Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is the third installment in the Super Smash Bros. series of fighting games, developed by Sora and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It was released in North America on March 9, 2008. Sonic the Hedgehog appears in the game as an unlockable playable character. Sonic is the fastest character in the game, even beating out prior fastest Smash Bros. character Captain Falcon. He also the second third-party character to be playable in Brawl, the first being Solid Snake.

Attributes
Sonic is the fastest character in the game (a title taken from Captain Falcon), and this allows him to use his dash attack repeatedly and quickly. This, and many other moves, allows him to quickly rack up damage and then use one of his smash attacks to finish the opponent(Although, smashes arn't his specialty). His aerials can be used to juggle opponents with the right timing and skill, allowing for many attack possibilities. His down aerial is a Stall-Then-Fall which means that if he misses, there will be large landing lag, or a likely SD. His standard special, Homing Attack, locks on to opponents if they are close enough, can be used to hinder opponents’ recoveries, and can be used infinitely under some stages to stall. His side special, Spin Dash, can give some horizontal if up is hit during the beginning of the move. His down special, Spin Charge, allows him to stay in one place(not in the air though) and charge the move by rapidly hitting the special attack button, with the move being activated when down is let go of. His up special, Spring Jump, acts differently depending on whether it’s used in the air or on the ground. If used on the ground, the spring will remain there for a few seconds, allowing anyone to use it, including the original sonic that used it, which means he can use 2 spring jumps to get a large amount of vertical distance. If used in the air, however, the spring will simply fall and act like a projectile. Using the Homing Attack and Spin Dash for horizontal recovery and the Spring Jump for vertical recovery, Sonic has a very good recovery. His final smash, Super Sonic, transforms him into Super Sonic and he can fly around the stage dealing good damage and knockback.

However, Sonic does have his weaknesses. He has low priority on most attacks, high startup and/or cooldown lag on his smashes, small hitboxes(range), and minimal means to kill. His lack of means with which to deal with projectiles, as well as his lack of his own true projectile, hamper his approach, making him a somewhat easy character to defend against, and predict, respectively. Plus, if an opponent grab releases Sonic during his spring jump, then he won't be able to use any specials and simply falls.

Sonic's many pros and cons cause him to currently be middle tier on the current SBR tier list, placing 23 out of a total 37.

Standard Special Move
The Homing Attack is an attack used by Sonic the Hedgehog and is his most basic attack in many games. It originated in Sonic 3D Blast, but became a staple Sonic move in the Sonic Adventure games.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the Homing Attack is Sonic's Standard Special Move. When used, he curls up, rises into the air, then attacks the opponent closest to him. This move can also be used an unlimited amount of times, the air, thus allowing him to recover if opponents try to edge guard him. If Homing Attack is used when no opponent is nearby, Sonic dashes forward at a downward diagonal angle. If Sonic does not hit anybody with it and hits the ground,he will stall for a second, leaving him open. Pressing A while Sonic is rising into the air to set the move off early. As a side note, if two Sonics (or Kirby('s) with Sonic's ability) attack one another with this move, they will slowly jump upwards until they reach the top of the screen, in a manner similar to the Luigi Ladder. IGN's Sonic Character Profile states that Sonic may aim his homing attack, once performed. It also possesses a unique quality in that it tries to hit the opponent's side facing away from sonic by traveling over them. This property means that it only hits effectively when the opponent is moving away from him on the ground, or traveling towards them in the air, making it a effective recovery gimping, and combined with his naturally good recovery gives sonic a large edgeguarding potential, opening him up for upward their movement possibility

It should be noted that the homing attack can be used to stall indefinitely and/or travel underneath stages by jumping into the ceiling of an impenetrable platform, then using this ability to ricochet off of it at will. When you are about to use Homing Attack tap the control stick left or right, depending on the way you want to go, and then press neutral B. Sonic will change his direction, and attempt to home on an enemy in that direction, or, if there is no enemy in range, dash downwards at a diagonal angle.

Forward Special Move
Spin Dash (sometimes spelled Spindash) is Sonic the Hedgehog's Side Special Move in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. A chargeable move similar to Rollout, it also makes Sonic bounce when it initiates. Unlike Spin Charge, this move can give horizontal recovery. Both attacks move approximately the same once on the ground, and the direction can be changed once moving. Spin Dash is slightly stronger then Yoshi's Egg Roll, as Yoshi's Egg Roll breaks upon impact with projectiles that cause flinching, or well timed attacks. Spin Dash simply stops in function, and cancels out any damage. If the Spin Dash collides with the Egg Roll, both attacks are negated. This Spin Dash also has invincibility frames at the very beginning.

