Sonic (SSBU)

Sonic in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Sonic the Hedgehog
Other playable appearances	in Brawl in SSB4
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Super Sonic
Tier	S+ (2)

Sonic (ソニック, Sonic) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Like all veterans, his return to the series was confirmed on June 12th, 2018. As in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Sonic is an unlockable character instead of being a starter character. Sonic is classified as Fighter #38.

As in Super Smash Bros. 4, Sonic's voice clips from Brawl were repurposed for the Japanese version of Ultimate, while his voice clips from Sonic Generations and the Mario & Sonic series were repurposed for other versions of Ultimate.

All of the voice actors' portrayals of Sonic are as follows:

• Roger Craig Smith in English.
• Jun'ichi Kanemaru in Japanese.
• Alexandre Gillet in French.
• Renato Novara in Italian.
• Marc Stachel in German.
• Jonatán López in Spanish, in place of his current Spanish voice actor Ángel De Gracia. Ultimate is López's last game as Sonic's Spanish voice actor prior to his death in February 2020.

Sonic is currently ranked 2nd out of 82 on the Ultimate tier list, placing him close to the top of the S+ tier. This is a slight improvement from his 7th/8th out of 54 placement in Smash 4 (where he was tied with Fox), making him the highest ranking base-game character and veteran, and marks his best placement in the series. Sonic's biggest strength is his speed, which allows him to utilize a hit-and-run playstyle. Complementing this speed is his massive array of burst options with a wide window of unreactable range thanks to moves like Spin Charge and Spin Dash, which are regarded as some of the best neutral options in the game. This grants Sonic unparalleled mobility over the stage, as he is able to weave around enemy defenses, bait out approaches, and control the overall pace of the game. In addition, Sonic can also play offensively, as his speed allows him to chase opponents across the entire stage, while his great recovery also allows him to place pressure on the opponents offstage. All of this allows Sonic to rack up damage fast while keeping damage done towards him at a minimum.

However, Sonic has some noteworthy flaws, most notably his KO potential. Many of his best KO moves either require proper positioning to be most effective or have noticeable starting and ending lag; this can lead to opponents surviving up to high percents if Sonic is unable to secure an early KO. In addition, some of Sonic's moves, such as Spin Charge and his up aerial, can occasionally have trouble connecting, which can render situations where the opponent may inadvertently escape one of his combos. Lastly, Sonic’s endurance has been decreased noticeably from his previous incarnation, making him more prone to getting KOed.

Overall, Sonic is a character that can rack up damage fast and pressure opponents both on and offstage. However, he can often have a tough time closing out stocks if his opponents space him effectively. While initial impressions on Sonic were rather lukewarm, they have since improved dramatically following the online era and the changes to the metagame. Sonic has since seen competitive success thanks to the efforts of players such as KEN, Sonix and Wrath, and he is widely considered to be one of the best characters in the game, if not the best.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play VS. matches, with Sonic being the 17th character to be unlocked.
• Clear Classic Mode with Mario or anyone in his unlock tree, being the 1st character unlocked.
• Have Sonic join the player's party in World of Light.

Sonic must then be defeated on Green Hill Zone (the Ω form is used in World of Light).

Attributes

Sonic is a lightweight who, staying true to his home series, has outstanding mobility. He unsurprisingly possesses the fastest dashing speed in the game by default (which is surpassed only by Hero while using Acceleratle), the 7th fastest walking speed, the 12th fastest air speed (which tied with Mario, Donkey Kong, Little Mac, and Inkling), and the highest traction in the game (surpassed only by Winged Form Sephiroth). When combined with his above-average falling speed and jump heights, these attributes allow Sonic to move across the stage at a blisteringly quick pace, even despite his average gravity and low air acceleration. To round out his attributes, Sonic is also capable of wall jumping.

Sonic's special moves are quite useful. Spin Dash and Spin Charge allow him to travel across stages at varying speeds, inflict damage on contact, and follow up with an aerial attack or uncharged Homing Attack. Despite appearing very similar aesthetically and mechanically, they both have different strengths and uses for different situations.

Spin Dash allows Sonic to jump around the stage while charging or holding the charge of the move, and can be released in the air, and the hop at the start of the move allows Sonic to "spin shot" on the ground as well as in the air, with it being the side special making it more ideal for aiming the spin shot to recover. The initial jump can also help Sonic avoid certain things like projectiles by hopping over them; it, however, loses this initial hop if fully charged. Spin Dash also has a moment of intangibility on startup, which can bypass even Wonderwing. The intangible fully charged version can pass through most grounded attacks but will clank with projectiles and aerial attacks.

