Barrel (gimmick)


 * For general objects with same name, see here.

Barrels are rotating gimmicks that appear in Sonic the Hedgehog series. As first appearing in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and years later in Sonic Advance, barrels are gimmicks found floating in mid-air and some of them can be control to progress in Zones.

Description
Barrels are found in amusement park-themed Zones with its general appearance seem to be based on real-life circus cylinders and barrels used by clowns or trapeze performers. The barrel functions differently depending the game, though the common feature is to stand on it and being capable of moving it.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Barrels in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 are main gimmicks of Carnival Night Zone. These rotating barrels have red background with two white diamond formations on rows and they are generally floating in the mid-air. There are two types of these gimmicks: the first types usually function as moving blocks in the Zone. Like thinner rotating pillars found earlier in Hydrocity Zone, they usually move linear directions, either up and down, left and right or square formations. When the player jumps on it, the playable character is seen rotating along with the barrel and the player can spin jump again to get off it. However these barrels can function as crushers, if the player gets stuck between the corner side, floor or roof and the barrel.

Another type of barrels are simply rotating at one place. The player can jump on it and then press up and down on to move the barrel. Depending how long the player moves the barrel, the swinging speed of it will increase and when the playable character jumps off it, the barrel's speed will decrease and returns to rotate at one place. There are sections in the Zone, where the player has to move them to reach the pathway on top of the cliff or below the barrel.

Sonic Advance
Yellow barrels with blue backgrounds and yellow stars on it are found in Casino Paradise Zone of Sonic Advance. They are not generally featured gimmicks and they do not move on any directions. When the player stands on it, the barrel moves only slightly, but the player can move it up little bit by pressing up and down on like in Sonic the Hedgehog 3.

Trivia

 * As reaching the end point of Carnival Night Zone Act 2, the player ends up to the room with single barrel placed on the hole (see the image on left of "Game appearances" section). Instruction manuals and the game itself do not hint how to control the barrel works, giving the hard time for players to understand how the barrel works and thus coining the nickname "barrel of doom" from the community. The fan question related to the barrel was presented to the game's senior level designer Takashi Iizuka in Summer of Sonic 2011. Iizuka responded it being the idea of Hirokazu Yasuhara, the lead game designer. After giving this statement, Yuji Naka comment his understatement for many players finding it hard to understand the barrel's functionality and gave his official apology for programming the barrel to the game. <
 * In Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles, Knuckles skips this section completely as using his lower pathway to reach the end of the Zone.
 * In Shadow the Hedgehog, floating barrels in Circus Park bear uncanny resemblance to ones in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Despite the appearance, they function normally as tubular platforms without any features.