Catapult (runway)

The Catapult,^[1]^[2] also known as the runway,^[3] is a gimmick that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It is a ramp-like object exclusive to the Sonic Riders series that can initiates Air Riding for those capable of performing it.

Description

Catapults take the form of ramp-like objects, although the details of their design differ from game to game.

In gameplay, launching off a Catapult will result in the playable character automatically initiating the Air Ride maneuver, allowing them to fly through midair and through Dash Rings/Accelerators for a short time. However, the Catapult only works for the characters who are capable of using the Air Ride manuever. Who that is depend on the game.

Game appearances

Sonic Riders

In Sonic Riders, the Catapult is referred to as the runway.^[3] In this game, they are simple ramps in the road. Although the Catapults' design and color scheme vary slightly between each course, they are all marked with a distinctive yellow arrow symbol that is made up of thin lines.

In Sonic Riders, Catapults can only be utilized by Flight Type characters or other characters riding on certain Extreme Gears are able to perform Air Ride.

Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity

In Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, this gimmick is referred to as the Catapult for the first time.^[1] In this game, they are transparent ramp panels that raise up from the ground whenever an eligible playable character approaches. These panels have yellow frames with black recesses, white triangular arrow marks with red outlines on top of their panels, a red front edge, a gray foot edge, and a vertical split down the middle.

In Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, Catapults can only be utilized by SCR-HD and racers that ride on Air Ride or Yacht type Extreme Gears or Board type Extreme Gears with the Air Ride or Yacht Gear Part activated.

Sonic Free Riders

In Sonic Free Riders, this gimmick is referred to as the Catapult again.^[2] In this game, the Catapults look and behave exactly like they did in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity. This time around, Catapults can only be utilized by those with the active Air Ride Skill Gear Part equipped to their Extreme Gear.

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity (Wii) United Kingdom instruction booklet, p. 16.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Sonic Free Riders (Xbox 360) United States instruction booklet, p. 15.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Sonic Riders (Nintendo GameCube) United States instruction booklet, p.21.

Sonic Riders

Main article | Scripts (Heroes, Babylon) | Staff | Beta elements | Gallery

Playable characters		Sonic (Super Sonic) \| Tails \| Knuckles \| Jet \| Wave \| Storm \| Amy \| Dr. Eggman \| Shadow \| Rouge \| Cream \| E-10000G \| E-10000R \| Ulala \| AiAi \| NiGHTS
Non-playable characters		Omochao \| Stolen \| Jet's father \| Babylon Guardian \| E-10000Y
Courses/Fields	Heroes	Metal City \| Splash Canyon \| Egg Factory \| Green Cave \| Sand Ruins \| Babylon Garden
	Babylon	Night Chase \| Red Canyon \| Ice Factory \| White Cave \| Dark Desert \| Sky Road \| Babylon Guardian
	Extra	Digital Dimension \| Sega Carnival \| Sega Illusion
	Survival	Dual Towers \| Snow Valley \| Space Theater
Moves/Techniques		Air Boost \| Air Riding \| Air Slide \| Attacks \| Grinding \| Super Sonic Boost \| Tornado \| Trick Action
Extreme Gears		Accelerator \| Access \| Advantage-F \| Advantage-P \| Advantage-S \| Air Broom \| Air Tank \| Auto-Slider \| BANANA \| Beginner \| Berserker \| Blue Star \| Blue Star II \| Cannonball \| Channel5 \| Chaos Emerald \| Cover-F \| Cover-P \| Cover-S \| Darkness \| Destroyer \| E-gearG \| E-gearR \| E-Rider \| Faster \| Fastest \| Gambler \| Grinder \| Hang-On \| Heavy Bike \| High Booster \| Hovercraft \| Legend \| Light Board \| Magic Carpet \| Night Sky \| Omnipotence \| Opa Opa \| Pink Rose \| Power Gear \| Powerful Gear \| Red Rock \| Rengoku \| Slide Booster \| Smile \| Speed Balancer \| Super Hang-On \| Temptation \| The Crazy \| Trap Gear \| Turbo Star \| Type-J \| Type-S \| Type-W \| Yellow Tail
Gimmicks and obstacles		Accelerator \| Air Pit \| Automatic Trail \| Barricade \| Bomb \| Catapult \| Dash Panel \| Grind Rail \| Trick Zone \| Turbulence
Items		Air \| Item Box (Air, Explosion, High Speed, Invincible Barrier, Magnetic Barrier, Rings, Speed Down, Question Item) \| Ring
English voice actors		Jason Griffith (Sonic, Jet ) \| Amy Palant (Tails) \| Dan Green (Knuckles, Storm) \| Bella Hudson (Wave, Babylon Computer) \| Lisa Ortiz (Amy) \| Mike Pollock (Dr. Eggman) \| Kathleen Delaney (Rouge) \| Rebecca Honig (Cream) \| Maddie Blaustein (E-10000G, E-10000R, Babylon Guardian) \| Liza Jacqueline (Omochao) \| Kaoru Morota (AiAi) \| Apollo Smile (Ulala)
Japanese voice actors		Jun'ichi Kanemaru (Sonic) \| Ryō Hirohashi (Tails) \| Nobutoshi Canna (Knuckles) \| Daisuke Kishio (Jet) \| Chie Nakamura (Wave, Babylon Computer) \| Kenji Nomura (Storm, Babylon Guardian) \| Taeko Kawata (Amy) \| Etsuko Kozakura (Omochao) \| Kaoru Morota (AiAi) \| Apollo Smile (Ulala)
Music	Songs	Catch Me If You Can \| Sonic Speed Riders
Music	Albums	Speedbeats Grand Prix: Sonic Riders Original Soundtrack
Other		Air Tank \| Babylon Garden \| Babylon Rogues' ship \| Babylonians \| Bashōsen \| Black Market \| Chaos Control \| Chaos Emerald \| Eggman Empire \| Emerald Detector \| Rank \| EX World Grand Prix \| Flight Type \| Freeze \| Key to Babylon Garden \| Mission Mode \| Power Type \| Speed Type \| Time Attack

Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity

Main article | Scripts (Heroes, Babylon) | Staff | Glitches | Gallery

Characters		Sonic (Super Sonic) \| Tails \| Knuckles \| Amy \| Jet \| Wave \| Storm \| Dr. Eggman \| Cream \| Rouge \| Shadow \| Silver \| Blaze \| SCR-GP \| Amigo \| NiGHTS \| Billy Hatcher \| SCR-HD \| Master Core: ABIS
Courses/Fields	Heroes	Megalo Station \| Botanical Kingdom \| MeteorTech Premises \| Aquatic Capital \| Gigan Rocks \| Crimson Crater \| Astral Babylon \| '80s Boulevard
	Babylon	Gigan Device \| Nightside Rush \| Snowy Kingdom \| MeteorTech Sparkworks \| Tempest Waterway \| Security Corridor \| Mobius Strip \| '90s Boulevard
	Survival Battle	Gravity Pit \| Labyrinth \| Square Quartet
	Survival Ball	MeteorTech Arsenal \| Botanical Cave \| Megalo Junction
Extreme Gears		Advantage F \| Advantage P \| Advantage S \| Airship \| Angel • Devil \| Beginner \| Big Bang \| Bingo Star \| Black Shot \| Blue Star \| Chaos Emerald \| Cover F \| Cover P \| Cover S \| E-Rider \| Faster \| Fastest \| Flame Lance \| G Shot \| Gambler \| GC Booster \| GC Master \| GP Accumulator \| GP Tank \| Hang-On \| Hyperdrive \| Kunoichi \| Legend \| Light Board \| Mag \| Magic Broom \| Master Off-Road \| Money Crisis \| Night Sky \| Omnitempus \| Pink Rose \| Power Egg \| Psychic Wave \| Rail Linker \| Rainbow \| Red Rock \| Reserve Tank \| Rhythm Machine \| Road Star \| Shinobi \| Shooting Star \| Skill Booster \| Smile \| Super Hang-On \| Temptation \| The Crazy \| Throttle \| Turbo Star \| Type-J \| Type-S \| Type-W \| Untouchable \| Wanted \| Wheel Custom \| Wind Catcher \| Wind Star \| Yellow Tail
Gear Parts		Air Ride \| Angel/Devil \| Attack Time UP \| Auto Wall-Run \| Base Stats UP \| BGM Change \| Bike \| Durability UP \| GC Boost UP \| Ghost \| GP Gain UP \| GP Gauge UP \| GP Usage UP \| Grind \| Item Rank +1 \| Magnetic Barrier \| Max Speed UP \| Parts Lock \| Ring Cap UP \| Starting Speed UP \| Status Trap \| Tank \| Throttle \| Trick Rank +1 \| Vision Trap \| Wheel \| Yacht
Moves and Techniques		Air Ride \| Attacks \| Gravity Control \| Gravity Dive \| Grinding \| Slide Turn \| Super Sonic Boost \| Trick
English voice actors		Jason Griffith (Sonic, Jet, Shadow) \| Amy Palant (Tails) \| Dan Green (Knuckles, Storm) \| Bella Hudson (Wave, Mother computer) \| Lisa Ortiz (Amy) \| Mike Pollock (Dr. Eggman) \| Kathleen Delaney (Rouge) \| Pete Capella (Silver) \| Rebecca Honig (Cream) \| Andrew Paull (SCR-HD, SCR-GP, Master Core: ABIS)
Japanese voice actors		Jun'ichi Kanemaru (Sonic) \| Ryō Hirohashi (Tails) \| Nobutoshi Canna (Knuckles) \| Daisuke Kishio (Jet) \| Chie Nakamura (Wave, Mother computer) \| Kenji Nomura (Storm, SCR-HD, SCR-GP, Master Core: ABIS) \| Taeko Kawata (Amy) \| Koji Yusa (Shadow) \| Rumi Ochiai (Rouge) \| Daisuke Ono (Silver) \| Nao Takamori (Blaze)
Other		Ark of the Cosmos \| Babylon Garden \| Babylon Rogues' ship \| Babylonians \| Barricade \| Bashōsen \| Black Market \| Car \| Catapult \| Catch Me If You Can \| Crimson Tower \| Crusher \| Dash Panel \| Dash Ring \| Eggman Empire \| Fly Type \| Gravity Band \| Gravity Point \| Grind Rail \| Havok \| Item Box (Attack, Colorball, Explosion, GP Boost, High Speed, Magnetic Barrier, Missile, Parts Lock, Ring, Shield, Speed Down) \| Monopole \| Mother computer \| Ring \| Slipstream \| Speed Type \| Power Type \| Rank \| Time Attack \| Time item \| Trick Zone \| Un-Gravitify \| World Grand Prix \| Zero Gravity Tracks: Sonic Riders Shooting Star Story Original Soundtrack