The non-fully charged version, with the hop, can bypass if not beat out almost anything due to being aerial. The fully charged version of Spin Dash will also be intangible whenever Sonic turns the move around. Due to the number of branching choices Sonic has when starting Spin Dash, it is his most reliable attack in neutral and one of his best approach options overall. From jumping into cancellation, charging it to alter its timing, switching directions after releasing, and utilizing the spin shot, Spin Dash plays an extremely important role when attempting to play mind games versus Sonic's opponent.

While Spin Dash is a one-hit move that mostly knocks opponents into the air, Spin Charge, on the other hand, hits multiple times, carrying the opponent, and moves a little faster, making it a good alternative for dashing. Jumping out of Spin Charge also has Sonic hop while spinning, making him a jumping hitbox. Also, due to charging up by pushing the Special Move button repeatedly, it can be charged up to full power faster than Spin Dash. Spin Charge can also perform a "spin shot", although it can only be done while airborne and can't be reversed.

Both give Sonic additional protection when recovering and combo into other moves. The mobility of both in tandem with Sonic's already impressive speed makes him capable of quickly adding on damage to unprepared opponents from anywhere on the stage, and they can clank and cancel out the effects of certain moves (such as C4 or Egg Roll). Both moves also have Sonic's hurtbox extend beyond the attack's hitbox. Both moves can be blocked by shield, making them a bit unsafe and committal or predictable, as Spin Dash can only be canceled with a jump, and Spin Charge can only be canceled by jumping or not pressing the Special Move button. However, they can bypass shields if fully-charged and jump over them on initial contact.

Homing Attack deals a varying amount of damage, homes in on the nearest opponent, and is good for punishing laggy moves and edge-guard breaking. Its uncharged state also has the potential to combo, and its charged state has a small amount of KO potential at higher percentages. Spring Jump is a useful recovery that grants intangibility at the start, goes very high, and is one of few recovery moves that do not cause a helpless state, enabling Sonic to attack and dodge during his descent and even extend his recovery with a directional air dodge. The spring that is dropped can be useful both on-stage and off-stage by allowing him to pressure and gimp opponents, respectively.

Sonic also has a powerful air game. Neutral aerial is a great combo starter when SHFF'd, as a result of its long-lasting hitbox, low landing lag, and launching angle. Forward aerial is useful for edge-guarding and, in certain instances, it can combo into itself on-stage at low percentages thanks to its generous auto-cancel window and Sonic's fast air speed. Up aerial's auto-canceling window makes it a useful and deceptively safe combo starter when SHFF'd. Back aerial's clean hitbox is very powerful, to the point that it is one of Sonic's most reliable KO options. Lastly, down aerial is a stall-then-fall that has noticeably less ending lag compared to other stall-then-falls. When coupled with its initial hitbox's ability to meteor smash airborne opponents, down aerial can potentially gimp an opponent, if not KO them outright, and yet still allow Sonic to recover immediately afterward, even if he misses.

Sonic's neutral attack, tilt attacks, and throws have mediocre damage outputs, yet their quick speed can make them difficult to punish. His grab game is decent overall: while none of Sonic's grabs excel in speed and each of them has average ranges, they are still fairly easy to land thanks to his outstanding mobility. Sonic's pummel is also quick and has an average damage output, allowing him to rack up a fair amount of damage before throwing an opponent. Down throw is a semi-spike that has high base knockback, which makes it excellent for setting up edge-guards and tech-chases. Back throw also has high base knockback and KOs much earlier than his other throws, especially if it is used while near the edge. It also moves Sonic backward, which makes it useful for setting up an immediate edge-guard attempt. Up tilt can be reversed on startup and hit opponents through platforms above Sonic, and his forward smash has a bit of a deceptively large range due to him stepping forward during the punch.

Up throw is a reliable combo starter, having decently damaging combos beginning at 0%, as well as Spring Jump-assisted aerial combos beginning at medium percentages. It also has KO potential, although it only KOs reliably at very high percentages when used on high platforms, such as Battlefield's top platform, as well as stages with low upper blast zones. Lastly, forward throw is his least useful throw, as its primary utility is for forcing the opponent away from him and setting up an edge-guard.

