Glide

The Glide, also known as the Power Glide, Mid-Air Glide or Gliding Jump, is one of the signature moves of Knuckles the Echidna. It first appeared in Sonic and Knuckles where it was first used by Knuckles, but has since then been used by others such as Tikal, Chaos, Emerl, Tails, and most noticeably Rouge the Bat. It is a technique where the user glides gently through the air in semi-flight.

Description
In contrast to popular belief, Glide is not a technique that grants the user unbound flight through the air, but rather manipulates a person’s fall through midair.

To perform Glide, the user must be positioned in midair, either from a jump or a fall over an edge. The user then manipulates the air currents around him or her which makes it possible for the user to both slow down the rate of the descent from the fall and to move significant horizontal distances while descending, much farther than what they could reach with a normal jump or fall, but they cannot move upwards. This is usually done by the player by pressing the jump or Action button while in midair and using the direction controls to move. The user will then continue to glide until he or she latches onto a wall, lands safely on solid ground or stops on purpose. If the user should stop gliding while in the air (by releasing the button that caused the Glide), he or she will begin to drop normally through the air. The Glide can be resumed however, by pressing the button that caused the Glide again.

The ways to manipulate the air currents varies from user to user; Knuckles uses his dreadlocks to trap air under them, and Rouge does it by using her wings to move through the air. Tails uses his two tails to stay in the air and is weighed down by the two pairs of boxing gloves he wears, which he also uses to attack enemies. Since most users of the Glide can also climb on walls, this move is perfectly suited for exploring the surroundings. Tails, Emerl, and E-121 Phi are the only characters who cannot climb after they have glided into a wall.

For users such as Knuckles, the Glide can also be used offensively. By extending his spiked fists in front of him while gliding, Knuckles can damage any unprotected enemy his fists come in contact with (This is named the Grinder Attack in Sonic Battle). If any other of his body parts comes in contact with the enemy however, he will take damage.

Tails' variation of this move functions differently; the player must player must hold the left of right button to make sure Tails moves forward, otherwise, Tails would quickly fall to the ground.

Breast Stroke
Breast Stroke is a move performed by Knuckles whilst underwater. The move funtions the exact same way the Glide does, whilst Knuckles can latch on walls whilst performing the Breast Stroke, Knuckles cannot damage ememies and will suffer damage if collieded into.

Double Mid-Air Glide
The Double Mid-Air Glide is a move usuable by Knuckles in Sonic Advance 3 when partnered the move is executed in the exact same way as the glide, except Knuckles gains some extra height before executing the move.

Proppeller Hammer
In Sonic Heroes this is a move used by Amy that functions like a Glide for a short time.

Trivia

 * Apparently, the Glide appears to be a personal invention in Knuckles’ case rather than a ability shared by all echidnas from Sonic’s world (with the exception of Tikal in the Multiplayer from Sonic Adventure 2); during Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood echidnas such as Shade and the rest of the Nocturnus Clan seemingly lack the ability to glide, while they are shown being able to scale walls.
 * In Sonic Heroes, when Team Sonic performs the Triangle Dive, Knuckles' quills seem to be catching air underneath, similar to the Glide move in most games.
 * In Sonic Advance 3 Amy and Cream use a variation where they don't have much side to side movement but have slower decent in return. Amy uses Ballons and Cream use a Umbrllea to preform the move.