Crouch

Crouch is a recurring move in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It is a technique used to gain more speed while grinding.

Description
When performing Crouch, the user assumes a lower position while grinding along a Grind Rail to gain a small boost of speed. How this position is assumed differs between games. In gameplay, the Crouch is useful for maximizing the player grinding speed when their acceleration starts to falter at any time while using a Grind Rail.

Sonic Adventure 2
Appearing alongside grinding in Sonic Adventure 2, Crouching is used exclusively by Sonic the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog, Amy Rose and Metal Sonic. In this game, the user will simply assume a lower position which causes a small jet of stream to form in front of the user.

In gameplay, Crouch lets the player Grind Step at a faster rate. Using Crouch when crossing a quirk while riding on a downward Grind Rail however, causes the playable characters to lose balance, putting them at risk of falling of the Grind Rail. In addition, not all the characters will achieve the same rate of speed from Crouching: in Multiplayer mode, Shadow has a slight speed advantage over Sonic when using Crouch.

Sonic Heroes
In Sonic Heroes, Crouching was significantly changed. In this game, characters will start their Crouch by spinning on top of the Grind Rail into a new position, either turning to face left from a right-facing position or turning around to have their backs in the direction the character is moving.

In gameplay, Crouch can be done repeatedly. Holding the action button will still maintain the Crouch position and allow for faster Grind Rail travel, though it needs to be refreshed occasionally after a significant time of use. Fly Formation characters have a unique version of the Crouch: they will lean forward with the bottom character (which they hold onto) on the Grind Rail and use their flight to accelerate along the rail.

Shadow the Hedgehog
In Shadow the Hedgehog, Shadow is the only character that can use Crouch. In this game, the 180° spin is now a hop above the Grind Rail. However, the Crouch position is only assumed until the player presses the action button again, and does not need to be actively maintained. Staying in this position no longer has any effect on grinding speed.