Mastering Sonic's running game is crucial to Sonic's ability to perform at high-level play; thanks to Sonic having the fastest dashing speed, Sonic mains can take advantage of a variety of dash or dash-related techniques. Dash-dancing is extremely useful for mindgames, such as by running in one direction and then quickly turning the other way around to bait an opponent or catch them off-guard. The ability to use any attack out of a dash further compliments this strategy, as Sonic can retaliate almost immediately to an opponent's attack after dash-dancing. As such, it is often regarded by Sonic players that it is better to run away from the opponent and run back than to use rolls to avoid opponents.

This allows the player to avoid damage, not be as easily punished, have more control over their actions, and be able to punish their opponent's attacks. Dash-dance pivots (consisting of fox-trotting away from the opponent, then quickly dash-dancing backward) are particularly effective for this, as they can cause almost immediate turnarounds and allow for easy grabs. In general, Sonic arguably has the easiest time winning the neutral game due to his unmatched speed and maneuverability on-stage, and attacks that not only come out fast but can also be used to approach with.

Despite the plethora of strengths, Sonic has some weaknesses, the most noticeable being his KO potential. It is held back by his best KO moves (his smash attacks and clean back aerial) requiring good positioning and having noticeable startup and ending lag. His forward and up smashes are also burdened with low base knockback, which forces them to be used for KO attempts later instead of earlier, and his down smash, although it has decent startup, has high ending lag, making it easy to punish if missed. While Sonic's damage-racking ability is formidable, his ability to reliably close out stocks is among the worst in the game, which oftentimes results in his opponents surviving beyond 150% and even 200% if he is unable to score an early kill, forcing him to rely on hard reads to reliably take stocks at high percentages. Despite his outstanding mobility, Sonic may struggle to land due to his very low air acceleration, leaving him susceptible to juggling.

Sonic can also have difficulty dealing with camping, since any ground-level projectile can severely limit his movement options. While Homing Attack and Spin Dash are his best options in getting through said projectiles, they can be reacted to and even predicted. Some of his attacks are also very punishable should they miss, and thus allow openings for opponents to punish him. Homing Attack can miss if his opponent is moving too fast or is in the middle of an attack when Sonic releases the move. His recovery is also predictable with Spring Jump as his only vertical recovery option, as its linearity makes him susceptible to gimps even at relatively low percentages. Finally, Sonic can be susceptible to early KOs due to being a lightweight.

In all, Sonic has a great offensive play, a strong neutral game, a good off-stage presence, and can very rapidly damage his opponents. However, like other characters of his archetype, he has some trouble KOing and can be difficult to keep track of, even for the player using him, which sometimes leads to accidentally putting him at a disadvantage or even inadvertently self-destructing. Although Sonic's attributes make him a hit-and-run character most of the time, his prowess for using mind games and switching up tactics encourages multiple playstyles to succeed, which gives him a higher learning curve but allows him to match up well against nearly every character in the cast.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

Sonic was often regarded as a highly potent character in SSB4 due to a combination of his outstanding ground movement and Spin Dash granting him a powerful neutral game, and encouraged a borderline oppressive hit-and-run playstyle that benefited from time out strategies after gaining a stock/percentage lead. Likely as a result of this, Sonic was given a mix of buffs and nerfs in his transition to Ultimate, though while objectively slightly nerfed overall, he benefits significantly from universal gameplay changes, and game updates have given him some beneficial changes. All in all, Sonic has been slightly buffed overall.

Several of Sonic's key strengths and moves from SSB4 have been toned down considerably. Arguably, his biggest nerf was towards his Spin Dash, as it can no longer be shield-canceled and can no longer go through shields unless it is fully charged; this noticeably hinders Sonic's infamous camping ability and mind games from SSB4, forcing Sonic to rely more on his pure speed to play defensively. Up aerial, known for its status as a strong KO option off of moves like Spring Jump and Spin Dash, has received angle and knockback adjustments to the first hit that worsen its ability to connect into the second hit as reliably, no longer managing to follow Sonic's momentum when he jumps and hindering its effectiveness and consistency for combos. Up throw, previously able to combo into Spring Jump-assisted setups, now has increased ending lag, effectively removing most of Sonic's Spring Jump-assisted combos off of it. Lastly, Spring Jump's spring now sends opponents at a more horizontal angle, toning down its edge-guarding potency, and has much less intangibility frames, making it easier to intercept Sonic during his recovery. His much lighter weight also worsens his endurance, and, combined with his faster fall speed, he is more vulnerable to combos and KOs if the opponent catches up to him.

