Wide spring

The Wide Springs (３連バネ), also known as Long Springs (ロングスプリング), is a recurring gimmick in the Sonic the Hedgehog series that first appeared in Sonic Adventure. It is a variation of the regular Spring, but with three springs on one plate.

Description
The Wide Spring's standard appearance is a red oblong with three blue circles on, each with a yellow star in the center. The Wide Spring's main object is to send the player flying into the air when touched, though there are some differences between them from game to game, like appearance and additional abilities. The player can also use the Homing Attack to target the Wide Spring from a distance.

Sonic Adventure
The Wide Spring first appeared in Sonic Adventure, where it looks slightly winded. In this game, it its the game's rarest gimmick and appears only in specific areas in the Stages, especially in Twinkle Park.

Sonic Adventure 2
The Wide Spring next appeared in Sonic Adventure 2, where it slightly modified and became much like an Oblong. When using it, the playable characters will enter their spinball form. The Wide Springs are only used by Sonic, Shadow, Knuckles, Rouge, Tikal and Chaos.

Sonic Heroes
Wide Springs also appeared in Sonic Heroes. In this game, the Wide Spring's appearance is slightly modified, as instead of being completely oblong, the Wide Spring is bend from the sides and one of its circles will lights up when the player touches it. After touching all its circles, the player will get a special power-up, like Invincibility, Super Rings and Power Cores. Like in Sonic Adventure 2, it will turn the playable character into a ball when touching it.

Shadow the Hedgehog
The Wide Spring appeared again in Shadow the Hedgehog. In this game, its design is changed, possesses a scratched red surface and three dark green circles instead of the blue circle with stars. Also, it will just make Shadow spin without an aura, but he is still can do a Homing Attack after launching by one of them.

Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
The Wide Springs reappeared in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). In this game, they returned to their regular appearance from Sonic Heroes. The only difference between the Wide Springs in this game and the previous ones is that these ones will only launch the player higher to the air without the playable characters entering their spinball form. Additionally, the player can still use the Homing Attack after being launched up by one these springs.

Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity
In this game, it appeared as the same as Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) and they usually seen at the corners of every stage in the game.

Sonic Unleashed
The Wide Springs reappeared again in both versions of Sonic Unleashed. Like in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), it will not make the playable character enter his spinball form and the player can use the Homing Attack after being launching by it.

Sonic Colors
In the Wii version of Sonic Colors, the Wide Spring reappeared again and more often than the regular Springs. Like in the previous games, it will not make the playable character enter his spinball form and the player can use the Homing Attack after being launched by it. Besides the regular Wide Springs, there also yellow types of them in this game, but they appear less frequently. After touching one of these springs, it starts to auto-scroll along with the stage and the player usually has to balance on top of it. Using Super Sonic on this platform is not advisable as it cannot keep up with his speed.

Sonic Generations
The Wide Springs made another return in Sonic Generations. In this game, it has nearly the same outfits of that appeared in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). Like in the previous games, it will not make the playable character enter his spinball form and the player can use the Homing Attack after being launching by it.