This Spin Dash is based on the spin dash that originated in Sonic CD, where the player can build up speed for the Spin Dash just by holding the buttons, instead of rapidly tapping them. Also, Sonic doesn't automatically jump when he dashes off nor can he change his direction at will. This version of the Spin Dash has been in most of Sonic's 3-D appearances.

Upward Special Move
Spring Jump is Sonic's Up Special Move in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which acts as a personalized spring, causing a spring from the Sonic series to immediately appear underneath him, shooting Sonic up a great vertical distance. When used on the ground, the spring remains in place for a while, allowing other characters to use it, too. If this move is used in the air, the spring falls downwards, acting similar to a projectile, making it effective for edge guarding. After using this move, Sonic still retains the ability to use normal aerial attacks and air dodges, but will be unable to use Special Attacks until he touches the ground. Additionally, this move does not allow Sonic to grab any ledges onstage (I.E. auto-sweetspot) until he is finished gaining vertical distance, making it dangerous for recovery if Sonic goes above a ledge and exposed to an edge-guarder. Barring any outside influence, the spring will remain on the ground long enough for Sonic to do three jumps off of, disappearing just as he makes his third jump. Unlike the Spring item, it will always face straight up, even on a steep slope. Sonic's Dair seems to be a counter of this; it sends you downward at about the same height.

If Sonic bounces off a previously set Spring, even his own, it doesn't count as his third jump as long as he doesn't land on it immediately from his Up Special, so he can use Spring Jump immediately afterward, gaining a great deal of height, essentially two back-to-back Up

Downward Special Move
Spin Charge is Sonic's Down Special Move. It is similar to Spin Dash in both appearance and function, but has the potential to move quite a bit faster. Charging the move is different than charging Spin Dash, as you have to hold down on the D-Pad/Control Stick and rapidly press the Special Move button. Unlike the Spin Dash, you do not bounce on initiation of this move (done by releasing down), however, but you still retain the ability to change directions or jump. If you release the special button, but continue to hold down, Sonic will stop spinning in place instead of unleashing the move, allowing for feint attacks. This move can also be used in the air, but only moves forwards a small amount until it hits the ground, making it somewhat similar to Yoshi's Egg Roll. Spin Charge is slightly stronger then Yoshi's Egg Roll, as when Yoshi's Egg Roll comes into contact with projectiles which create impact, or well timed hits, it breaks. Spin Charge simply stops in function, and negates all damage.

The Spin Dash is a standard Sonic technique originating from Sonic the Hedgehog 2. It's controls, behavior and execution are almost exactly the same in Brawl as they were in said game, save the fact that it can change the direction of its roll much easier.

Final Smash
Final Smashes are the ultimate, most powerful special attacks in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. To use a Final Smash, the player must first break open a Smash Ball, a colorful item with the Smash Bros. insignia on it. If used correctly, they're capable of KO'ing all opponents at once. Super Sonic, the famous super form Sonic takes after obtaining all 7 Chaos Emeralds, appears in Brawl as Sonic's Final Smash.

After saying, "Here I'll show you!", Sonic goes Super and now has the ability to fly around the stage at an incredible speed. The transformation lasts for about 15 seconds, and, while Sonic is transformed, he is completely invincible. He can't KO himself if he touches the edge of the screen, regardless of how far he's going, but if he turns back to normal while he's too far away to recover, he'll be penalized with a self destruct. Sonic can attack in this form just by ramming into opponents; the faster he's going, the more damage is dealt. Simply touching him while he's Super even deals damage. It is similar in function to Pikachu's Final Smash, Volt Tackle, except that it has better knock-back and control but cannot go through fall-through platforms like Volt Tackle can. If the move is being used under the Bridge of Eldin stage while the destructible section of the bridge is re-materializing, the move will end instantly, as it is impossible to reach the stage once the bridge comes back together. The move is also useful when Sonic is sent flying and is about to fall down a bottomless pit, as this prevents him from being KO'd and can break his fall.

Normal

 * Neutral Attack - A left-handed punch, then a right-handed punch, then finally a side kick with the left leg. 7% damage (2% + 2% +3%).
 * Dash Attack - Rolls into a ball to hit anyone in his way, similar to when you press down while running in most Sonic games. 6% damage.
 * Strong Side - Stick out both of his feet, with both of his hands planted on the ground (appearance and knockback comparable to Pikachu's F-Tilt in Melee). 11% damage, in two hits (4% + 7%).
 * Strong Up - Kicks upward which hits three times (appearance comparable to C. Falcon's Up Smash in Melee). Very minimal knockback. 14 damage if all three hits connect (3% + 4% + 7%).
 * Strong Down - Foot sweep (appearance and knockback comparable to Sheik's D-Tilt in Melee). 6% damage. Moves him forward.

