Hi guys. There’s a big thing I want to tell you about. My goals have shifted for this game’s development.

After playing these stages in-engine for the past 8 months, I realized something. While my original intent was to simply make Sonic Triple Trouble look better with 16 bit graphics and leave most of it untouched, I realize now that’s not enough.

Sonic Triple Trouble doesn’t just have 8-bit graphics.
It has 8-bit level design.
It has 8-bit enemy variety.
It has 8-bit gimmicks.

Stay with me. What I mean to say, is that the original game is limited in scope, size, and variety because it was developed for the Game Gear, in comparison to the Genesis Sonic games. When you take the original game, otherwise untouched, and give it 16-bit visuals, it still feels like a lesser game, compared to its big brothers.

The slope-angles are hard and jagged, the levels feels emptier, there are fewer enemy types, etc. Better graphics make it look better, but it still doesn’t play up to the Sonic 1,2,3&K standard of quality, when the controller is in your hand. If anything, giving it better graphics actually emphasizes the shortcomings, as it approaches the uncanny valley.

This revelation has changed how I think about the game and this project’s development going forward. Now, my new goal is to imagine the hypothetical game that Triple Trouble would have been if it was originally developed for the Genesis and pretend that the Game Gear version was a down-port.

It’s a like reverse-engineering type of mindset. DerZocker, an artist on this project, mentioned he compares the 8-bit Ristar to the 16-bit version as a point of reference when making his tile art, which is a good analogy for this.

That said, I need to temper expectations. This will not be a brand-new game. The core will be the game you remember. It will simply be expanded upon in a few ways, making it more than just a simple literal translation. Expect to see new gimmicks, new enemy varieties, extended levels, and an expanded story with new cutscenes! All while taking special care to remain faithful to the original.

It might be hard to understand the extent of the plan through text. Don’t worry, it will all make sense when you get to play it this July/August at SAGE.

Oh yeah, that’s right. SAGE is coming soon! All development for the next month will be focused on getting a great demo ready, for you guys to finally get a chance to get hands on with the game! See you there!

Enjoy this nice Title Screen that we are working on, art by DerZocker and Overbound