However, Sonic has been granted notable buffs as well, particularly towards his less impressive attacks. In particular, Homing Attack has been buffed significantly, with faster startup, less ending lag upon hitting an opponent, better accuracy, and the ability to be charged for longer; this has led to the move becoming a much more viable combo tool as well as a potential option in the neutral game. His down tilt launches opponents at a higher angle now, granting it combo potential. All of his smash attacks were improved, with forward smash gaining more range, and up and down smash having better KO potential. Despite their nerfs, some of Sonic's better moves have been compensated for in various ways. Spin Dash can now be jump canceled, alleviating some of Sonic's potential mix-up options. Spring Jump now grants Sonic slightly more distance, buffing his already impressive recovery. Several of Sonic's multi-hitting attacks (sans up aerial) now link into each other more reliably, including Spin Charge, up smash, forward aerial, and forward tilt.

Sonic also enormously benefits from Ultimate's universal mechanic changes, more so than any other returning veteran. His already unmatched mobility has been improved even further, with an even faster initial dash and run speed as well as more serviceable aerial and falling speeds; this notably heightens his camping abilities via simply running away, which nearly fully compensates for the nerfs to Spin Dash. The introduction of dash-canceling also allows Sonic to take advantage of his phenomenal ground movement to mix up his approach. Known for having high landing lag on his attacks in SSB4, Sonic now possesses much less landing lag on all of his aerials (although still above average relative to the cast); notably, this grants neutral aerial increased combo potential. Finally, the changes to air dodge mechanics improve Sonic's edge-guarding game while not compromising him much, thanks to his great recovery, while the reintroduction of directional air dodges allows Sonic to gain a little extra distance after using Spring Jump.

Overall, Sonic still retains many of his powerful attributes and combo game. However, his worsened endurance has given him a newly defined weakness, the nerfs or removal of his most powerful tools from SSB4 have led to a less oppressive character. This shifts Sonic's playstyle into a more offensive and creative one than before, where he now makes greater use of his standard moveset and newly buffed Homing Attack instead of relying on Spin Dash and Spin Charge to compensate for his underwhelming attacks, and must now take advantage of Ultimate's reworked mechanics, which have proven to be extremely beneficial to him. In the end, while Sonic was considered a powerful character in SSB4, and despite the introduction of powerful DLC characters in game updates, he performs better relative to the cast in Ultimate than in SSB4.

Aesthetics

• Sonic's design is largely the same as it was in SSB4, although his model features a more subdued color scheme due to the aesthetic used in Ultimate. His fur is now lightly detailed, similar to his appearance in the Sonic Boom animated series and Sonic Forces artwork, his gloves have more detailed fabric, and his shoes appear more polished.
• Like most other returning characters, Sonic is slightly more expressive than in Smash 4. He now has a sly grin while dashing and frowns during his up tilt, forward smash, forward throw, and when shielding. His eyes are also slightly more emotive. However, he still isn't as expressive as in Brawl, as he doesn't grow impatient during his foot-tapping idle pose and doesn't grin during his finger-wiggle idle pose.
• Sonic's head quills have greater independent physics, resembling how their movement was in Brawl.
• The Chaos Emeralds that appear in Super Sonic and Sonic's up-inputted victory pose now appear less reflective and have matte colors.
• Two of Sonic's victory poses have been tweaked:
  • His left-inputted victory pose now has the camera appears fixed on where he appears, showing him sprinting off-screen twice before appearing. He also grins when he gives a thumbs up instead of smirking, akin to Brawl.
  • His up-inputted victory pose now has him running up to the Chaos Emerald before grabbing it. The Chaos Emerald also floats closer to Sonic's fingers.
• Although Sonic still has an animated mouth in his victory poses, the ending poses switch back to the standard model so that its movement appears more natural.
• Sonic’s seventh and eighth alternate costumes have swapped placements.