Smash

 * Side Smash - Winds up his arm during the charge and attacks with a short range punch and yells "GO!". It has a good knockback, has a fast start-up speed, little lag after, but the range isn't too impressive. 14-19% damage. Can be angled.
 * Up Smash - Sonic does a short jump and hangs at its apex for a bit doing a spin. Enemies that get hit are caught into this attack, and gets hit multiple times until the final hit, which does decent knockback (low knockback in relative to a Smash attack's standard). This has a lot of priority (somewhat similar to Olimar's up tilt by how both make the characters float for a little bit and the multiple hits). In addition it can be performed almost instantaneously after running making it a very good combo starter. 8 consecutive hits, 14-19% damage (7% + 1%x6 + 4%). This attack can also spike.
 * Down Smash - Spin Dashes back and forth over a short distance around him. It has good knockback, and very good range. 12-19% damage.

Other

 * Ledge Attack - Spins in front. 8% damage.
 * 100% Ledge Attack - Stick's out one foot then the other while on his back, two consecutive hits. 13% damage.
 * Floor Attack - Quick foot sweep, hits both sides. 6% damage.

Aerial Attacks
. 11% damage. This attack does NOT continue downwards until landing (although it does go down very far before stopping). It has a good amount of lag when hitting the ground. When hitting a grounded opponent, the angle of knockback is similar to Captain Falcon's Falcon Kick. 8% damage.
 * Neutral Aerial - Spins in place. Properties are similar to the properties of the Sex Kick
 * Forward Aerial - Drills at the enemy head first rotating his body. Imagine Pikachu's F-Air (more similar to the 64/Brawl version than the Melee version). 14% damage.
 * Back Aerial - Kicks behind him (appearance and knockback comparable to Samus's B-Air in Melee). One of Sonic's best killing moves. 13% damage.
 * Up Aerial - A flip kick similar to Fox's U-Air. First he splits his legs apart and out (capable of hitting enemies a bit to his sides) doing no significant knockback. Then he kicks up, knocking his opponents up with significant knockback. 9% damage.
 * Down Aerial - A Stall-Then-Fall aerial. Sonic stalls for a brief moment, then shoots downwards foot first. Appearance is comparable to Ganondorf's Wizard's Foot

Grabs and Throws

 * Pummel - Knees the opponent. 3% damage.
 * Forward Throw - Oddly enough, it kicks them upwards using a straight up kick (think Sonic doing the splits vertically). Can follow with Up-Air juggles, but it can be heavily DI'ed backwards. 2 consecutive hits, 9% damage (3% + 6%).
 * Back Throw - Does a back flip while spinning (and while holding the opponent) and slams them on the ground, sending them backwards with very little knockback. Appearance is similar to Pikachu's back throw in Melee. 8% damage.
 * Up Throw - Tosses the opponent slightly above him and then lands on his hands as if to do a push-up. His quills harden just before they make contact and the foe is shot upwards and at an angle. 2 consecutive hits, 12% damage (3% + 9%).
 * Down Throw - Throws them down and spins on them (similar to Jigglypuff's down throw but not quite the same), then knocks them a bit forward. Does a good amount of damage and has decent horizontal knockback. 4 hits, 8% damage (1%x3 + 5%).

Taunts
Up: Does a front flip, then crosses arms with his index finger pointing out while making a teasing clicking tune, which forms into one of his signature poses.

Side: Does a figure eight peelout dash similar to a running animation from Sonic CD, saying "You're too slow!" in a teasing manner.

Down: Says: "C'mon, step it up!" while breakdancing.

Subspace Emissary
Each character in the game is playable in the game's story mode, Subspace Emissary. The main universe of Brawl, the World Of Trophies, is where trophies are either pit to fight each other or destroyed if they destroy their "true nature". In the "Sonic Joins The Brawl" trailer, Sonic can be seen fighting the Subspace Army with Mario. Oddly this never happens in the actual storyline, it is only possible to play as Sonic and Mario if you go back to a level. Sonic only appears in the Subspace Emissary once, when he attacks Tabuu, the leader of the Subspace Army and weakens him. This is most likely due to Sonic's late inclusion in the game and most of the Subspace Emissary being completed.

