While flying his plane, Tails discovers a small island and lands to investigate. While initially appearing to be uninhabited, he eventually comes upon an old woman. She declares herself to be the great Witchcart, and claims the island and everything on it as her own, threatening to transform any dissidents into crystal. She then heads off with her henchmen, and Tails, determined to stop her, chases after them. It is one of two handheld games on the Game Gear to feature Sonic's sidekick Miles "Tails" Prower as the main character. The game follows the adventures of Tails as he tries to save an island from Witchcart, who claims to be able to turn dissenters into crystals with her magic. It was originally released on 28 April 1995 as an exclusive game to the Japanese market. However, Tails' Skypatrol later saw an overseas release as it was included as an unlockable minigame in the Nintendo GameCube's Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut, and was re-released as one of the featured games in Sonic Gems Collection.