Attributes

• Like all characters, Sonic's jumpsquat animation takes 3 frames to complete (down from 5).
• Sonic walks faster (1.375 → 1.444).
• Sonic dashes faster (3.5 → 3.85).
  • His initial dash is significantly faster (1.5 → 2.31), now being the fourth fastest in the game.
• Sonic's traction has been massively increased (0.06 → 0.138), now being the highest in the entire game. This makes it much easier for him to punish out of shield.
• Sonic's air speed is faster (1.15 → 1.208).
• Sonic falls faster (1.45 → 1.65), his falling speed now being above average instead of below average.
  • His fast falling speed is faster as well (2.32 → 2.64), which improves his air mobility and leaves him less susceptible to juggling.
• Sonic is considerably lighter (94 → 86), now making him a lightweight instead of a middleweight, weighing slightly more than Zelda and being lighter than Little Mac, worsening his endurance. While this change would also make him less susceptible to combos, this is prevented by his faster fall speed.
• Forward roll grants less intangibility (frames 4-15 → 4-14) and has more ending lag (FAF 28 → 29).
• Back roll has more ending lag (FAF 28 → 34).
• Spot dodge has more startup (frame 2 → 3).
• Air dodge grants more intangibility (frames 2-25 → 2-26).
• Air dodge has significantly more ending lag (FAF 31 → 51).
• The reintroduction of directional air dodges improves Sonic's recovery more than other characters', as due to Spring Jump not causing helplessness, he can get additional distance with a directional air dodge after using it.
• Sonic takes a slight amount of damage per second when swimming. He shares this trait with Charizard, Inkling, and Incineroar.
  • His swimming animation is also changed, showing him constantly in a panicked state (as opposed to only being in one when drowning).

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • The first and second hits have different angles to keep opponents closer to Sonic (hit 1: 92°/60°/361° → 361°/180°, hit 2: 80°/60°/48° → 361°), akin to other neutral attacks, and deal less knockback (18 set/100 scaling → 20 base/20/15 scaling (hit 1), 20/15 base/20 scaling (hit 2)), but have gained hitstun modifiers (0 → 8 (hit 1), 4 (hit 2)). This allows them to connect more reliably, and the second hit to lock opponents.
  • Consecutive uses of the first hit are faster (13 → 10 frames).
  • The first hit transitions faster into the second hit (frame 9 → 7), which transitions faster into the third hit (frame 8 → 6).
  • The third hit launches at a lower angle (50° → 361°), allowing it to force opponents offstage more effectively and set up tech-chases.
  • All hits have a higher hitlag multiplier (1× → 1.6× (hit 1), 1.2× (hit 2), 2× (hit 3)), giving opponents more time to SDI each hit and DI the last hit.
  • The first hit has had its three large hitboxes replaced with four smaller ones (3u/3.5u/4u → 1.4u/1.4u/1.6u/1.6u). The second and third hits have smaller hitboxes as well (4u/3.4u/3u → 2.3u/2.3u/2.8u (hit 2), 3u/3.5u/5u → 2.6u/2.6u/3.6u (hit 3)).
  • The second hit deals less damage (2% → 1.5%).
  • The third hit has a shorter hitbox duration (frames 4-6 → 4-5).
  • The third hit has a slightly different animation.
• Forward tilt:
  • The first hit has drastically reduced knockback scaling, but increased base knockback (60 (base)/70 (scaling) → 80/3) and has been moved farther from Sonic (Z offset: -1.6u → -0.7), allowing it to connect into the second hit more reliably.
  • The second hit's outermost hitbox has been moved further outwards (X offset: 4.9 → 6) improving its range.
• Up tilt:
  • Both hits have less startup lag (frame 7 → 6 (hit 1), 18 → 13 (hit 2)).
    • However, the move's total duration was not fully compensated (FAF 40 → 36), giving it one more frame of ending lag.
  • The first hit's late portion no longer uses the autolink angle (365° → 95°).
  • The first active hitbox is slightly smaller (5.5u → 5.2u).
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt launches at a more upward angle (361° → 73°) and deals more knockback (30 base/80 scaling → 40/100), improving its combo potential.
  • Sonic no longer slides forward after using the move, making it safer to use for spacing.
    • However, this increases the distance between Sonic and his opponent should the move connect, somewhat lessening the improved combo potential from the angle change.
• Dash attack:
  • Dash attack has been changed to only consist of a lunge kick, with the Spin Attack portion beforehand being removed. As a result, it no longer hits multiple times.
  • It has much less ending lag (FAF 62 → 46).
  • It deals more damage (6% → 8% (clean), 4% → 6% late)).
    • The knockback on the now lone hit has altered knockback to compensate for its increased damage (80 (base)/125 (scaling) → 91/63 (clean), 96/60 (late)). The clean hit deals slightly more knockback overall, while the late hit deals less.
  • It has gained a shieldstun multiplier of 0.75× for the clean hit, and 1.05× for the late hit. Combined with its reduced ending lag, higher damage, and the increased shieldstun for ground attacks, this makes both safer on shield, despite the clean hit having a below-average multiplier.
  • It launches at a lower angle (70° → 60°), hindering its KO potential.
• Forward smash:
  • Sonic's arm stretches out further during the punch, improving its range.
• Up smash:
  • Up smash has less startup (frame 19 → 14). While its total duration is one frame longer by comparison (FAF 66 → 62), it retains the same ending lag due to the first hit being separated one more frame from the subsequent hits.
  • It grants more intangibility frames (frames 18-20 → 14-18).
  • The first hit launches opponents towards Sonic (90° → 110°) with more set knockback (70 → 120), while the looping hits have a lower SDI multiplier (0.6× → 0.5×), and both use weight-independent knockback, allowing them to connect more reliably.
  • The looping hits are larger (4u/4u/4u/4u → 4.2u/4.2u/4u/4u), slightly improving its range.
  • The last hit has increased knockback scaling (165 → 170), improving its KO potential.
• Down smash:
  • Down smash's front hit deals much more knockback (55 base/63 scaling → 50/80), matching the strength of the back hit.
  • It has a new animation where Sonic's feet extend greatly. As its hitboxes were not adjusted, this results in the move no longer being disjointed, with it now failing to fully cover Sonic's feet.