His exact role is like this: After completing a large level called the Great Maze, whoever the player was controlling sees Tabuu in the sky. He tries to turn the player's characters into a trophy just like before. But before he can do so, a blue light streaks through his wings twice. This breaks the wings and removing his ability to turn characters into Trophies. Then the blue light stops at a small subspace mountain, and it is revealed to be Sonic. He then wags his finger and smiles similar to his up taunt. After which, Tabuu gets angry and then the boss battle starts. Sonic is, if added to the group to fight Tabuu, at this point playable.

Inclusion
Since the release of Smash Bros., fans of fights or unions between Sonic and Mario have requested that Sonic be in Smash games. However, it seemed highly unlikely due to the fact that Sega (Sonic's home company) rivaled Nintendo (Mario's). In 2002 an issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly claimed that Sonic (as well as Tails) could be unlocked in Super Smash Bros. Melee by defeating 20 or more Fighting Wire Frames in Cruel Melee, however this was revealed to be an April Fools joke using a fake screenshot of the characters taken out of Sonic Adventure 2. This most likely made fans desire Sonic in a future game even more.

When Brawl was announced, Konami's Snake of Metal Gear fame was on the roster of playable characters as the first 3rd-party game character to be included in the Smash Bros. series. The demand for Sonic increased greatly, and was added after Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games was revealed to gamers (though being a complete surprise in itself may have made Sonic's chances in Brawl seem even more of a possibility). Ranking over old favorites in gaming like Megaman (by Capcom), Cloud (by Square Enix) and Pac-Man (by Namco), Sonic was the most asked for character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Sonic's confirmation on the Smash Bros. DOJO! (Super Smash Bros. Brawl's official site) was on October 10, 2007 at the same day a special Nintendo conference was held. His confirmation caused a huge celebration from most if not all Sonic fans. Coincidentally however, Brawl was delayed on almost the same date, which disappointed many fans. But Sonic's confirmation softened most if not all the blow for Sonic fans.

Even so, the smaller role he plays in the Subspace Emissary storyline than Snake does amongst other characters made fans feel cheapened in Sonic's inclusion, including repeated move-sets, slightly poor music choice, recent character trophies over old ones (ex. Silver the Hedgehog and Jet the Hawk over Metal Sonic and Fang the Sniper), and some fans were disappointed to not have Ryan Drummond voice Sonic instead of Jason Anthony Griffith, despite Rouge the Bat's former voice actor Lani Minella voicing Brawler Pit, Lucas, and Assist Trophy character Lyn. However, since Jason Anthony Griffith is the current voice actor, and also was at the time, it seems implausible that Ryan Drummond would've even been considered.

Reception
Many people were pleased with the game and its gameplay. It has gotten a perfect score on almost every site that rated it. It is also the seventh game to get a 40 out of 40 in Famitsu.

How to Unlock Sonic

 * Complete the Subspace Emissary on any difficulty (Sonic is automatically unlocked).
 * Play 300 Matches of Brawl (after doing so, you must defeat Sonic in a 1 life battle. If you fail the 1st time, you just have to play another match to try again).
 * Complete Classic Mode with 10 different characters on any difficulty (after doing so, you must defeat Sonic in a 1 life battle. If you fail the 1st time, go through Classic again).
 * Play a total of ten hours in Brawls (after doing so, you must defeat Sonic in a 1 life battle. If you fail the 1st time, you just have to play another match to try again).

Trophies
Assist Trophies Trophies
 * Shadow the Hedgehog is an Assist trophy and uses Chaos Control, which slows down everyone except the character who called him.

Stickers
This game contains a sticker collecting feature, providing hundreds of samples of artwork from the different games made by Nintendo. Each sticker has unique properties that can improve the stats of your character while in the subspace emissary. 29 of these stickers were from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Unlike the other games incorporated in Brawl, the Sonic stickers were separated by which game the character first appeared in rather than what game the art itself is from. Most of the artwork is from Sonic Channel.

 Note: Big, Chao, Tikal and Gamma first appeared in Sonic Adventure, but are labeled as Sonic Adventure DX in Brawl. Similarly, Shadow and Rouge first appeared in Sonic Adventure 2 but are labeled as Sonic Adventure 2: Battle in Brawl. These labels were most likely to note their appearances on Nintendo systems.

