one-armed bandit hybrid one is OK)
New special stages based on the airplane special stages in the original mixed with the running ones in Mania/CD/Chaotix/Sonic 2 (cool but too hard and unforgiving at times)
Uses Tails' submarine from Tails' Adventure for a whole act here (free-roaming shooter-style, a bit slower paced but still good)
Good final boss
Includes the homing attack from Megamix (if you have the gold shield as Sonic)
Unlockable Knuckles (beat the game; different intro level+partially different levels throughout the game, somewhat different Knuckles/disguised metal sonic fights), Nack/Fang (get all emeralds; Nack can't spin jump/roll into a ball in mid-air (can still spin dash) but can double jump and shoot) and Metal Sonic (beat Knuckles' story mode, slowly hovers while attacking with an aura)
Knuckles can jump or move immediately after landing from a glide jump here
Hidden level in Knuckles' story mode (purple palace zone (similar to the sidescrolling special stages in the original game mixed with sandopolis) - entered via a large pit in robotnik's winter zone act 2)
Unlockable super sonic+tails (get all the emeralds and start a new game using the same save file)
+/-
Can retry special stages but it costs a life to do so
No speed shoes power up?
Tails can't turn into a ball after bouncing into the air off of a spring nor do the drop dash (maybe nerfing his flight and adding these would be better)
Kinda weird how you stay on the snowboards for longer parts of the normal levels
Missing some of the original's power ups (pogo spring besides in the hidden level as Knuckles, hyper heli-tails, propeller shoes (swimming - can just switch to tails though), time bonus?)
No "classic" mode where the levels, color palettes and music are authentic to the original
Free play=play a single level (level select is available)
Knuckles can't turn into a ball/spin jump nor glide after bouncing into the air off of a spring
-
Some control/interface issues (can't quickly drop down from flight as tails, can't press start at some points in menus - have to press B; special stages: no jump height control, can't speed up or slow down, sometimes unforgiving hit detection, no reverse vertical controls option for the airplane and its hit box on the z-plane is kinda big, kinda floaty rocket shoes controls, can't perform a drop dash if equipped with an elemental shield - there's enough buttons on a controller to have separate actions, unskippable staff roll, can't glide into monitors to pop them as Knuckles, kinda slow wall climbing as Knuckles, can't shoot up/down as Nack (when running up or down walls))
Some trial & error (special stages, some mechanics like how momentum works in the auto-scrolling train parts, Knuckles boss fight - seems like you should be able to hit him at some points but you can't, the invincible turrets in tidal plant which also hurt you when jumped into)
Uneven difficulty - very hard third special stage and they're harder in general than in the original (instant death pits, one mistake and it's over kind of challenge as it's too hard to catch up with Nack/Fang after one, have to also keep track of a draining ring counter). In the original most of them would have you play sidescrolling platforming challenges instead and they weren't as hard generally (the last one was kinda bullshit to be fair, the nack fights in these were moved into act 1 of each zone here instead). Dips: sunset park boss, early-mid game levels in general, fourth special stage is much easier than the third and the fifth is easier than the fourth, Nack mini-boss in tidal plant 1, pretty easy metal sonic fight
The airplane is too big in the special stages (bigger than in the original) - obstructs the view from hazards
Can't play as Sonic or Tails alone (the other sometimes gets in the way)
The breakable balls in meta junglira feel underused (could've made you climb using them or break them to reveal hidden paths - looks like you should at times) and it's weird how they don't bounce you upwards when hit from above as tails
Some dead space and dead ends in the levels (for example the tall walls in zone 1)
No incentive to find the big rings after getting the sixth chaos emerald (which is fairly easy after getting the third) since you don't even get a 1-up from it. They could've turned you into Super Sonic for 100 rings' time or something
Some odd 1-up placements (the one under a zipline in zone 2)
Slow upwards air streams in tidal plant and certain parts of the final zone (waiting for crushers or laser traps, elevator if you die near the end)
Not much of an ending even if you got all the emeralds
Immersion breaking invisible walls when facing villains outside of fighting them
Can't play story mode as Nack or Metal Sonic - only free play (you also face yourself as a mini-boss for the first acts as Nack)
Much harder intro level as Nack (since you get no rings) and the game crashes after you beat it
No special stages as Knuckles=No hyper Knuckles?