Aerial attacks

• All aerials have less landing lag (16 frames → 10 (neutral), 26 → 16 (forward), 30 → 15 (back), 21 → 13 (up), 38 → 21 (down)).
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial's multi-hits consist of one large hitbox instead of four smaller ones (2u → 5.5u), which uses the autolink angle (130°/60°/200°/340° → 367°) and has more set knockback (30 → 40), allowing them to connect more reliably. They also have a lower hitlag multiplier (1× → 0.7×), making them harder to SDI out of.
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial's late hit has much less knockback scaling (100 → 76), significantly hindering its KO potential.
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial's first hit has much less knockback scaling (100 → 50) and launches at different angles (100°/118° → 110°/123°). As a result, its knockback fails to follow Sonic's vertical momentum when used in a jump, worsening its linking ability into the second hit.
  • The second hit deals more damage (6% → 8%), with knockback scaling compensated (82 → 68).
  • The second hit has an additional hitbox below Sonic, mitigating some of the linking issues caused by the aforementioned changes to the first hit.
• Down aerial:
  • Down aerial only possesses a clean hit and late hit, with the early hit being removed (frames 17-18/19-22/23-32 → 17-19/20-32).
    • Its meteor smash hitbox is slightly larger (3.5u → 3.6u).
    • This allows for the aerial meteor smash to be landed much more easily.
    • However, this reduces the clean hit's duration against grounded opponents.
  • The late hit deals more knockback (80 base/70 scaling → 75/80).
  • The late hit has gained a sourspot that deals less damage (7% → 5%) without compensation on knockback.

Throws and other attacks

• Grabs:
  • All grabs have more ending lag (FAF 31 → 38 (standing), 38 → 48 (dash), 37 → 40 (pivot)).
  • Standing and pivot grab have slightly more startup lag (frame 6 → 7 (standing), frame 10 → 11 (pivot)).
    • Standing grab's animation speed wasn't compensated, resulting in Sonic's arms extending his hurtbox before the grab comes out. This makes it less safe.
  • Standing and dash grab have less range (Z2 offset: 9.7u → 8.7u (standing), 11.1u → 10.4u (dash)).
• Pummel:
  • It deals less damage (2% → 1.3%).
  • It deals more hitlag (4 frames → 14), but has much less startup (frame 4 → 1) and ending lag (FAF 16 → 7).
  • It has a slightly different animation where Sonic doesn't lean his head back before the hit.
• Forward throw:
  • Forward throw sends opponents at a more horizontal angle that is desirable for edgeguarding (70° → 45°).
  • It releases opponents faster (frame 12 → 11), but with its total duration unchanged, increasing its ending lag.
  • It has altered knockback (100 base/70 scaling → 70/75), reducing it overall. This removes its KO power at very high percents.
• Up throw:
  • Up throw releases opponents faster (frame 28 → 23), but with its total duration unchanged, increasing its ending lag. This reduces its combo potential, despite Sonic's faster jumpsquat and jump speed, and in combination with the faster knockback physics, it severely worsens Spring Jump-assisted followups, no longer being guaranteed.
• Down throw:
  • Down throw's release deals more damage (4% → 5%), with its base knockback compensated (80 → 75).
• Edge attack:
  • Edge attack deals more damage (7% → 9%).

