User:Ultrasonic9000/Sandbox

Grinding (グラインド) is a move in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It is a technique that encompasses the act of balancing on and moving down a Grind Rail.

Description
Grinding is the act of balancing on a Grind Rail or some rail-like object to move at high speeds. Most practitioners grind with their feet while others grind using other parts of their bodies, like their rear. Extreme Gear practitioners on the other hand always grind with their Extreme Gears.

In gameplay, grinding is used by the player to move down Grind Rails. By doing this, the playable characters can gain more speed/momentum while on the Grind Rail or take shortcuts through the levels. Grinding is typically as fast as or faster than running. Sometimes, while grinding, the player can also pull off special actions.

To start grinding in gameplay, all the player has to do is touch the Grind Rail.

Sonic Adventure 2
Grinding first appeared in Sonic Adventure 2 and its remake Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. In this game, it is a technique that only Shadow and Shadow can use (Amy Rose and Metal Sonic can also use it in the multiplayer).

In gameplay, the player can use crouch to achieve higher grinding speed. While grinding, the player also has to use the control stick to help the playable characters balance on the Grind Rails, which is important as not doing so will significantly reduce one's grinding speed or cause the playable characters to fall off the Grind Rail. The player can also jump between parallel Grind Rails while grinding with the Grind Step. There is also a special Grind Race in two-player mode in Sonic Adventure 2: Battle.

Some Grind Rails in the game allows the player to finish grinding with a trick; by pressing at the end of these Grind Rails, the character performs a trick that can be worth 200, 500, or 1000 points (Shadow occasionally gets a close-up on his body doing the trick).

Both Sonic and Shadow wore customized shoes (the Hi-Speed Shoes and Air Shoes) in this game that were suitable for grinding. Grinding is an essential element in this game, and is not only useful for cutting time off one's record, but is also necessary for crossing certain paths in stages and is also used as a mechanism by which to aid in defeating more difficult foes.

Sonic Advance
In Sonic Advance, the grinding technique was featured for the first time in a 2D game. In this game, only Sonic and Amy are capable of grinding. When grinding, Sonic grinds on his feet while Amy grinds on her rear.

In gameplay, the player has no grinding-exclusive techniques they can use while grinding. Also, the characters keep themselves balanced while grinding.

Sonic Advance 2
In Sonic Advance 2, the grinding maneuver is available to all playable characters. In gameplay, grinding works exactly like it did in Sonic Advance. In addition, Amy grinds on her feet rather than her rear in this game.

Sonic Advance 3
In Sonic Advance 3, all five main playable characters in the game are capable of grinding. In gameplay, grinding works exactly like it did in Sonic Advance and Sonic Advance 2.

Sonic Heroes
In Sonic Heroes, grinding is a technique that all playable characters can make use of. When the characters are in Fly Formation though, it is only the character on the bottom of the chain that grinds.

In gameplay, the player has to use the control stick to help the playable characters balance on Grind Rails while grinding in order to maintain their speed. The player can also use the crouch to increase their acceleration while grinding (which is useful for when they are stuck at the bottom of a sloping Grind Rail) and the Grind Step to switch between parallel Grind Rails.

Sonic Heroes marked the last Sonic game where the player had to make a conscious effort in balancing on the grinding surface; in all subsequent games, the characters balance themselves.

Sonic Rush
In Sonic Rush, both Sonic and Blaze are able to grind. Gameplay-wise, the grinding maneuver work like it did in the Sonic Advance series, except in this game, the player is able to pull off Grind Tricks while grinding.

Sonic Rush Adventure
In Sonic Rush Adventure, the grinding maneuver is again only reserved for Sonic and Blaze. In gameplay, the grinding mechanics are the same as in Sonic Rush. Also, during the final grinding section Plant Kingdom Act 1, the player can use the Grind Step.

Shadow the Hedgehog
In Shadow the Hedgehog, grinding is only useable to Shadow (and the Shadow Androids in the multiplayer).

In gameplay, the grinding maneuver was slightly tweaked. While grinding, the player can perform the crouch to gain an extra boost of speed and the Grind Step to jump to parallel Grind Rails. While grinding, the player can also use various weapons, but they can only be aimed in the forward direction.

Sonic Riders
In Sonic Riders, grinding is a Speed Type maneuver. As such, only characters that are classified as Speed Types, or are equipped with special Extreme Gear that grant the Speed Type attribute, can grind.

