Bobsled


 * For the kart in Sonic Heroes and Sonic Generations, see Bobsled (kart).

The Bobsled is an object and gimmick that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Much like real-life sleds, the bobsleds are large sleds that are used by the playable characters to slide across surface with low friction or otherwise slippery surfaces like Snowboards. The players use the bobsled in the games to travel across sections in the levels where the playable characters cannot pass through by normal means.

The bobsleds made their first appearance in Sonic Rivals, and have since reappeared in both versions of Sonic Unleashed. They also appear as vital components of some of the events in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games.

Sonic Rivals
Bobsleds made their first appearance in Crystal Mountain Zone Act 2 of Sonic Rivals. In this game, the bobsleds are large and yellow karts with blue and white stripes, and are motor-powered. Here, the bobsleds automatically takes the player throughout a large section of the act, without the player having to control them. To make a bobsled start moving, the player just has to jump into one.

Sonic Unleashead
Bobsleds made another appearance in both the PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 version and Nintendo Wii/PlayStation 2 version of Sonic Unleashed. In this game, the bobsleds are sky blue karts with an aerodynamic shape and can be found in game's daytime acts in Cool Edge. Other stages features bobsled-like vehicles as well though, such as Eggmanland, where the bobsleds resembles more roller coaster cars, and Arid Sands on the Wii/PS2 version, where the bobsled looks like a yellow miniature car.

In both versions of Sonic Unleashed, the player can enter a bobsled by touching them, which will make the bobsled start moving. While riding a bobsled, the player will move forward automatically, but can move left and right by using the direction controls. Additionally, any enemies that the player runs over with the bobsled will destroyed, though the player can still take damage from enemies' attacks and hazardous obstacles. Also, on the Wii/PS2 version of Sonic Unleashed, the player can use the Sonic Boost while riding the bobsled.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
The Bobsleds made another appearance in both the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, where they were used in the team-based where bobsleds are used, such as Bobsled and Dream Event Bobsled. In this game, the bobsleds comes in several different colors, and can house one to four users.

Sonic Free Riders
The bobsled makes another appearance in Sonic Free Riders where they were the main gimmick featured in Frozen Forest, both Standard and Expert courses. The player controls the bobsled similarly to that of a Bike-type Extreme Gear of the game: the player holds out their hands out like holding handlebars and simply turns their arms to the direction they wish to steer to ride through Dash Panels and avoid bumping into obstacles.