Special moves

• Homing Attack:
  • Homing Attack can be charged for much longer, with Sonic ascending much higher during the charge (frames 22-34 → frames 15-82).
    • It has less startup when uncharged (frame 22 → 15), allowing it to be comboed into from other moves.
  • It deals more damage especially when charged (5%-12% → 7%-20%), with knockback not fully compensated (45 base/90 scaling → 55/65), improving its KO potential at high charge levels.
  • It launches Sonic at a straighter trajectory towards opponents, improving its accuracy.
  • It incurs less ending lag upon hitting an opponent (FAF 34 → 27), allowing it to combo into other moves at certain percentages.
  • It has larger hitboxes (3.5u/3.5u → 5u/5u).
  • It has gained a shieldstun multiplier of 0.5×, thus dealing less shieldstun than in Smash 4, despite it being increased for moves other than smash attacks and aerials. This makes it relatively less safe on shields.
  • It launches at a slightly lower angle (55° → 53°).
  • The move shows a reticle on the opponent right before Sonic is about to strike, as in games from Sonic and the Secret Rings onward. The reticle resembles its design in the Nintendo 3DS Version of Sonic Generations.
• Colliding with a wall while moving on the ground with Spin Dash or Spin Charge now has Sonic bounce off it, using the same animation when rebounding off the ground with Homing Attack.
• Spin Dash:
  • A grounded charged Spin Dash can be released in the air while keeping its charge.
  • The first jump hit deals slightly more damage (4% → 5%) and has a bigger hitbox (2u → 3u).
  • Its charge can no longer be canceled by shielding, removing its usefulness for faking out approaches.
  • It can no longer be held indefinitely, instead being unleashed automatically if charged for more than two seconds. However, this can be somewhat circumvented by starting the move on the ground, then jumping out of it and charging it in the air, in which case the automatic release does not happen until Sonic lands.
  • The move stops upon hitting an opponent's shield, and cannot cross up unless it is charged enough, reducing its safety.
  • The trail changes from purple to yellow when fully charged.
  • Sonic does not hop if the move is released at full charge.
  • Sonic no longer loses his double jump after landing with an aerial Spin Dash or Spin Charge.
• Spring Jump:
  • Sonic gains slightly more height from Spring Jump, matching the move's height from Brawl.
  • The aerial version's Spring launches opponents at a higher angle (361° → 48°), hindering its edgeguarding ability.
  • It grants significantly less intangibility (frames 5-13 → 5-7), leaving Sonic more vulnerable to edgeguards.
  • Using the move incurs 10 frames of landing lag.
  • Grabbing onto a ladder no longer causes Sonic to become helpless whenever he lets go or falls after climbing to the top.
• Spin Charge:
  • Spin Charge's hits launch at a more horizontal angle (60° → 9°), and have more base knockback (40 → 70), but drastically less knockback scaling (60 → 15), as well as lower hitlag and SDI multipliers (1× → 0.5×). This allows them to connect much more reliably.
  • It can no longer be held indefinitely, instead being unleashed automatically if charged for more than three seconds.
  • Like the Spin Dash, it stops upon hitting an opponent's shield, and cannot cross up unless it is charged enough, reducing its safety.
  • It changes the color of the trail to indicate charge strength, going from blue, to cyan, to yellow.
• Super Sonic:
  • Super Sonic's functionality has been changed. Instead of being fully controllable, he moves automatically across the horizontal axis at a drastically increased speed, and only his vertical position can be controlled.
  • When reverting from Super Sonic, Sonic deals damage and knockback if he makes contact with opponents while flying back to his starting point.
  • Super Sonic's damage output is significantly weaker than its previous iterations, and it lasts for a much shorter time p