In gameplay, one may grind on a Grind Rail that starts with a blue light and ends with a red light. The player can jump from one Grind Rail to another by jumping off at the red point and pressing // while near a Grind Rail with a blue point. For every jump between Grind Rails the player makes, they earn one "link". While grinding, the player will receive extra Air. The more links the player makes, the more Air they will receive.

Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity
In Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, the users of the grinding maneuver depend on the Extreme Gear they use rather than the character. This means only characters equipped with Skate-type Gears or Gears with the Grind Gear Part are able to utilize Grind Rails. Skate-type Gears allows grinding by default while the Grind Gear Parts much be activated manually after collecting a certain amount of Rings.

In gameplay, grinding is the same as in Sonic Riders, except the player earns Gravity Point rather than Air while grinding. The player can also jump from one Grind Rail to another in the same manner as in Sonic Riders. In order to jump Grind Rails and begin grinding, the player has to press the following buttons:

Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
In Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), the grinding maneuver is mainly used by Sonic, Blaze, and Shadow in the game's Action Stages. In the game's multiplayer, Silver is able to grind as well for reasons unknown.

In gameplay, the grinding mechanic was given widely different behavior compared to previous games. In this game, a character's grinding speed is predetermined, although it can be increased slightly by crouching. In addition, the player can now target the Grind Rails with the Homing Attack, allowing the player to zoom towards a Grind Rail and instantly grind on it.

Sonic Rivals
In Sonic Rivals, the grinding maneuver is used by all five playable characters in the game. In gameplay, the character behave pretty standardly while grinding. Also, by pressing down on and  at the same time, the player can jump off Grind Rails.

Sonic Rivals 2
In Sonic Rivals 2, all eight playable characters in the game are able to grind. In gameplay, grinding works just like in Sonic Rivals, except the player cannot jump off the grind rails like in Sonic Rivals.

Sonic and the Secret Rings
In Sonic and the Secret Rings, the grinding maneuver is used only Sonic. In gameplay, while grinding, the player can press to regain speed and  to brake while Sonic grinds forward. In addition, Sonic can also jump between parallel Grind Edges using the Grind Step.

Sonic and the Black Knight
In Sonic and the Black Knight, only Sonic is capable of grinding. In gameplay, Sonic can, while grinding, swing his sword in order to grind faster and attack targets that appear along the Grind Rails..

Sonic Unleashed
In both versions of Sonic Unleashed, the grinding maneuver can only be used by Sonic in the daytime. In gameplay, the player can perform both the Grind Step to switch between parallel Grind Rails and the Sonic Boost to accelerate while grinding.

In the Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 version of Sonic Unleashed, Sonic can perform an 180 degree spin while grinding for no effect when the player /.

Overview
Grinding is also present in the Sonic Riders series where the characters ride on Extreme Gears to perform the move. In Sonic Riders, only Speed Type characters (and other Type characters riding on certain Gears) were able to do so. In Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, characters whose Gear were Skates or Boards with the Grind Gear Part were able to do so. In Sonic Free Riders, the Grind Skill Gear Part alone can be set for almost every Gear (save for certain Gears) including Bikes. In Sonic Generations, Grinding is also slightly faster than running (without using the Boost).

Recurring mechanics of acceleration
In Sonic Adventure 2, if pressing, the character will crouch in order to gain speed. However, in Sonic Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog, and Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), if the player presses //, the character will do a 180 degree spin which will accelerate them on the rail. In Sonic Heroes, only maintaining the 180 degree position has the same effect as crouching in Sonic Adventure 2. In Sonic and the Black Knight, the player must make Sonic swing his sword rapidly to grind faster. In Sonic Unleashed, Colors and Generations, Sonic can move through rails fast by using the Boost. In Sonic Unleashed (PS3/Xbox 360 version) and Sonic Generations (PC/console version), the 180 degree spin can be performed while grinding for no effect by pressing /.

Grinding once again appears in all versions of Sonic Generations. However, it not only appears in stages that originally had rails, it appears in some stages without it in the past, such as Mushroom Hill.

Sonic X
Grinding also appears in the Sonic X anime series, where it is only used by Sonic. Sonic's first usage of this move was in his battle against Chaos 6 when he grinds on his water tentacles. The move's next appearance was in "Desperately Seeking Sonic", only this time, Sonic used Chris' Hi-Speed Shoes to grind on long tree branches to reach Eggman.

Trivia

 * According to Sega, the grinding mechanic's addition to the Sonic series was heavily inspired by the fact that they were working on Jet Set Radio, which originally used the mechanic, around the same time Sonic Adventure 2 was in development.
 * Classic Sonic does not "grind" in Sonic Generations, more he just rolls along the rail. Bizarrely, this still causes sparks and metallic scraping.