The submarine shot sfx is too loud compared to the music in that level
Bugs (v1.0.2):
-Glitchy controller support (PS3 - sometimes had to use the analog stick and couldn't pause)
-Timer reset bug where it only goes back to 9:50 after dying
-Bug where I couldn't descend while flying as Tails (rare)
-Glitchy physics during the pinball bonus level if you end up between the flippers (almost can't move)
-Couldn't beat zone 1's boss as Nack (it's invincible)
Level Design-8/6* Frustration-6/8.5* Fun-8/6* Originality-4.5
Overall Score-8
*Some special stages
+
Remixed and expanded GG levels w/ MD level audiovisuals and no slowdown (generally good-great level design, boss pattern and size tweaks, some cool new gimmicks like Nack trying to snipe you+the firewall chase segment in the same level (the junglira escape segment is also pretty cool and so is the egg zeppelin one though it's a bit much to repeat it two zones in a row), added intro level and in-game cutscene (ties into S3&K here), some acts are mostly new and there's a new zone in egg zeppelin, uses the rocket shoes better)
Save feature
Widescreen option
Sonic 3-style special stage system - have to find them as big ring portals in the levels (there's also plenty of opportunities to find them early on)
Very good variation overall
Nice level transitions (S3&K-style, original did this too but only for one or two levels)
The Sonic 3 elemental shields and the Sonic Mania drop dash were included
Mickey Mania-style "towards the screen" snowboarding segment - easy though
Remixed act 2 music for each zone
Two new bonus levels (at checkpoints, 50+ rings to enter; first one is very similar to Sonic 3 and pretty decent, pinball/one-armed bandit hybrid one is OK)
New special stages based on the airplane special stages in the original mixed with the running ones in Mania/CD/Chaotix/Sonic 2 (cool but too hard and unforgiving at times)
Uses Tails' submarine from Tails' Adventure for a whole act here (free-roaming shooter-style, a bit slower paced but still good)
Good final boss
Includes the homing attack from Megamix (if you have the gold shield as Sonic)
Unlockable Knuckles (beat the game; different intro level+partially different levels throughout the game, somewhat different Knuckles/disguised metal sonic fights), Nack/Fang (get all emeralds; Nack can't spin jump/roll into a ball in mid-air (can still spin dash) but can double jump and shoot) and Metal Sonic (beat Knuckles' story mode, slowly hovers while attacking with an aura)
Knuckles can jump or move immediately after landing from a glide jump here
Hidden level in Knuckles' story mode (purple palace zone (similar to the sidescrolling special stages in the original game mixed with sandopolis) - entered via a large pit in robotnik's winter zone act 2)
Unlockable super sonic+tails (get all the emeralds and start a new game using the same save file)
+/-
Can retry special stages but it costs a life to do so
No speed shoes power up?
Tails can't turn into a ball after bouncing into the air off of a spring nor do the drop dash (maybe nerfing his flight and adding these would be better)
Kinda weird how you stay on the snowboards for longer parts of the normal levels
Missing some of the original's power ups (pogo spring besides in the hidden level as Knuckles, hyper heli-tails, propeller shoes (swimming - can just switch to tails though), time bonus?)
No "classic" mode where the levels, color palettes and music are authentic to the original
Free play=play a single level (level select is available)
Knuckles can't turn into a ball/spin jump nor glide after bouncing into the air off of a spring
-
Some control/interface issues (can't quickly drop down from flight as tails, can't press start at some points in menus - have to press B; special stages: no jump height control, can't speed up or slow down, sometimes unforgiving hit detection, no reverse vertical controls option for the airplane and its hit box on the z-plane is kinda big, kinda floaty rocket shoes controls, can't perform a drop dash if equipped with an elemental shield - there's enough buttons on a controller to have separate actions, unskippable staff roll, can't glide into monitors to pop them as Knuckles, kinda slow wall climbing as Knuckles, can't shoot up/down as Nack (when running up or down walls))
Some trial & error (special stages, some mechanics like how momentum works in the auto-scrolling train parts, Knuckles boss fight - seems like you should be able to hit him at some points but you can't, the invincible turrets in tidal plant which also hurt you when jumped into)
Uneven difficulty - very hard third special stage and they're harder in general than in the original (instant death pits, one mistake and it's over kind of challenge as it's too hard to catch up with Nack/Fang after one, have to also keep track of a draining ring counter). In the original most of them would have you play sidescrolling platforming challenges instead and they weren't as hard generally (the last one was kinda bullshit to be fair, the nack fights in these were moved into act 1 of each zone here instead). Dips: sunset park boss, early-mid game levels in general, fourth special stage is much easier than the third and the fifth is easier than the fourth, Nack mini-boss in tidal plant 1, pretty easy metal sonic fight
The airplane is too big in the special stages (bigger than in the original) - obstructs the view from hazards
Can't play as Sonic or Tails alone (the other sometimes gets in the way)
The breakable balls in meta junglira feel underused (could've made you climb using them or break them to reveal hidden paths - looks like you should at times) and it's weird how they don't bounce you upwards when hit from above as tails
Some dead space and dead ends in the levels (for example the tall walls in zone 1)
No incentive to find the big rings after getting the sixth chaos emerald (which is fairly easy after getting the third) since you don't even get a 1-up from it. They could've turned you into Super Sonic for 100 rings' time or something
Some odd 1-up placements (the one under a zipline in zone 2)
Slow upwards air streams in tidal plant and certain parts of the final zone (waiting for crushers or laser traps, elevator if you die near the end)
Not much of an ending even if you got all the emeralds
Immersion breaking invisible walls when facing villains outside of fighting them
Can't play story mode as Nack or Metal Sonic - only free play (you also face yourself as a mini-boss for the first acts as Nack)
Much harder intro level as Nack (since you get no rings) and the game crashes after you beat it
No special stages as Knuckles=No hyper Knuckles?
The submarine shot sfx is too loud compared to the music in that level
Bugs (v1.0.2):
-Glitchy controller support (PS3 - sometimes had to use the analog stick and couldn't pause)
-Timer reset bug where it only goes back to 9:50 after dying
-Bug where I couldn't descend while flying as Tails (rare)
-Glitchy physics during the pinball bonus level if you end up between the flippers (almost can't move)
-Couldn't beat zone 1's boss as Nack (it's invincible)