Vine

The Vine is a recurring gimmick that first appeared in Sonic Heroes. It is a type of plant vines in different variants that the player can use to swing through the air.

Description
The Vine is presented as a sturdy rope of green plant vines that hang from nearby trees or other forms of vegetation. They always appear in levels with a forest theme.

In gameplay, the Vine serves as an option for the player to traverse the Stages. When using the Vine, the playable character will grab onto the bottom of it by touching it. Once grabbed, the Vine can be swung, either automatically or manually. Releasing the Vine while swinging will cause the playable character to be thrown through the air to far-away locations, usually across bottomless pits. To maximize the length of the jump, it is advised the player releases the Vine at its apex. Releasing the vine too early will cause the player to only be thrown a fraction of the distance.

Sonic Heroes
In Sonic Heroes, the Vine hangs between two floating ball-like yellow plants, making it look like a swing. They exclusively appear in Frog Forest and Lost Jungle. When using the Vine, the character currently leading the playable team will grab onto the Vine while the rest of the team hangs onto the leader's feet

To use the Vine in gameplay, the player just has to make contact with it and it will start swing automatically. To release the Vine, the player has to press //.

Shadow the Hedgehog
In Shadow the Hedgehog, the Vine resembles a swing between two floating rocks, like in Sonic Heroes, but its vine is orange and flatten out on the bottom. It is only encountered in Death Ruins, where it will automatically transport the player to the needed area when encountered.

Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
In Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), the Vines are as lone, dangling robes with a purple flower bulb at the end where the playable character holds onto it.

When using the Vine in this game, its flower bulb will glow when the Vine is at the ideal swinging height. Also, every Vine has a different launching range. To use the Vine in gameplay, the player has to swing the Vine down and up with the Control Stick and press the / to release.

Sonic Unleashed
In Sonic Unleashed, the Vine appears in the PlayStation 2/Wii version of the game, where it is called the hanging vine. In this game, it looks like it did in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) but without the flower bulb. They are only encountered in Jungle Joyride.

The Vine can be target with the Homing Attack, but does not have a very long launching range, meaning the player has to use the Jump Dash to reach some areas. To use in gameplay, the player has to swing left and right using the Control Stick and then press the jump button to release.

Swing Vine
In Sonic Adventure 2, here is a type of vine gimmick that only appears in Green Forest and White Jungle. These vines are extremely long and serve as the player's transportation between sections of the Stages. When the playable characters touches them, they will grab hold of them and instantly pulled with them as they swirl around massive trees at incredible speed, before being thrown off them and fall through the air to another area.

Bungie Vine
The Bungie Vine is a gimmick that only has appeared in Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, where they exclusively appear in Green Forest and White Jungle. These vines resemble bungee cords which, when interacted with, will retract and fling the playable character through the air to another location.