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It's Sonic The Hedgehog's 20th Anniversary - here are the top 5 best portable Sonic games

Is that a hedgehog in your pocket?

It's Sonic The Hedgehog's 20th Anniversary - here are the top 5 best portable Sonic games
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| Sonic The Hedgehog

Sonic The Hedgehog turns 20 today. It's been two long and turbulent decades since the blue blur first zipped through Green Hill Zone on the Mega Drive in June of 1991.

The Mario-foiling mascot has plenty of adventures to his name. In the past 20 years he's had a comic, a series of books, four TV shows, and almost 50 games on consoles from Master System to Wii.

Nobody can deny the pure, kinetic joy of guiding a spiky blue 'hog over checkerboard landscapes, through oceans of rings, and past animal-like robots. At his best, Sonic is about devious platforming, tough boss fights, and supersonic velocities.

In the second half of his life, though, Sonic's lost his way a smidge. He's befriended some seriously annoying goofballs, wielded a talking sword, jumped on an poorly-controlled hoverboard (twice), turned into a werewolf for a bit, and totally smooched a human girl. That was weird.

But let's remember the good times. For Sonic's sake. Here are five truly excellent handheld games that feature Sonic and pals, from Game Gear to iPhone.

Sonic The Hedgehog: Triple Trouble
Game Gear - 1994

Sonic Triple Trouble

When Sega unleashed its bloated, six-battery Game Gear colossus in 1991, it was only a matter of time until the publisher sprinkled the console with old Sonic ports and fresh Hedgehog games.

The Game Gear saw no fewer than ten different Sonic titles including karting game Sonic Drift, a port of the first Master System adventure, match-four puzzler Mean Bean Machine,and pseudo-pinball platformer Sonic Spinball.

Arguably the best of the bunch, and a Game Gear exclusive to boot, was Triple Trouble. It's a mighty good Sonic game with interesting new stages, some fresh moves, and solid controls.

The setup is the same: egg-shaped villain Dr Robotnik manages to capture and scatter the Chaos Emeralds in one fell swoop, leaving Sonic and Tails to scoop them all back up.

The triplet of troubles refers to Robotnick, Emerald-obsessed echidna Knuckles, and series newbie Nack the Weasel. Sonic and Tails have to contend with all three of those baddies across six zones and loads of special stages.

If you fancy trying it yourself but don't have six AA batteries spare, your prayers will soon be answered. Sonic The Hedgehog: Triple Trouble will be one of the first Game Gear titles to hit the Virtual Console on Nintendo 3DS.

Sonic Pocket Adventure
Neo Geo Pocket Colour - 1999

Sonic Pocket Adventure

With the untimely death of the monstrous Game Gear, Sega was forced to turn to other handhelds to host pocket versions of Sonic platformers.

In 1998, for example, we got a miserable monochrome compilation of Sonic greats on the ill-fated Game.com. A year later, Sega made it all better with this Neo Geo Pocket edition.

Sonic Pocket Adventure plays like an all-star remix of Sonic's best bits. The level designs and gameplay are mostly inspired by Sonic The Hedgehog 2, but elements of the first Sonic game creep in here and there. The music, on the other hand, comes from Sonics 3 and Jam.

It all blends into a delicious Hedgehog milkshake, complete with some inspired stages and excellent backing music. It doesn't hurt that the NGPC was a seriously capable handheld which managed to retain Sonic's trademark speed, and control well thanks to that satisfyingly-clicky controller.

Pocket Adventure also packs bonus content and multiplayer races. Sadly, you'll have to head to eBay and nab a retro NGPC to play it. It's worth it, though: the game's retro purity, great controls, and curated collection of stages makes it one of the best Sonic games ever: handheld or otherwise.

Sonic Advance 2
Game Boy Advance - 2003

Sonic Advance 2

In 2002, Sonic finally buried and hatchet and ended his long-term rivalry with Mario. With the Dreamcast dead and Sega turning away from consoles entirely, the publisher had to make up with Nintendo and drop Sonic on a console ruled by the portly plumber.

Nowadays, the two heroes are hanging out together at the Winter Olympics and teaming up in Smash Bros tournies. But to a child of the heated Nintendo vs Sega, Mario vs Sonic, "Sega Does What Nintendon't" war, Sonic Advance on Nintendo's GBA was a very big deal.

Once the dust settled, Sega managed to churn out three excellent platformers on Game Boy Advance. These games featured all-new stages, fresh-faced heroes, new gameplay ideas, and a nostalgic reminder of Sonic games of yore.

Sonic Advance 2 is probably the best of the bunch. It's much faster than the original, and offers up huge levels with varied ideas and features. You'll also get to play as five characters with different skills and abiltiies: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and series newcomer Cream the Rabbit.

Sonic Rush
Nintendo DS - 2005

Sonic Rush

When Sonic's world was falling apart and gamers were getting sick of his console exploits (including hoverboards, telekinetic time-travellers, and the gun-toting Shadow), they turned to handhelds.

Games like Sonic Rush and its sequel Sonic Rush Adventure, racing-style Sonic Rivals on PSP and the Sonic Advance titles offered the classic Sonic thrills - speed, platforming and smart levels - that the console offerings lacked.

The best is certainly Sonic Rush, a new platformer for Nintendo DS which mixed retro 2D action with the odd 3D-style flourish for dramatic leaps and massive boss battles. The gameplay also spilled over between the two screens, making for plenty of vertically-inclined stages.

It wouldn't be a new Sonic game without a new hero. We saw the totally forgettable Blaze the Cat join Sonic with her fluffy boots and lavender fur. She, alongside Cream the Rabbit and Nack the Weasel, has since been chucked in the bin of Sonic's forgotten friends.

Sonic Rush is a good platformer, and was a welcome reprieve from endless console crap-fests. It packs great stages, smart bosses and some seriously catchy tunes.

Sonic The Hedgehog 4
iPhone - 2010, Windows Phone 7 - 2011

Sonic 4

It seems like Sega threatens a reboot or restart of Sonic The Hedgehog every other year. From the auspiciously named Sonic The Hedgehog to Sonic Unleashed (before the Werehog was revealed) to the forthcoming Sonic Generations, Sonic's had his fair share of fresh starts.

One title has managed to head back to the drawing board successfully though: Sonic The Hedgehog 4. In this download-only game and app, Sega managed to make a Sonic title that hearkened back to the Mega Drive originals.

You can only play as the blue blur, and levels feature old skool thrills like springs and rings and other things than end in 'ings'. There are bonus stages that are reminiscent of times gone by, and power-ups that any child of the '90s will recognise in a heartbeat.

There are some drawbacks: a sloppy framerate doesn't exactly spell 'speed' and the touchscreen controls aren't quite precise enough for this hypersonic hero. But if you've been craving classic Sonic fun, this iPhone and Windows Phone game will suit you well.

Mark Brown
Mark Brown
Mark Brown is editor at large of Pocket Gamer