Stage

 * Green Hill Zone
 * How to Unlock: Unlock Sonic

Trivia

 * The Chao trophy notes something that originated in Sonic X episode Summer Vacation! Chao Observation Diary: Chao can not only be found in Chao Gardens, but also freshwater establishments. The only other games to reference Sonic X were Sonic Adventure DX and Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood.
 * Sonic's fighting style was mostly modeled after his fighting style in Sonic the Fighters, with some attacks coming from Sonic Battle.
 * Though not official to the series of Sonic games, this is the first time Sonic is seen using weapons such as Beam Swords, Ray Guns, Super Scopes, and other weapons in Brawl, despite the fact in Shadow's game Sonic states he is against the use of weapons by saying, "Personally, I wouldn't be caught dead using one of those things." However, he may have been referring to guns.
 * Many of Sonic's attacks use the same spinning animation, and his statistics are not as refined as most other characters. This has caused some to believe this is due to his late inclusion, which caused his programming to be rushed.
 * Speaking of which, Sonic's late appearance in the story mode may be explained by his late addition.
 * This is the third time that Sonic and Super Sonic can appear on screen together. The first time was Sonic R and the second was Sonic Shuffle.
 * This is the second time his shoes change color, the first time being in Sonic The Hedgehog (2006).
 * All Sonic Stickers (Except Shahra, Erazor, and the Classic Sonics) are Sonic Channel Artwork.
 * There is a mistake on Shadow's trophy: The trophy said he debuted in Sonic Heroes, when it was really Sonic Adventure 2.
 * Jet's trophy does not reference Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, despite appearing in the game, which was released before Brawl. However, according to the chronicle, nothing after December 2007 was referenced in the trophies. In fact, the release date of Brawl was actually intended to be before Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity came out.
 * Though Sonic the Hedgehog related Trophies and Stickers appear in Brawl, these are not recorded in the Chronicle. This is also applied to Metal Gear related trophies and stickers. This is due to the games not originating from Nintendo (Some other Third-Party games exclusively for Nintendo consoles are also recorded in the chronicle that aren't part of Nintendo franchise's, such as NBA Courtside 2002 for the GameCube and Rareware's games like Perfect Dark and GoldenEye 007 for N64). Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games may have Mario in it, but it is not recorded in the Chronicle, due to Sega handling international releases. On the Trophies, some characters' game appearances do not have the Sega Genesis or Sega Dreamcast Logos labeled; this also applied to multi-platform games such as Sonic Heroes. This is due to Brawl being a Nintendo game, thus even though they appeared in those games, the game only labels the Nintendo appearances (if any).
 * Sonic's side taunt, "You're too slow!", had become an Internet Meme some time after the game's release.
 * Sonic's inclusion in Brawl has made him the fastest character in the game, taking the title from Captain Falcon. His pace is so fast, that when he's wearing the Bunny Hood item, he can outrace the F-Zero machines in the stage, Big Blue, and the waterfall in the Pikmin stage, Distant Planet.
 * Sonic is capable of swimming in Brawl like the game's other characters, despite not being able to swim in his own games.
 * In Mario And Sonic At The Olympic Winter Games, a Sonic snowman can be purchased at the secret shop. This Sonic Snowman is in his Super Smash Bros. Brawl pose.
 * Sonic is one of the only characters in the Subspace Emissary to not be seen as a trophy alongside Zero Suit Samus, Sheik and Squirtle, possibly because of his late appearance. However, Sonic is the only of these four to never be defeated. Strangely, all these characters are blue and have names starting with "s".
 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl marks the first time since Sonic & Knuckles where, under certain circumstances, Sonic can transform into Super Sonic at any time.
 * In early versions of the game (such as games that were pre-ordered), Sonic's trophy says "When he collects the seven Chaos Emeralds, he transforms into the mighty god Super Sonic" instead of "the mighty, gold Super Sonic" This was fixed later on, but the Prima guide for the game still says "god".
 * Interesting note : Sonic, Kirby , Captain Falcon & Pikachu all had shows dubbed by 4kids Sonic (Sonic X), Kirby (Kirby : Right Back At Ya" Captain Falcon ( F:Zero GP Legends) & Pikachu (Pokemon) which all shows also appeared on the same channel

Music

 * Green Hill Zone appears unchanged.
 * Scrap Brain Zone appears unchanged.
 * Emerald Hill Zone appears unchanged.
 * Angel Island Zone is remixed by Jun Senoue.
 * Sonic Boom appears unchanged, replaces Toot Toot Sonic Warrior.
 * Super Sonic Racing appears unchanged, but curtailed.
 * Open Your Heart appears unchanged, but curtailed.
 * Live and Learn appears in the game unchanged, but curtailed.
 * Sonic Heroes appears unchanged, but curtailed.
 * Right There, Ride On slightly changed.
 * His World (Instrumental) slightly changed.
 * Seven Rings in Hand appears unchanged, but curtailed.