Sonic Free Riders

Main article | Scripts (Introduction, Team Heroes, Team Babylon, Team Dark, Team Rose, Final Race) | Staff | Gallery

Playable characters	Team Heroes	Sonic (Super Sonic) \| Tails \| Knuckles
	Team Babylon	Jet \| Wave \| Storm
	Team Dark	Shadow \| Rouge \| E-10000B
	Team Rose	Amy \| Cream \| Vector
	Misc.	Blaze \| Dr. Eggman \| E-10000G \| Silver \| Metal Sonic \| Xbox Live Avatar
Non-playable characters		Omochao
Courses		Dolphin Resort \| Rocky Ridge \| Frozen Forest \| Metropolis Speedway \| Magma Rift \| Forgotten Tomb \| Final Factory \| Metal City
Moves/Techniques		Air Ride \| Attacks \| Grinding \| Kick Dash \| Super Sonic Boost \| Trick Action
Gimmicks and obstacles		Barricade \| Bobsled \| Catapult \| Dash Ring \| Grind Rail \| Minecart
Items	General	Air \| Item Box (Air, Bowling Strike, Free Throw, Octo-Boost, Octo-Ink, Question, Ring Can, Rings, Special Item, Soda Rocket, Target Torpedo, Tee Shot) \| Ring
Items	Gear Parts	Air Plus \| Air Ride Skill \| Air Saver \| Big Air \| Cornering UP \| Durability UP \| Extra Air \| Grind Skill \| Invisible \| Item Lock: Air \| Item Lock: Rings \| Max Speed UP \| Music Change 1 \| Music Change 2 \| Power Skill \| Rapid Dash \| Rapid Stream \| Ring Eater \| Start Speed UP \| Trick Boost
Extreme Gears		Angel • Devil \| Auto-Slider \| Avatar-F \| Avatar-M \| Beginner \| Black Shot \| Blue Star \| Chaos Emeralds \| E-Gear \| E-Rider \| Explosion \| Fastest \| Flame Lance \| Fortress \| Gambler \| Hang-On \| Hard-Boiled \| High Booster \| Legend \| Metal Star \| Omnitempus \| Pink Rose \| Potential \| Professional \| Psychic Wave \| Red Rock \| Reserve Tank \| Smile \| Steel \| Super Hang-On \| Temptation \| The Crazy \| Turbo Star \| Type-J \| Type-S \| Type-W \| Wanted \| Yellow Tail
English voice actors		Roger Craig Smith (Sonic) \| Mike Pollock (Eggman) \| Kate Higgins (Tails, Wave) \| Travis Willingham (Knuckles, Storm) \| Mike Mycheck (Jet) \| Kirk Thornton (Shadow) \| Karen Strassman (Rouge) \| Wally Wingert (E-10000B, E-10000G) \| Cindy Robinson (Amy) \| Michelle Ruff (Cream) \| Keith Silverstein (Vector) \| Quinton Flynn (Silver) \| Laura Bailey (Blaze, Omochao)
Japanese voice actors		Jun'ichi Kanemaru (Sonic) \| Ryō Hirohashi (Tails) \| Nobutoshi Canna (Knuckles) \| Daisuke Kishio (Jet) \| Chie Nakamura (Wave) \| Kenji Nomura (Storm) \| Koji Yusa (Shadow) \| Rumi Ochiai (Rouge) \| Taeko Kawata (Amy) \| Sayaka Aoki (Cream) \| Etsuko Kozakura (Omochao) \| Kenta Miyake (Vector) \| Daisuke Ono (Silver) \| Nao Takamori (Blaze)
Music	Songs	Free \| Theme of Dolphin Resort \| Theme of Rocky Ridge \| Theme of Metropolis Speedway
Music	Albums	Break Free: Sonic Free Riders Original Soundtrack
Other		Air Gauge \| Relay Race \| Rank \| Time Attack \| World Grand Prix \|Speed Type \| Fly Type \| Power Type

[SRZG-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity (Wii) United Kingdom instruction booklet, p. 16.

[SFR-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Sonic Free Riders (Xbox 360) United States instruction booklet, p. 15.

[SR-3] 3.0 ^3.1 Sonic Riders (Nintendo GameCube) United States instruction booklet, p.21.

[1]

[2]

[3]