Cannon


 * This article concerns the gimmick from numerous games. You may be looking for the Eclipse Cannon or the Chaos Energy Cannon.

Cannons (大砲) are gimmicks in Sonic the Hedgehog series, which can shoot the playable character, who curls into a ball mode and jumps into it, for then to be launched to the air like an living cannonball. The player can use them to get to higher areas in levels, or cross over bottomless pits and/or large parts of the level itself. Certain cannons are able to lead alternate pathways as well, but are mostly hiding and not easy to locate. They are either set around the area or hovering in the air.

Cannons were first introduced in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, where they originally are seen hovering and shooting the player to another floating cannon to guide the player to other sections of the level. Since their debut, the functionality and appearance of cannons have been varied through the series, while their purpose has been remain the same.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2
First appearing in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the cannons are only found at Oil Ocean Zone, where they work differently than in later games. They are round-shaped cannons with no footsets, and are colored with green and yellow chequers around it. To use cannons, the player has to break a protective cork on top of certain furnaces, which will propel him/her into a floating cannon that will shoot the player into another cannon and so forth, until the player has arrived in another section of the act, much like the pipes in Chemical Plant Zone. In Act 2 of Oil Ocean Zone, the player is also able to get into floating cannon by flying up below hatches of floating furnaces, which will then shoot the player to the nearest cannon.

All cannons in this game are floating in the air of the zone, as they are set to launch the player to another cannon which will then shoot the player to another. The last cannon in the chain of cannon will then shoot the player from the bottom of platform, which the player can land upon and then progress normally through the zone. In some cases, the player can be launched high into the air by the last cannon, allowing the player to collect differently formatted groups of Rings above the exit point.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3
In Sonic the Hedgehog 3, cannons are typical, black circus cannons that automatically swivel 180 degrees whenever the player enters one. Once entered, the player then has to then press A button at the right time to launch himself/herself in the desired direction. They are only found at Carnival Night Zone, where they serve to shoot the player to higher parts of the zone, which the player is unable to reach. After completing Carnival Night Zone Act 2, Sonic or Tails uses one black circus cannon to shoot themselves to the next zone in the game.

Sonic 3D Blast
In Sonic 3D Blast, cannons are extremely rare objects, as only known two cannons can be encountered in the entire game and both of which are located in hidden places in the Green Grove Zone. They are similar to ones seen in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, except they are seen to be brown instead of black and the cannons' edge is colored blue. When the player jumps in to the cannon hole, Sonic will be launched a very far distance to another part of the zone.

The first cannon is found in Act 1, where the player has to Spin Dash through the breakable wall to enter the hidden place, where only cannon and a monitor with Gold Shield are found. After being launched by cannon, Knuckles can be found in the place where he has not be seen before, who will give the player a ride to the Special Stage by handing over 50 Rings. The second cannon can be found in Act 2, where the player has to first get to the second room with the Giant Ring and go through the breakable wall at the left side of the room. The player will then find another hidden room that has monitors with Gold Shield, and a extra life. On the top of the hill, the cannon can be found, which will launch the player back to the first room with the Giant Ring.

Sonic Adventure
In Sonic Adventure, the Egg Carrier has loose cannons that look like Eggman located around the main engine deck and several other places on the air fortress. These cannons have a small hatch of the top, which only Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy can hop into. After getting in, the cannon will then shoot the player a far distance. It is known that using cannons on the main engine deck, shooting the player into one of metallic boxes with the cannon will break it. One of these metallic boxes are known to have one of the emblems.

Sonic Heroes
In Sonic Heroes, Cannons are one of the major objects in the game, which appear in most of the game's stages and few of the boss battles. The Cannons in this game are invertible, as they are colored dark grey with red and yellow colored details.

The cannons function in three different ways, depending on the type of playable character that is leading the team when entering the cannon; with a Speed type character, the cannon will launch the character forward at high speed, with a Fly type character, the cannon will aim upwards and launch the player to higher places in the stage, and with a Power type character, the cannon's direction can be aiming by the player independently, though the player cannot aim the cannon upward like with a Fly type character. With the exception of Power type characters, the cannons in Sonic Heroes fire automatically.

Like in previous games, the cannons' pupose is to send characters to the another part of the level. While doing this, the player can cross bottomless pits and/or reach other sections of stage. Sometimes, using the right character type can make the cannons shoot the player to alternate pathways. When using Power type characters when entering the cannon, the player can fire the Speed type character and Fly type character on the team independently, before the Power type character gets launched as well. This can be useful to blow item box balloons from a far distance, attacking enemies or breaking down obstacles.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I
Cannons have also made an appearance in Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I, where they are found exclusively in Casino Street Zone Act 3 and serve as the Act's main gimmicks. In this game, they resemble circus cannons, like in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, except that they are in this game colored blue, have a yellow ring on the cannon barrel with red stars on them, and are set on the round wooden plates.

The Cannons in Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I work like the ones in Carnival Night Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, except they can be manually aimed by the player. In order to enter a cannon, the player has to either press down on the analog stick when standing on top of it, or use a Homing Attack on it. The player mainly has to use cannons in this Act to reach higher paths, as many of the pathways are continuing in higher areas. The player is also able to spin through breakable, colorful blocks when shot out by a cannon.

Sonic Generations
The Cannons made another appearance in console/PC versions of Sonic Generations, where they have the exact same appearance and look in Sonic Heroes. They can be found in Seaside Hill, Crisis City Act 1, Rooftop Run Act 1, and Planet Wisp. They are also being used in numerous challenge acts.

Both Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic are able to use the cannons, which in most cases shoot them to another section of the Act, which the player is unable to backtrack to. The Cannons in this game work rather simply, having been set to shoot the player to a certain location once entered. All the player has to do is to press / to initiate the launch.

Sonic Lost World
In the upcoming Sonic Lost World, cannons are one of main objects seen in Wii U version of the game. They have now also similar appearance from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 as floating round-shaped chequer cannons, but are now colored as red and blue. There are two types of cannons seen in the game, as the regular ones sent the player flying to different parts of the zone while catching numerous amount of rings. The second type of cannons are golden floating cannons, which are hidden from certain parts of zones. These types are able to send the player to alternate pathways.

Trivia

 * Cannons from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Sonic Lost World bear loose resemblance to the brown wrecking ball, that is featured at iconic boss encounter from original Sonic the Hedgehog.