Spring

Springs (スプリング) are objects that launch playable characters to help them get to otherwise unreachable places. Springs are usually colored red with a gold star in the middle of a blue circle (the star is where the characters usually bounce off of). They can be easily reached with a Homing Attack, although the player can bounce off springs by simply jumping on them, or running into them.

In games
In the classic Sonic games, (Sonic the Hedgehog, etc.) springs were just red or yellow panels with a gray-colored spring underneath them. These springs are common, and they often have a circular base. Red ones propel Sonic to a higher elevation, while yellow ones only send Sonic a medium to low distance. In Knuckles' Chaotix, there are also blue Springs which seem to be more powerful than the red ones. In Sonic Chaos and Sonic Triple Trouble, Springs can be found on the backs of badniks. Some Springs are hidden underground and will appear when the character walks over them, some need to be activated by a switch, others push the player backwards or into a trap to waste time, and some are actually setbacks that are set up by Doctor Robotnik.

In more recent games, they come as one Spring, or a set of three. In Sonic Heroes, if the player bounces off of one of the springs in a three-setter, it lights up. If the player were to make all three light up, their team would get bonus rings, or in some cases, a capsule to use the team's special move. Also, in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Sonic uses a spring as his Up+Special move. It acts like a personalized spring, which immediately appears underneath him and shoots Sonic up a great vertical distance. It can also be used by other characters before it disappears. In the Sonic Advance series, hitting a spring with Amy Rose's Hammer causes her to be catapulted higher than regularly intended.

Side wall Spring
Side wall Springs debuted in both 8-bit and 16-bit versions of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and have been appeared generally in series. These springs acts like normal Springs, but are placed on side walls and bounce the player to the 35 degree towards.

Three-setter Spring
Three-setter Springs or Wide Springs are debuted in Sonic Adventure 2 and have been featured in almost every 3D games since then. As the name says, it features three bumbers side by side on the same platform. These type of springs are easier to connect during the fast sections and bounce to straight upward. In Sonic Heroes, touching all of three bumbers gives rings or Power Cores.

As the three-setter Springs are usually red, Sonic Colors later features yellow types of three-setter Springs. Like yellow springs in first games, yellow three-setter Springs bounces the player less higher than red ones. After touching it, it starts to auto-scrolling to the right and usually the player has to balance on it.

Bounce spinners
Bounce spinners or Fan Springs are debuted in Sonic Adventure 2 and have been later featured in few current games. The gimmick of this spring is using the Homing Attack causes the spinner to fly upwards. Otherwise fan spring would starting to sink down.

Special Spring
Special Springs have appeared in Sonic Advance and Sonic Advance 3. These springs are slightly bigger and used to get to Special Stage. In Sonic Advance they are hidden in one act of each Zone except for Ice Mountain Zone which have special spring hidden in both acts. In Sonic Advance 3, the player needs to find 10 hidden Chao per zone. After that, the player also has to collect key to activate Special Spring and entering to Special Stage.

Trap Spring
Trap Springs are type of springs, that debuted in Sonic Unleashed and later have been appeared in Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations. These square springs with the Eggman Empire symbol have been used in certain places, where hitting them would send the character back towards a trap or to slow them down. It have short, high-pitched laugh after hitting it.

Thorn Spring
Thorn Springs appeared in Sonic Colors. These springs simply floats around and has spikes beneath it.

Trivia

 * In the Adventure mode of Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, Sonic has the ability to use springs, although Mario cannot.
 * In Sonic Adventure 2, one can be able to propel themselves higher off a three-setter spring by using the homing attack and holding the jump button still after they bounce off of the spring.
 * In Sonic Adventure 2, if the character Metal Sonic is used in the multiplayer mode and bounces off a three-setter spring while pressing the button to do a somersault, he will be propelled in his standing animation.
 * In Shadow the Hedgehog, the springs are given a slight remodel. The springs are tinted with a darker shade of red, and have a green glowing circle in the middle. The springs also look a little rusted, although the surface of it is rubber. After this game they go back to their original design.
 * Sonic Adventure introduced the red springs with star patterns. Since then, only two games have reverted back to the Genesis' plain designs: Sonic Pocket Adventure and Sonic Generations.
 * Starting from Sonic Adventure, just touching or running into a spring is enough to activate it. Since then, only 3 games have broken from that tradition, namely Sonic Pocket Adventure, Sonic Advance, and Sonic Generations (3DS). Unlike the console version, the 3DS version of Generations forces Classic Sonic to jump on a spring instead of running into it, like in the Genesis games. The console version uses the same designs as the Genesis games, but Sonic can just run into the springs.