The graphics received universal praise. Paul Bufton of "Mean Machines Sega" wrote that the backgrounds and character sprites were "the best to grace the Game Gear," and superior to previous Game Gear "Sonic" games. "Sega Magazine" and "Sega Pro" felt the visuals approached the 16-bit quality seen on the Mega Drive "Sonic" games. A couple critics noticed frame rate dips when the screen was busy. "Sega Magazine" believed that other Game Gear Sonic games were just cropped versions of the Master System versions and thus suffered gameplay-wise, and felt this was not a problem with "Triple Trouble".