Real-Time Interaction

Quick Time Events (or QTEs) (referred to as Real Time Interactions ) have been used in the more recent Sonic games (Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Colors). They are on-screen prompts with one or more of the buttons on the player's controller which they must press in time, which will alter the game; ranging from just not doing as much damage as responding to the QTE, to access shortcuts which if failed will usually result in the character's death, and losing a life. They usually appear in boss battles.

Sonic Rush

 * The Egg Eagle occasionally performs an attack that tries to blow the player off the platform. The player must repeatedly tap the and  buttons to stay on.
 * Sonic vs. Blaze; when Sonic (or Blaze, depending on which story the player is playing in) has one hit bar left, the player must repeatedly tap the and  buttons and try to push him/her off the side.

Sonic Rivals
When the character approaches a Boost object or hoop, the screen shows to the player whether to press (for Air Boost) or  (for Speed Boost) for the recommended route. If a question mark appears the player can either press the / button without any worries.

Sonic Rivals 2

 * Similar to Sonic Rivals, as the character approaches a Boost zone or hoop, the player presses either  (for Air Boost) or (for Speed boost) button as shown on the screen for the recommended route.
 * If the player's character is about to be jostled by his/her rival character, the button appears for a very short time. If the player manages to press the  button in that split-second, the player's character will counterattack and the rival character will be the one to lose rings instead.
 * There are special gimmicks called "Boost Panels", which while at one, the player is prompt to press either the or  button to be launched to the next Boost Panel consecutively until the player's character is back on foot again.
 * In Blue Coast Zone Act 1, the player's character would ride into a barrel. The player is prompted to press the button to jump when prompt to do so while near the wooden crates.
 * In Sunset Forest Zone, the player is prompted to press the button while the character inside a cannon to be launched out of it. Depending on the timing of the press of the button will vary in the angle the character is launched at. In Act 3, while the player's character is climbing a vine ladder, the player presses both the  and  buttons at once to climb.
 * In Neon Palace Zone, the player is prompted to press the button while his character is curled into a ball on a flipper to launch him/her.
 * In Frontier Canyon Zone, the player is prompted to rapidly tap the button while the character is curled to a ball attached to a pulley to propel through the wire. In act 3, while the player's character is on a minecart, the player is prompted to rapidly tap the  button to accelerate on the minecart while the  button is prompted to the player to jump over the wooden crates.
 * In Chaotic Inferno Zone, there is a cannon which works similarly to the cannon in Sunset Forest Zone (the player is prompted to press the button). Also, while in elevators that curls the character into a ball, the player is prompt to rapidly tap the  button to ascend. In Act 3, while riding on rockets after they reach a certain point, a timer stats counting down along with the prompt to press the  button, which the player's character jumps off; otherwise the character will automatically jump off when the timer expires.
 * Ifrit—While falling down, the Ifrit will occasionally swoop down from behind the characters fighting it and fly into them. At this point, the player has to either press the on-screen button(s) that appear to attack the Ifrit which counts as a hit; otherwise that opportunity is lost and the Ifrit damages both characters.

Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
When the player inputs a POW move or an opponent utilizes a powerful attack, they would have to perform a series of actions with the Nintendo DS stylus on the Touch Screen. This includes touching circles when the outer one overlaps the inner one, sliding the stylus in line with a moving circle and touching a spot a number of times. The player must succeed in performing these actions for the POW move to happen successfully or dodge the enemy's powerful attack. If the player fails just one part of the real-time events action, the POW move will fail/miss or do less damage than the intended damage or in the case of enemy attacks, they will hit and damage the player.

Sonic Unleashed
It appears mostly in the nighttime levels when the Sonic the Werehog performs a critical attack (by pressing the / on the Xbox 360/PS3 versions respectively) on an enemy that usually scores bonus points and instantly defeats them. Note that enough damage must be inflicted to initiate this and the more health that enemy has remaining, the less time the player will have to press the button before the opportunity is lost and takes damage. In the daytime levels, they happen when Sonic is launched by some of the trick ramps that are usually 3-6 button sequence and or when launched from blue springs to jump pads.
 * Tornado Defense (Xbox 360/PS3 versions only)- Press the corresponding buttons to defeat the enemies and weapons that appear on-screen (If failed, the enemies move away or in the case of a weapon, the Tornado takes damage). Sometimes the player is given a 3 or 5 button sequence to press quickly and in the correct order to defeat all the enemies in a large pack and score bonus points. During the battle against the Egg Cauldron, the player generally does the same action as he/she did: pressing corresponding buttons although after Eggman launches a full-scale attack the player presses a button 5 times to damage the boss.
 * Dark Gaia Phoenix- After hitting him five times after spraying water at him&mdash;(Wii: Sequence: Shake(5), Shake (5))
 * Dark Guardian - Breaking his regenerative HP Move before it ends&mdash;(Wii: Sequence: Shake (2))
 * Egg Lancer- (Wii/PS2 version) Before entering the chimney which restarts the running platform&mdash;(Sequence (usually) : A, Z, B. Results in death if incorrect). For the Xbox 360/PS3 versions, after hitting the blue spring, the player has to press the correct button on each of the three jump pads (Although the sequence of buttons appears random, if Sonic accesses these jump pads again that sequence will always be the same) before the last jump pad which is a 3-button sequence. Failure to press the correct buttons at any point will result in a missed chance to hit the boss or lose a life if the player forgets to use the Homing Attack to home onto the springs from falling into a bottomless pit.
 * Egg Dragoon - (Xbox 360/PS3 versions only) After lowering its health to a certain point (Sequence for first time is always the same: /, /, /, LB/L1, RB/R1 and / 10 times. Sequence for second time: /, /, /, Random, Random, / 16 times and /.) Failure to press the correct buttons (not including the first /) and/or on time will result in the chance of attacking the Egg Dragoon lost.
 * Dark Gaia - (Xbox 360/PS3 versions) When the Gaia Colossus reaches Dark Gaia, the player presses 3/4/5 onscreen buttons during the first/second/third time. (All console versions) When Sonic is about to attack one of Dark Gaia's eyes via a trick ramp, it's always a 3-button sequence.
 * Perfect Dark Gaia - After defeating the snake minions that create the barrier and Perfect Dark Gaia grabs onto the Gaia Colossus, the player controlling Super Sonic performs the following sequence is always the same: /, /, /, /, /and /. When Dark Gaia fires a laser out of his eye at the Gaia Colssus&mdash;(Sequence: / 60 times. Results in death if incorrect)

Sonic and the Black Knight
In some missions of Sonic and the Black Knight, the player can interact with the Townspeople to perform an Act of Chivalry. Once interacted, the player must press the corresponding buttons that appear on-screen within a time limit for the Act of Chivalry to be successful.

Sonic Colors (DS)
Nega-Wisp Armor (Final form) - Just before it fires his laser - (Sequence:, then press until defeated. Quick reaction required, results in death if under laser's fire for too long). Also, when you get all the Wisps that were captured by Eggman, you must quickly and rapidly press to activate the Final Color Blaster to boost towards the mech and defeat it.